International Woman’s day, which is celebrated globally on the 8th of March, commemorates the cultural, socioeconomic and political achievements of woman across the globe with a strong focus on gender equality, and on preventing violence and abuse against woman. The first reported Woman’s Day, original called National Woman’s Day, was observed in 1909 in New York city and has now been observed across the world.
Today I was honored to attend the Avila College International Woman’s Day breakfast where the inspirational Jessica Box, Head of Growth at Linktree and Managing Director of Girls in Tech Australia spoke about her own journey and the impact that the non-profit organisation is having globally by encouraging girls to join the tech sector and building a strong community of like– minded woman. I have been working in tech for a long time, the heavy male presence can be challenging for some woman, however things are definitely evolving as more and more women globally consider roles within tech. Companies like BPD Zenith are really leading the way with their flexible working model supporting women as they embark on their tech journey as a technical graduate consultant as well as providing a flexible working model to support mothers returning to work and advancing their tech careers further.
Reflecting on the interview conducted by the awesome young woman at Avila College, I was struck by how things have changed over the years. When I first started in tech in the early 00, technology companies were male heavy and leadership styles were very male dominant. During those early days women in leadership roles may have struggled to be heard and even lead effectively within these male dominated industries but thankfully we are evolving past this and understand more and more what makes a great leader. Jessica reminded me that being a compassionate, vulnerable and value driven leader can not only be powerful but inspiring to those around them. Thank you to Jessica for inspiring all those young women who are exploring potential tech roles or simply exploring what opportunities they would like to create for themselves.
A couple of my favourite lines were, ‘Don’t be afraid to fail’ and ‘take every opportunity in front of you’.
A huge shout out to my boss Mark Michael for always being so supporting of my work/life balance and a very happy international woman’s day to the woman who I sit with side my side in the office and all of you reading this today.
#internationalwomensday #internationalwomensday2022 #breakthebias #iwd22 #iwd #iwd2022