The Members Connect Series will provide a platform for women to engage in discussions concerning industry trends and pioneering programs, offering them unique insights and opportunities. The aim is to advance the careers of women and increase female participation in the sector.

Founder and Director of Franklin Women, Dr Melina Georgousakis says that members of Franklin Women bring diverse experiences and skills to the sector, so bringing them together through the Members Connect Series is a special opportunity. 

“By connecting these women outside of their day-to-day and linking them with innovative ecosystem partners, we are facilitating opportunities for them to thrive,” she said. 

Franklin Womn is a leading social enterprise championing women in the health and medical research fields.

The inaugural Members Connect event will be hosted by Organon, a the only global healthcare company of its size focused primarily on the health and wellbeing of women, at their Sydney office.

Managing Director of Organon ANZ, Nirelle Tolstoshev, says that the global healthcare company believes in this series’ ability to “drive real change” by investing in women in the sector. 

“Just 34 per cent of CEO and Head of Organisation roles in our biopharmaceutical sector are held by women – and whilst women tend to be well represented in middle management, they seem to be passed over for more senior opportunities,” says Tolstoshev. 

“At Organon, we believe that by investing in the bright pipeline of innovators and empowering these women through collaborations such as these, we can drive real change in this area.”

Following the Federal Government’s Senate Inquiry into Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and the recent announcement of an Australian-first inquiry into women’s pain in Victoria, the initiative’s goal to support women in the health and medical research sector is particularly critical. 

The Members Connect meetups are free to attend, and those who participate will be able to contribute to emerging women’s health priorities. Franklin Women and Organon say the events will “be instrumental in breaking down silos between different stakeholders and contributing to the improvement of health outcomes in communities”.

Interested members can register for Members Connect meetups here. 

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Gerber, 22, is the daughter of 90s supermodel Cindy Crawford, and yes, she has inherited every single cell of her mother’s asymmetrically perfect features. She’s now a successful model in her own right but also a keen reader, a book reader, and in the past few years, she’s made it part of her public identity.

Since 2020, she’s worked hard to cultivate the image of a stylish book-worm. She’s made sure the world knows she reads and that we know she’s a thinker. Gone are the days of the bookworm image, of the girl with glasses reading in her pjs in bed. 

In September 2020, Gerber posted a screenshot to her 10 million followers on Instagram of a scene from Richard Benjamin’s 1990 movie Mermaids, starring Cher and Winona Ryder. 

The image shows Cher in a bathtub, reading Grace Metalious’ 1956 novel Peyton Place, looking beautiful, focused and cerebral. Next to her, Winona Ryder, who plays her daughter in the movie, peers up towards the corner of the camera, obviously distracted by some agitated feelings towards her mother, who seems lost in her book. 

Suddenly, I was interested. 

The book Gerber was promoting that week, Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists, had nothing to do with the film, but that single post piqued my interest. 

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A few months earlier in March, Gerber had started a virtual bookclub via her Instagram as a way for her to connect with writers, other celebrities and friends during the pandemic. The first book was Sally Rooney’s Normal People – whose fans are the OG of ‘the stylish reader’. In her first live chat, she spoke with Daisy-Edgar Jones and Paul Mascal, stars of the screen adaptation of the novel. 

Her book selections were diverse, and her intentions were noble. In May, she selected Spring Awakening, the late 19th century classic play by German dramatist Frank Wedekind, in order to “raise awareness for the performing arts industry in nyc. theaters are closed for the time being, putting so many actors, writers, and crew members out of work,” as Gerber described in a post on Instagram.

“It’s really important that we keep supporting the community that plays such a large & important role to the city.” 

Over the next few months and years, Gerber would invite the likes of Lena Dunham, Jia Tolentino, Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) and Raven Leilani onto her platform to talk about their books. These women have huge cultural capital and radiate an equal measure of affable coolness, intelligence and obtainable beauty. 

Gerber would continue to post images on Instagram of beautiful women reading, either from photos, or screenshots from movies. It didn’t matter that most of the images had nothing to do with the books themselves. Gerber knew how to get someone like me interested.

I’m a female reader, a book reader, and I aspire to be beautiful. Inevitably, in my own life, I separate these two pursuits. When I read, I’m mostly always in some loose, flimsy outfit, sprawled across my sofa chair in my study, looking more like a sloth on a tree than a presentable woman. The last thing on my mind is trying to appear beautiful. 

But these women, women like Gerber, and her fellow supermodel friends who read, including Dua Lipa, Emily Ratajkowski and Camille Rowe, have harnessed Instagram’s most fundamental currency — hot privilege, and began a movement to aestheticise book reading.

And by book reading, I mean, actual books. Physical, paper items. You won’t see a kindle anywhere here. 

The books on Gerber’s bookclub list are carefully selected to exude a certain sensibility. Think east-coast elites. Think oat-milk drinking hipsters who wear white linen shirts and own more than two pairs of Birkenstocks. Carrying a book, or at least, appearing to consume its content, has become another gesture towards aspirational living. Not only do we need to appear to be taking care of our outward appearances — we need to cultivate the right kind of intellectual and cerebral agendas. 

This week, Gerber, along with her friend Alyssa Reeder, (a New York City-bred writer and editor who writes for Into the Gloss) launched Library Science. 

