IWD Is Worth More Than An Afterthought.

My experience of IWD has often been as an afterthought. Someone from the office provides about 2 weeks notice that the day is upon us. The approach might come with a request to participate as a panel member, speaker or a roundtable host. Nothing too too onerous. Not too much of a distraction from the…

My experience of IWD has often been as an afterthought.

Someone from the office provides about 2 weeks notice that the day is upon us. The approach might come with a request to participate as a panel member, speaker or a roundtable host. Nothing too too onerous. Not too much of a distraction from the day to day. It easily slides into a busy calendar and a demanding business life.

This year I changed my approach. This year, I realized I had gotten it wrong.

Over the week I engaged in an IWD event everyday. The variety and range of perspectives was terrific. Some approaches resonated with me more than others and some perspectives I appreciated more than others. Overall, the quality was impressive. And the networking was terrific.

A wide range of events: round-up.

AIIA hosted AIIA and Australian Super. Liz Slavin from Australian Super was the keynote and a real stand out demonstrating sophisticated & thoughtful comment. I was particularly interested to hear the active role AustralianSuper takes with investments on a range of issues such as board composition. The panel also discussed the compounding issue of pay gap for technology & finance-investment areas, also related to developing strong talent pipeline.

I did attend some events where the hosts were concerned that the 2024 theme Count Her In had failed to resonate. This was not the case at the UN Women Australia IWD Lunch which was a huge event and one I would consider hosting a table at in future. It was an impressive panel including an introduction from Michele B. (Governor RBA) and a great bench depth in Rachel Yang, Giant Leap, Nicola Roxon Chair HESTA, Cathy Scalzo,Deputy Chair Australians Investing in Women. These women demonstrated strong financial literacy and provided quality perspectives. The opportunity to invest in women run businesses highlighted by the statistic that 82% of start-up funding is directed to male led businesses.

With investments of a regional kind, I attended the Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) Conversations Across the Pacific – a discussion on the ABV’s program supporting small, start up businesses within the Pacific with support from skilled business professionals who provide coaching & mentoring. Grassroots and directly impactful.

A few other local events attending my local council’s IWD lunch with keynote Julie Hirsch. This was a great reminder of the daily work within local communities undertaken by women. And another local event I have to call out was the book launch of Alison Daddo Queen Menopause: a key health topic for businesses & women.

The final event I attended was @Mecca NGV’s Celebrating Women in Design a 5-year program of work commissioned by Mecca. Past recipients @Tatia Bilbao and @Bethan Laura Wood were interviewed about their works on the day and I managed to meet the 2024 recipient @Christien Meinderstsma. Her work combines development of new manufacturing & production processes using materials often discarded such as coarse European wool to create products such as furniture. I’m intrigued to see this commission over the coming years and to seeing Christien’s contribution at the NGV in October 2024.

Expand your network.

The week was inspiring. A mix of corporate, business and community networking. My recommendation: utilize these events to engage your existing network, strengthen your business relationships and diversify. Impressive speakers. Impressive variety. Certainly, worth more investment than an afterthought.