The UFT’s annual HERstory celebration, held during Women’s History Month on March 11 in the UFT’s Queens borough office, is designed to be empowering.

“Every year, it is an honor to bring women together to acknowledge the challenges we have overcome and celebrate the achievements we have made, individually and collectively,” said Janella Hinds, the UFT vice president for academic high schools and co-chair of the event. “This year, we strengthened the bridge we continue to build.”

Arriving participants passed through a gallery of 14 questions they would discuss — questions about the greatest challenges of being a woman and how to create more unity among women who have different perspectives, among others. They watched a video message from Jolene DiBrango, the executive vice president of the New York State United Teachers, and a segment memorializing some UFT members who died in the past year. During a panel discussion, Claudia Ashterman of the Amazon Labor Union, said most workers at the JFK8 Amazon warehouse on Staten Island are women. She compared the obstacles faced by a new union with the benefits amassed by an established union and urged UFT members not to take their predecessors’ victories for granted.

“It felt good to be around other like-minded women to talk about our struggles and our progress as educators,” said Melanie Mills, a school counselor at PS 3 in Brooklyn. “I had a chance to network and meet people who go through the same daily struggles as I do in my career.”

The Forest Hills HS jazz band played and Queens Technical HS students gave manicures and massages.

“When women are gathered and in community, we are powerful,” said co-chair Karen Alford, the UFT vice president for elementary schools, “and our voices and actions help shape our schools, our community and the world.”