The site collects all the books she’s had on her bookclub so far; all 34 books, it’s 33 authors, most of them American. Joan Didion appears twice. And of course she does. Her books (along with her cult status among liberal white women) is the basis upon which all the other books instantiate. 

Another late author on the list is Françoise Sagan, who has an equally pertinent status among women who pay very close attention to the fabric of their clothes. 

The majority of authors on Gerber’s list are women and out of the 33 authors, nine are people of colour, or mixed race. Five are late authors. There is one trans author. Most of them went to Ivy league colleges, or were born into privilege and celebrity, as Gerber has. 

Wealth and affluence can provide one with a certain cultural capital – in Gerber’s case, she’s used it to curate a literary milieu. They can be “taste” makers. But what does it mean to have “taste”? More importantly, who adjudicates this metric? Today, it seems that the answer is beautiful people who know how to market themselves. Personally, I believe the gay American writer, Ocean Vuong was the first to aestheticize that very singular, New York City-artist image. Just check out his IG to know what I mean.

Initially, I was drawn to Gerber’s ethereal beauty. I love looking at pretty people. But pretty people who read?! Irresistible. Before my private divorce from social media, my favourite Instagram account was @hotdudesreading. The female equivalent is @coolgirlsreadingbooks. Somehow, it feels less of a novelty to see an attractive woman reading than it is to see an attractive man reading. The Internet agrees with me, because the former account has more than a million followers, while the latter has only 48.7K followers. 

As I said before, Instagram runs on hot privilege. And Gerber knows how to milk it. Looking to be well read is now a visual pursuit. It’s aspirational to appear to be well-read. And though her Library Science hasn’t inspired me to amend my break-up with Instagram, I agree with the platform’s philosophy: “We learn the most from the stories that aren’t our own.”

The post The gentle, slow, agonising beautifying of book-reading appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Dr O’Donoghue’s niece, Deb Edwards, released a statement on behalf of the family, describing her aunt as a “formidable leader who was never afraid to listen, speak and act.”

“Our Aunty and Nana was the matriarch of our family, whom we have loved and looked up to our entire lives. We adored and admired her when we were young and have grown up full of never-ending pride as she became one of the most respected and influential Aboriginal leaders this country has ever known.”

“Aunty Lowitja dedicated her entire lifetime of work to the rights, health, and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We thank and honour her for all that she has done – for all the pathways she created, for all the doors she opened, for all the issues she tackled head-on, for all the tables she sat at and for all the arguments she fought and won.”

On Sunday, her family gave permission for Dr O’Donoghue’s name and image to be used.

Australian Indigenous rights activist and former politician Patrick Dodson described Dr O’Donoghue as an “extraordinary person of great courage and strength.”

“[It’s] a sad day for First peoples of this Nation,” Dodson said in a statement. “Her leadership in the battle for justice was legendary. Hers was a strong voice, and her intelligent navigation for our rightful place in a resistant society resulted in many of the privileges we enjoy today.”

“She will be forever remembered in our hearts.”

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney called Dr O’Donoghue a “fearless and passionate advocate” who “dedicated her life to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians and deserves our deepest respect and gratitude.” 

“Australia mourns the passing of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue and it is with great sadness and love that I pay tribute to her remarkable legacy,” she said.

“Throughout her career in public life, Dr O’Donoghue displayed enormous courage, dignity and grace. She was a truly extraordinary leader. Lowitja was not just a giant for those of us who knew her, but a giant for our country.”

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson described Dr O’Donoghue as Australia’s “greatest leader of the modern era”.

“She was full of grace and fortitude,” he said in a statement. “She was the definition of courage and never lapsed in her principles. Her love and loyalty to our people across the country was boundless.”

“We owed her an unrepayable debt for the sacrifices she made while she lived. Her memory will never be forgotten and her legacy will endure. Her passing … ends an extraordinary public life, marked by unstinting service and dedication to her people and country.” 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined in the chorus of tributes, describing Dr O’Donoghue as “one of the most remarkable leaders this country has ever known”.

“As we mourn her passing, we give thanks for the better Australia she helped make possible,” he said in a statement, posted on X.

“Dr O’Donoghue had an abiding faith in the possibility of a more united and reconciled Australia. It was a faith she embodied with her own unceasing efforts to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to bring about meaningful and lasting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.”

On Sunday, South Australian Attorney-General Kyam Maher wrote a tribute on his Facebook page, extending his sympathies to Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue’s family, friends, and associates.

“In honouring Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue’s memory, may we be inspired by the countless positive changes she contributed over her life,” he wrote. “We recognise the profound impact she had on the country and the many lives she touched. Her legacy will forever stand as a testament to the influence of her relentless dedication and service.”

“Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue’s leadership was not just about strength and determination; she led with a presence that inspired others to rise. Her legacy as a leader of both conviction and compassion will continue to inspire generations to come.”

Maher added that at an “appropriate moment” he will reach out to Dr O’Donoghue’s  family “with the offer of a State Funeral, in recognition of [her] incredible service.”

Background

She was born in 1932 on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands at Granite Downs station (Indulkana) in South Australia. She was the fifth child of Lily, a Anangu Yankunytjatjara woman, and Tom, a first-generation Irishman. 

She was assigned a birthdate of August 1st by missionaries. At age 2, she was removed from her family by South Australia’s Aboriginal Protection Board and taken to Colebrook Home for Half-Caste Children — an institution that was a “crowded house, full of children taken from their parents and told to forget”, according to Dr O’Donoghue’s official biographer, Stuart Rintoul. 

