Happy International Women’s Day, and welcome to the first #callingallwomen blog carnival. This March – Women’s History Month – 25 women’s funds from across the U.S. are uniting to promote solutions to the critical issues that women face.

Against the backdrop of an intensified war on women, the “Calling All Women: Send a Message of Strength” campaign is raising awareness of the inequality that exists and highlighting the change that women’s organizations are advancing in communities around the country. The campaign is encouraging women to “Sound Off” about the issues that matter most in their lives.

As this video demonstrates, equality for women has not yet been fully realized in 2012. With women still earning only 77 percent of men’s pay – and disparities in access to health care and education pervasive, we cannot afford to take any steps backward. Yet, some politicians are openly supporting a reversal of women’s rights – from attempts to deny us access to contraception to deeming us unfit for military combat.

The Calling All Women campaign is spreading the message far and wide that women must harness our collective power for change. Together we can support creative solutions to injustice. We can transform the lives of women, families and communities nationwide.

Help us spread the word! Watch and share the video on our campaign’s website, and tell us which issue is most pressing in your life on our “Sound Off” blog. You can also help amplify our voices by following us and sharing posts on Twitter (#callingallwomen). And support Ms. Foundation for Women's campaign by texting WOMEN to 50555 to donate $10 to fund women’s programs.

Our blog carnival features women’s personal experiences with inequality – and their optimism for a brighter future. Read more below about the positive change happening in your community, and mine.

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• The Value of a Woman, Joy Rose
• Rhode Island: We've Got Your Back for Paid Family Leave, Gayle Goldin
• Women Voters and Voter ID, Faye Anderson
• State-Sanctioned Shaming and the Battle for Reproductive Rights, Madeleine Gyory
• Challenging Women’s Imprisonment in the United States, the World’s Top Jailer, Rachel Roth
• On International Women's Day, Remembering Domestic Violence is a Stumbling Block to Women's Equality, Anne Morrison
• Latte Factor: End Breastfeeding Discrimination, Genevieve Colvin
• How I Became An Employer that Prevents the Workplace Discrimination I Faced, Angela Sasseville
• International Women's Day and the Status of Young Women in the U.S., Katy Fairl
• The Wage Gap: Back to the Future for International Women's Day, Marianne Bellesorte
• Momma Grizzles, Rise Up for International Women's Day!, Felicia Willems
• Barefoot and Pregnant: What This "War on Women" is Really About, Phoebe Taubman
• We've Come a Long Way, Maybe: Women's History Creates the Future, Gloria Feldt
• Still Fighting For Justice on International Women's Day, Ellen Bravo
• International Women's Day: Living at the Intersections, Heron Greenesmith
• Michigan Women's Foundation Celebrates International Women's Day, Carolyn Cassin
• Gloria Steinem Speaks Out on the War on Women, Rush Limbaugh, Angela Hill
• On International Women's Day, Center for American Progress Highlights Roles of Immigrant Women, Lynn Tramonte
• Super Tuesday: It's the Women's Vote, Stupid!, Mona Gable
• Has Political Discourse Hit Rock Bottom?, Andrew Rosenthal
• When States Abuse Women, Nicholas Kristof
• Fighting the War on Women this Women's History Month, Anika Rahman