It would be another 30 years before she saw her mother again. She never made contact with her father again.

In 2020, for Rintoul’s official biography of her, Lowitja: The authorised biography of Lowitja O’Donoghue, Dr O’Dononghue reflected on her earliest days of standing up for what she believed in: “One of the earliest memories I have is of coming between the matron and the strap. I would often stand in the way when the strap was intended for others, with the result being that I, too, got a beating.”

Like most Aboriginal children during the time, O’Dononghue was raised to be a servant. She received a secondary education before being sent to work at a sheep station and “told she would soon fall pregnant and amount to nothing.”

By age 16, she was working as a domestic servant in Victor Harbour hospital in South Australia, before being given the role of a nursing aide. But she yearned to do more with her life. 

“I decided that I wanted to be ‘somebody’,” she told Rintoul. “That God had given me intelligence and that I was going to use it.”

She fought to undertake training to become a nurse, after being refused to attend Royal Adelaide Hospital because of her Aboriginality.

In a 1994 interview with National Film and Sound Archive, she described the incident: “The matron … stood me up in the corridor outside her office and just told me very bluntly that I should go to Alice Springs and nurse my own people.”

“Alice Springs of course being a place I had never been to and ‘my own people’ being a people that I didn’t know. So of course that really hurt me, but I didn’t give up.”

Garnering support from then-premier of SA, Sir Thomas Playford, she became the first Aboriginal nurse trainee at the Royal Adelaide hospital, before going on to become one of the first Aboriginal nurses in the country in 1959. 

She experienced racial discrimination from patients, remembering one who told her “Don’t put your black hands on me.” She would continue to work as a nurse for the next ten years. 

Her achievements

In 1962, Dr O’Donoghue travelled to India as a nurse with the Baptist Overseas Mission. On the eve of the 1967 referendum, she joined the South Australian branch of the Federal Office of Aboriginal Affairs as a public servant, campaigning for the recognition of Aboriginal peoples in the census. 

Rising through the ranks in the public service for the next decade, Dr O’Donoghue became the first Aboriginal woman to be named a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1976. The following year, she was the founding chair of the National Aboriginal Conference (NAC), a short-lived Fraser Government initiative that gave a platform for Aboriginal people to express their views. 

In 1984, she was recognised for her work to improve the welfare of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and named Australian of the Year. 

By 1990, she was the inaugural Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Commission. At the time, the commission was the country’s most explicitly concerted initiative to give institutional structure to Aboriginal self-determination.

Dr O’Donoghue would lead the organisation for the next six years. In 1992, after the Mabo decision, she worked as a lead negotiator on the Native Title Act, working alongside key figures including then-prime minister Paul Keating, Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton to give justice for Aboriginal people and a “workable and fair system of land management” in the country. 

In the same year, she became the first Aboriginal person to address the UN general assembly, delivering an opening address at the United Nations International Year of Indigenous People. 

In 1999, she was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for her commitment to public service and leadership in Indigenous affairs. In 2005 was honoured with a papal award, becoming Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great.

In 2010, The Lowitja Institute in Melbourne was named in her honour. The institute is dedicated to improving Indigenous health outcomes and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to lead research projects that advance the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Her legacy will also continue through the Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation, which provides opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to advance equality, empowerment, voice and action, and the annual Lowitja O’Donoghue Orations at the University of Adelaide.

Photo Credit: Name and photo used with permission of Lowitja’s family. Photo by Leanne King

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She is set to join the likes of high-profile global advocates who’ve been honoured with this award in the past, including Malala Yousafzai,  Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Nelson Mandela and former German chancellor Angela Merkel. The only other Australian to receive the award is former Foreign Affairs Minister Gareth Evans.

The Four Freedoms Awards are presented each year to men and women committed to the four principles proclaimed by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt in a historic 1941 speech: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom of want and freedom from fear. 

Forrest’s work eradicating modern slavery will be honoured with the ‘freedom from fear’ award.

The eldest child of billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest and Nicola Forrest, she co-founded the international human rights group, Walk Free, in 2011 under the family’s philanthropic venture, the Minderoo Foundation. 

Each year, Walk Free produces the Global Slavery Index, which is the world’s most comprehensive dataset on modern slavery. 

The Index estimates that 50 million people were living in modern slavery on any given day in 2021, an increase of 10 million people since 2016. 

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In an essay for Marie Claire in 2023, Forrest shared that since founding Walk Free she’s “recognised the innate vulnerability women and girls face with modern slavery and other forms of extreme exploitation”, but has also come to realise their true power to “reimagine and build long-term change”. 

Forrest has campaigned against this human rights abuse for over a decade, developing policy based on extensive field research. This advocacy has informed new laws across the globe.

Recently, she joined former UK prime minister Theresa May’s Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, alongside UN Under-Secretary General Adama Dieng. They will work towards putting modern slavery on the global political agenda, especially in G20 countries where 50 per cent of all people in modern slavery live, according to Walk Free’s Index.

Upon hearing the Roosevelt freedom award announcement, Forrest said on Wednesday she is “deeply humbled” to be nominated and considers it “an honour” as there’s “a rich history of human rights and international law behind it”. 

The other award announced on Wednesday was the Freedom of Speech medal, which will go to Netherlands-based investigative journalism group Bellingcat for its work separating fake news from fact in international conflicts.

The awards ceremony will take place in the Netherlands on April 11.

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Growing up, sport was a presence in the background of her life– played on TVs in the home or at bars– but it wasn’t until she got older that it began to emerge as an avenue of connection to other people. 

“In the backdrop of when I grew up– which was post 9/11– there were things that you could talk about with people that kind of became like a passport for your social interactions,” says Hussain.

“[Sports-related topics] were humanising and built connections with other people, where perhaps without those things, you would feel very isolated.”

It was after this realisation that she says she began to pay more attention to the current events of the sporting world, particularly cricket.

“I went to the cricket all the time with my community as a young person, so I just had that understanding and knowledge,” she said. “And when I spoke about sports, it just kind of melted away whatever barriers were between me and the rest of the world.”

As the Program Founder of her own consulting organisation Good.Human and a Board Member at the Victoria Women’s Trust, Hussain has graced the sports sector for over ten years, championing inclusion and diversity. She’s a respected media commentator and often speaks to organisations and community groups, sharing her experiences in the sector as a Muslim-Indian woman. 

Most recently, the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation for the Change Our Game movement selected Hussain to join a group of seven other women ambassadors raising awareness on key issues for women in sport. 

Between now and International Women’s Day 2024, she will be using this platform to foster belonging through sport and media, specifically with culturally and linguistically diverse women.

“It’s humbling to be an ambassador,” Hussian says. “Especially because I’m not an athlete.”

“I sort of inhabit this space in sport, where I represent a voice [for] non-athletes, kind of representative of the traditional sports fan or administrator.”

“So to be an ambassador in the capacity that I am representing people who aren’t traditionally in sport is very, very meaningful, and hopefully has an impact.”

Through her continued advocacy, Hussain says she wants to encourage and listen to other Muslim women and women of colour interested in getting involved in sport. 

“What I would love to see– and I think it’s starting to happen now– is conversations and opportunities and programs that wrap around cultures and communities to address their needs rather than kind of asking communities into existing avenues to participate in sport,” she explains.

And while Hussain does see change happening, it’s not always as meaningful as it has the potential to be. 

“That was really why I wanted to be part of this ambassador program,” she says. “To continue to hold that space quite visibly and show it is possible to inhabit.”

“We can be our full selves, with our cultural identities and religious identities and turn up in public spaces– particularly ones that are so important to the national psyche like sport.”

Hussain would love to see more meaningful diversity in positions of power in the sporting world, where there’s “agency and ability to actually impact the system”. 

Sport, she says, “has this incredible ability to bring people together, to remove those exclusionary barriers and create a level playing field”. 

While that doesn’t discount the fact that there’s been historical systemic barriers often counteracting this inclusion, Hussain notes that through her advocacy work, she often frames the conversation in a way that most sports-minded people can relate to: what’s fair or not fair. 

“I think there’s a natural feeling of fairness,” she says. “Sport is all about fairness.”

“If you’re best on the ground, it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from.”

Between now and International Women’s Day 2024, Change Our Game Ambassadors will use their platform to help drive change and raise awareness on key issues and barriers for women in sport. The Change Our Game series is put on by the Office of Women in Sport and Recreation. Be sure to follow the Ambassadors’ journeys through @ChangeOurGame on socials.

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Although the incidents happened in the academia world a pond over in the US, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Both cases resonated so deeply with me because sadly, the narratives are not isolated incidents but are more common than expected.

I am a corporate girlie (among many other accomplishments) who is looking to pursue executive leadership in the corporate world, but a running theme that I continually discuss with my therapist is, “at what cost?”. So, I continue to progress in my career journey with trepidation.

WGEA reported that in Australia, women constitute 42 per cent of all employees, yet make up just a quarter of executives and only 10 per cent of CEOs for large, for-profit companies. For my case, I will need to add the intersectionality of being a migrant and being a Black woman which further widens the gap.

Not only do I have to navigate through a glass ceiling, but when I am in executive leadership, KPMG’s report She’s Price(d)less quantified the Australian gender pay gap to be worth ~$1bn, with the gap widening from 6 per cent among the lowest earning workers to 18 per cent among the executives.

In Australia, we have seen a fair share of women in executive leadership face the guillotine; from the misogyny faced by Julia Gillard to Christine Holgate’s public execution, as well as the most recent target Kelly Bayer Rosmarin. Is that what comes with the territory?! Should it though?! There are many other cases but so far the narrative around executive leadership is not sounding appealing to me AT ALL!

I hold onto hope that possibly Macquarie Group’s CEO Shemara Wikramanayake may have a positive story but I fear finding out more about her leadership experience as it may taint my perspective.

There have been countless DEI initiatives that have been implemented across the board, some successfully, others not so much. However, the fundamental flaw I see is the attempt to retrofit into an industrial system never designed with women in mind. There needs to be a radical rethink of how we look at the way we work and job design. Factors such as the impact of the burden of care, equitable access to opportunities and equitable compensation of labour all need to be considered to fashion an inclusive workplace that supports women.

The challenge is, not many want to invest in dismantling the system, especially when one benefits from it, so you get a lot of resistance to changing the status quo. Reality is the status quo is not working for half of the population and that is a costly problem for the economy. 

We have recent experience of pivoting quickly and on a large scale with our COVID experience, so don’t tell me it’s impossible. Radical change will also need to involve changes in societal attitudes towards women and the contribution women make to the functioning of society. Are we faring any better in that realm? With violence against women still a prevalent problem in Australian society, we still have a fair way to go in turning around sentiments. The discourse needs to be ongoing because the health of a functioning economy is subject to the status of the well-being and welfare of its participants.

As I contemplate my next career move, I am continuously seeking out positive representation and narratives that will fuel my hopes to enter executive leadership.

I have hope for the future and we are progressing as a society albeit at a slower rate than desired. However, I am embarking on the journey with my eyes wide open and prioritising my mental health with every step because what I am not going to do is sacrifice my well-being for the sake of a title.

So if you know of stories of women in executive leadership who are thriving, please share. Help a girl out!

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The AI-based sewerage system maintenance business was backed by Dutch water technology specialist VC PureTerra Ventures, supported by US engineering and construction software giant Autodesk.

“As a women-led start-up, we understand the unique hurdles women face in leadership and funding, and we’re thrilled for VAPAR to be part of the positive change,” the company tells Women’s Agenda.

“We hope that we can inspire other women and the start-up support network to continue backing women and providing a diversified space for all entrepreneurs to drive change.”

Co-founded in 2018 by two engineers, Amanda Siqueira and Michelle Aguilar, the innovative startup was inspired by Siquiera’s experience as an engineering intern. She would manually review sewer inspection videos for 8-hours a day, an error-prone and subjective process that ignited the idea for a streamlined, tech-driven, AI-based solution.

“VAPAR’s technology unlocks the necessary efficiencies in pipeline investment decision-making,” Siqueira said. 

“Billions are spent every year by global water utilities on fixing their pipes, over half of which is spent in North America. Despite the massive investment, there isn’t enough data and dollars available – utilities must commit to doing things differently.” 

“Artificial intelligence can unlock unprecedented efficiencies. Our vision is to create a world where critical infrastructure investment meets the needs of our communities.”

Over 3 billion feet of sewer pipes are inspected globally each year, according to VAPAR, with sewer overflows and flooding becoming more common as a result of aging pipes, climate change and growing populations. 

VAPAR currently serves water authorities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, with a multi-regional team of 17 members. 

With this new $5 million investment, the company plans to build on its established customer base in these regions as well as fuel further expansion across North America to transform aging infrastructure. 

“The face of AI is changing rapidly, and we’re proud to be pioneering this deep learning technology in such an impactful way for the water industry,” said Aguilar.

“With our increasing customer base, we now support a wide range of industry standards, time zones and languages. Investing funds to double our team, add new verticals and start our North American office will ramp the number of customers that can benefit from this technology.”

For the past four years, VAPAR’s revenue and product usage has doubled annually. 

Alex Crowell, Partner at PureTerra Ventures, praised the startup’s performance, calling it a “standout in the evolving water management technology space”. 

“Showcasing their strong customer advocacy, a quick-to-adopt product and an impact-driven team made our decision an easy one,” he said, referring to their backing of the company.

“This investment will not only expand VAPAR’s customer reach but also substantially reduce pipe failures, which reflects our shared commitment to sustainable water infrastructure development globally.”

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In that time, it has been rewarding to witness the increased recognition for women leading action on climate change in areas where they have previously been marginalised, including politics and international negotiations. Alongside this welcome rise in women’s influence, there has been increased understanding of the disproportionate impact that climate change has on women and girls, and increased emphasis of this as the reason why women should be included in decision making.

While this is good on the one hand, some caution is needed so that the real value of women’s leadership is not overlooked in the emphasis on women as victims.

I take my hat off to the international women’s organisation She Changes Climate for calling out the unequal representation of women at the annual UN Conference of the Parties (COP) events – starting with COP16 in Glasgow and intensifying their campaigns at COP27 and CO28. Their open letters to the COP Presidents, and campaigning across country negotiating teams to encourage 50:50 representation has garnered increasing support and media attention. So much so, that when the President of Azerbaijan recently published a 28-person all-male organising committee for COP29, condemnation from She Changes Climate, in collaboration with other groups, hit the media big time. The Azerbaijan administration has responded quickly with the addition of 12 women. This is still far short of equality and gives the impression of the women being the ‘B-team’ – but let’s hope that it is the start of a proper collaboration.

In 2022-23, I noticed a sharp increase in the rhetoric around the impact of climate change on women and girls. It is now usually the number 1 response in most discussions and articles about why women need to be at the decision-making table. This is a significant change from when I founded the WCC in January 2020. At that time, the impact of climate change on women and girls was less well understood and rarely mentioned in relation to women’s leadership. And yet women’s leadership was still seen as an important key to unlock the political gridlock surrounding action on climate change. At the time, in a discussion paper that prompted the formation of the WCC, I wrote:

“Women’s nurture of life is axiomatic. Their leadership style tends towards compassion, inclusion and collaboration.  These combined attributes are essential in times of emergency when life is threatened. They are also essential for effective mediation … Women who have managed to break into the previously male domains have been constrained by organisational cultures that favour a more top-down, hierarchical style of leadership. Women have therefore not yet experienced a level playing field to contribute more relational processes and perspectives. And yet history has shown that when women act together without the influence of existing political cultures they have developed visionary plans like that of the largely forgotten 1915 International Congress of Women in The Hague, which has underpinned much international progress in human rights.”

I am concerned that if we overstress the disproportionate impact of climate change on women as the key reason why women should be included in decision making, we might be inadvertently maintaining an underlying status quo that does not acknowledge the agency of women as women — as the bringers of new life who experience the cycles of life in our bodies – a truth that would be just as valid if women and girls suffered the same impacts of climate change as men and boys.  

In the way that Indigenous cultures recognise ‘women’s business’ as different to ‘men’s business’, it is important that women do not accept leadership only on the basis of being victims – or accept solutions that arise from a system built on centuries of patriarchy, however well-meaning these might be.

The international women’s movement has also stressed the role of women as innovators and bringers of solutions for climate change, which is abundantly clear from the increasingly well-networked women’s groups working for change, including the foregrounding of Indigenous voices  and women from the Global South, and raising international ambition towards a phase-out of fossil fuels. However, these activities are often seen as arising from the impact that climate change has on women rather than from a feminine outlook more generally.

Indeed, acknowledgement of an underlying quality of ‘womanhood’ is seen as problematic by some feminists (with some justification). But it is a conversation that we need to have if we are going to upend the status quo in a way that truly allows women, in all their diversity, to take a full role in governance in a proper partnership with men.

Feature Image: Janet Salisbury.

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There are 1,042 people receiving awards today, recognised for their service to the country through their work, advocacy, research and more.

More than 700 Australians will be receiving awards in the General Division of the Order of Australia, while others will receive military awards, meritorious awards and distinguished and conspicuous awards.

The Australian Governor-General David Hurley congratulated all the Australians who made the Honours List.

“Recipients have made a difference and had an impact at the local, national and/or international level,” Hurley said. “Individually, they are inspiring and collectively they speak to the strength of our communities.

“Recipients come from all parts of the country. They have served and had an impact in just about every field you can imagine; their stories and backgrounds are diverse. We value their service, thank them for their hard work and selflessness and, today, celebrate them.

“To each recipient: know that you have the thanks and respect of your nation. In my experience most are humble and often try to deflect attention or praise – please enjoy the moment because your country has decided that you deserve recognition.”

Dr Sabrin Farooqui

Dr Sabrin Farooqui featured on the Honours List and will be receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her services to community and multicultural affairs. She is being recognised for her work and advocacy for the migrant and refugee communities in Australia, particularly the women in those communities.

“This is a great honour – it’s hard to express it in words. It is a very overwhelming feeling,” she told Women’s Agenda. 

“But I’m truly honoured and privileged to receive a national award. It’s beyond imagination.”

Dr Farooqui came to Australia 20 years ago to study for her Masters at the University of NSW. In her home country, Bangladesh, her parents always gave back to their community, working with and supporting disadvantaged people.

“That’s how I started my work – I inherited it,” she said.

But coming to Australia wasn’t easy. As a first generation migrant woman, Dr Farooqui found it extremely difficult navigating systems in Australia.

Her experience, as well as being inspired by her parents, encouraged her to give back to her community.

“In any country, it’s difficult to navigate systems as a migrant, so I want to help new migrants so that they don’t have to go through the suffering and all the hard times I went through,” Dr Farooqui said.

“That made me more involved in the community service and settlement of migrants.”

After her son became a little older, she first volunteered for Settlement Services International to help refugees and migrants settle in Australia. It was here that she encountered the significant disadvantage that migrants and refugees face in this country.

“Many of us are from a privileged society. We don’t suffer, but other people are suffering, so we should help them,” Dr Farooqui said.

Now, her advocacy and word to give back to her community has expanded in the various roles she holds. Dr Farooqui is a founding member and the President of Cultural Diversity Network Inc. (CDNI).

Dr Farooqui is also the Councillor for Cumberland City Council, and as a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), she is an elected member of the NSW ALP Policy Forum.

Financial independence through education

Dr Farooqui’s number one priority is championing the financial independence of migrant and refugee women, and this has to come through education.

“I believe everyone – both men and women – needs to be financially independent,” she said.

“And what I see among migrants, migrant women are not financially independent. The research says that overall in Australia, women are earning less than men… but on top of that, migrant and refugee women are actually earning less than the average woman in Australia.”

Financial independence is connected to everything, Dr Farooqui said – confidence, self-assurance and, most importantly, dealing with situations of family and domestic violence.

Relying financially on a partner or spouse is how many women, particularly migrant and refugee women, end up in abusive and unsafe relationships that they feel they just can’t get out of.

“There are many women who don’t leave the relationship just because they’re scared of the impact,” Dr Farooqui said.

That’s where education comes in – Dr Farooqui knows that, once women become financially literate and understanding of Australian family law, it will become easier for women to deal with these circumstances.

“It’s important that everyone understands financial literacy – and these things are more important for migrant population,” Dr Farooqui said.

“And I think with all the domestic violence programmes we have, we need to have more education on the legal system and on family law.”

Dr Farooqui is also a strong advocate for including men in conversations around women’s issues, especially on domestic violence.

“There is a gap of men’s voices – we need to bring them on board to understand the complicated system of domestic violence more,” she said.

“We need to know why it’s happening – why so many women are being killed.”

Dr Farooqui hopes her recognition through her OAM will inspire others to follow in her footsteps. As she accepts her award today, she is showing no signs of slowing down in her advocacy.

“Migrant and refugee women’s voices must be in policy making – these things are absolutely important for me, and I want to keep advocating for it,” Dr Farooqui said.

“I want to be their voice. I want to keep my advocacy going.”

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While there were very apparent barriers for Deaf men to participate in the sport, Hale would often watch them join local cricket clubs through their fathers, brothers, uncles and other support systems. 

For over 140 years, there had always been Deaf men’s cricket competitions– nationally, internationally and locally, in Victoria. The same couldn’t be said for women. 

“Deaf and hard of hearing men had so many more opportunities to enjoy the game, but also enjoy the camaraderie of being a part of a team, developing their cricket families and homes away from home,” says Hale. 

That’s why, at a Cricket Australia meeting in 2018, Hale brought up the possibility of creating a Deaf women’s competition.

“The staff member looked at me for a second and said ‘well, if you can get two teams up, we will put on an exhibition match’,” Hale recounts about the pivotal moment in her advocacy journey. 

“Within 48 hours, the Deaf community had come together, formed two teams, and changed the lives of many Deaf women and girls across Australia,” she says.

It was the first Deaf women’s cricket competition in Australia. Now, there are three fully formed Deaf women’s cricket teams playing for their states at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Brisbane in Marchant Park, and Hale says at least half of these women play regular cricket. 

“I feel really strongly about the phrase ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’,” says Hale.  “It is important that people with lived experience lead in the spaces that affect them.  Only they know intimately how being a person with that experience affects their lives and how they experience the world around them.”

As a proud Deaf woman herself, Hale has been leading and driving change through Deaf cricket for years. Most recently, she was selected as a Change Our Game ambassador to shine a light on the need for accessibility of Deaf women in sport. 

Hale is one of eight inspiring women chosen by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation for the Change Our Game movement. It raises awareness on key issues through the platform between now and International Women’s Day 2024.

One of the biggest messages Hale is working to elevate is that not everyone is starting from the same place – a point particularly relevant to Deaf and hard of hearing women and girls.

“From my experiences in cricket, women and girls are only in recent times getting access to the game through their clubs in their own teams in safe and inclusive environments.”

“For Deaf and hard of hearing women and girls, many have never had the opportunity to pick up a ball or bat or understand the rules because of the double disadvantage they have had,” she says noting that it can often be hard for these players to “fit in and communicate effectively at local cricket clubs”.

“It’s for these reasons that we cannot have the same expectations and apply the same rules of men’s cricket to a group that is only just starting out. We need to pivot and adjust to fit,” she says. “This doesn’t make women’s and girls’ sports less deserving, important or exciting – it’s just a different starting point.”

Hale also says that while she feels a great responsibility to open doors for Deaf and hard of hearing women and girls, she cannot speak for everyone’s different lived experiences.

“Leadership for me means capturing as many voices of Deaf and hard of hearing people that I can, and elevating them all as equally as I can, by stepping out of the way, and opening the doors to let others lead,” she says.

What this really comes down to, Hale says, is having empathy and understanding that we all “have a deep human need to belong”. 

“We need to ask ourselves: ‘Are we doing things the way that we have always done them, just because it’s the ‘rules’, or are there truly things that we can adjust in our sports to make them more inclusive of everyone?’,” she says.

“Sometimes the smallest adjustments can make the biggest difference to inclusion.”

Between now and International Women’s Day 2024, Change Our Game Ambassadors will use their platform to help drive change and raising awareness on key issues and barriers for women in sport. The Change Our Game series is put on by the Office of Women in Sport and Recreation. Be sure to follow the Ambassadors’ journeys through @ChangeOurGame on socials.

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Joanne Moss, an experienced board director of ASX-listed tech companies and partner at national law firm Gadens, is one of Australia’s foremost business and legal leaders in digital innovation and transformation. 

She’s at the cutting edge of board strategy and complex disputes, and is a thought leader around digital transformation and innovation. She’s spent years advising companies on how to navigate their digital strategy, utilising both her legal and commercial business knowledge. 

Speaking to Women’s Agenda recently, Moss explained that throughout the time she’s spent as a board director, a deep understanding of the commercial drivers and pressure points of fast-track disruptive tech companies has meant she is able to offer holistic guidance to businesses. 

“Many early-stage companies look to roll out a digital process to one team first such as the IT or finance department,” Moss said. “It’s a siloed approach. They try to bolt it onto other teams at a later stage.”

“What is lacking is the overarching consideration. A holistic approach makes governance and operational execution of the digital strategy simpler and more streamlined. 

“While different teams may be more advanced in the adoption of certain technology and digital processes, the company as a whole should have a true north on the digital strategy.”

Digital strategy from the boardroom

When it comes to her corporate leadership, Moss has frequently found herself forging a path in a traditionally male-dominated space. She gained her first commercial, paid non-executive director role at the age of 39 at a public, unlisted biotech company. At the time, she was the youngest non-executive director on the board by about 20 years, and was the only woman in the room. 

Until recently, she served as an independent chairperson of an ASX-listed company board, where she facilitated resolutions around how the company could develop and commercialise ground-breaking platforms for workflow automation using artificially intelligent imaging in the life sciences industry, as well as the commercialisation of the FDA approved product in Europe and the US.

According to Moss, the constantly evolving technology of artificial intelligence, workflow automation, cloud computing, data use and cybersecurity are some of the main areas that companies are currently navigating. It’s imperative companies are putting in place the appropriate legal guardrails for emerging tech use.

Moss says her experience across legal, risk, compliance and governance areas also means she is able to advise companies on how to navigate the commercial side of digital strategy. Her advice extends to the roll out of digital products and services, especially at emerging disruptive tech companies. 

She’s currently doing so in her role as a non-executive director of the ASX-listed broadcasting company BirdDog Technology, where she also chairs the company’s Audit and Risk Committee, and is a member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee. 

Recently, Moss contributed as an expert panellist on the Governance Institute of Australia’s Data Governance Report, which found that almost 60 per cent of participants thought their boards did not have enough understanding of the organisation’s current data governance challenges. Further, more than half of organisations said they did not have a data governance framework, commonly due to capacity and resourcing constraints. 

The report was launched at the ASIC Annual Forum in Melbourne, and as Moss explains, it offers timely and important guidance for companies amid rising cyber incidents and data breaches, increasing regulations on data and personal information, and the imminent reforms to the Privacy Act. 

A lawyer’s perspective

Alongside her work as a board director, Moss is a partner at national law firm Gadens.

She is a litigation partner with an interest in helping commercial clients that are involved in regulatory investigations or litigation regarding mishandling of data and personal information, cyber incidents and data breaches. 

Often, Moss spends her time advising Australian companies on the trend towards emerging tech litigation in the United States, particularly in the area of AI, and the potential for that to unfold in Australia. 

“AI is top of mind for clients and we are having different conversations with different clients depending on where they are at in their innovation and digital disruption journey,” Moss shared with Women’s Agenda.

“Some clients are coming from a low base where they are enquiring about what AI is and how it can assist their organisation. Other clients are more advanced and actively seeking a proof of concept or undertaking pilots – whether open source such as ChatGPT or closed source. 

“The Gadens Intellectual Property and Technology team are providing a lot of advice around clients putting appropriate guard rails in place from a governance perspective on how to use AI within their organisation.”

Moss is also focused on supporting the potential of Australia’s future lawyers in her capacity as a board member of the University of Technology Law Advisory Board and as a member of the university’s Educating for the Future Committee.

“It is pleasing to see the UTS Law Faculty take a holistic and methodical approach to digital disruption by way of a digital strategy which will be weaved throughout the curriculum for its students,” Moss says. 

“This will guide the students in their understanding of how technology will change how they practice law in the future, embrace the challenges posed by technology and encourage its ethical use.”

You can access the Data Governance Report from the Governance Institute of Australia here, and find the link to the Governance and Risk Management Forum 2024 here.

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While not the first US city to elect an all-female council, the news has made international headlines as St. Paul is believed to be the biggest city to reach such a milestone, with a population of about 300,000.

“This new class of leaders sends a clear message from St. Paul voters, I believe, to the whole world,” said St. Paul’s City Council President Mitra Jalali ahead of the swearing in ceremony. 

“We trust the leadership of these women. We believe in their personal and professional experiences and vision. Philanthropic and policy leaders, executive directors of nonprofits, an engineer… wow,” she said to a cheering crowd. 

While the council’s historic female representation is being widely applauded, Jalali responded to critics in her speech with grace and wit, saying, “If you read my Twitter replies lately, the responses sure are something. They’re fighting for their lives in there.”

“Let’s just say, a whole lot of people who were comfortable with majority male, majority white institutions for the nearly 107 years of city history are suddenly sharply concerned about representation,” she said to even more cheers from the crowd.

“My thoughts and prayers are with them in this challenging time.”

Who are the members of this all-female council?

All seven women are under 40 years old, and six out of the seven are women of color. First-term Council Members include Anika Bowie, Saura Jost, Hwa Jeong Kim and Cheniqua Johnson, while incumbents include Jalali, Rebecca Noecker and Nelsie Yang.

All of them will serve four-year terms, and their election victories brought across-the-baord victory for progressive Democrats in St. Paul.

“Thank you for being change-makers. Thank you for being the road-pavers. Thank you for being the firsts,” said Lt. Gov, Peggy Flanagan in an address at the swearing-in ceremony. “By sitting in these chairs today, you are inspiring more girls than you can ever imagine.”

Since the new council members started moving into their offices last week, Jalali joked that the City Hall “has felt a bit like the Barbie movie.”

Members held their first city council meeting Wednesday, with Jeong Kim, the council’s vice president and Jalali saying their top priorities include a comprehensive housing policy, renter protections, climate action, public safety interventions that use police officers less and mental health responders more, and economic development. 

The most senior member of the council, Noecker, gave closing remarks at the ceremony and urged the group to “really change things” with this momentous opportunity.

“We have the chance to show– through our actions, not just our words– what we all believe,” she said. “That government can be a force for good in people’s lives”. 

In Minnesota, women made up 35 per cent of the municipal office holders in cities with over 10,000 people, tying with Michigan for 16th place among the 50 states, according to data from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. 

Jean Sinzdak, associate director of the center, told AP News that left-leaning and Democratic communities tend to have more women elected officials because Democratic women outnumber Republican women.

St. Paul’s city council is a nonpartisan office, but all seven members are Democrats. The city is also considered to be strongly Democratic, so Sindzak said she’s not surprised “that a city like this achieved this milestone first”. 

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