As the world celebrated International Women’s Day, we at Harding Miller Education Foundation took the opportunity to highlight the stories of some of our inspiring team members, from volunteer coach, Felicity Kean, to Lauren Shouldice who runs our comprehensive and engaging Enrichment Program and Bathsheba Sein, a member of our alumnae who now works in our office.
We were also thrilled to enjoy the hospitality of some of our supporters as they celebrated IWD, starting with EY where our alumnae heard about the impressive career of Kellie Blackall who has tackled multiple challenges as she has paved the way for women in tech and Harding Miller volunteer coach Iryna Filonsteva who was born in Ukraine and whose passion for teaching has led her to work in schools across multiple countries.
Unfortunately, ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred meant that Inception Marketing’s IWD lunch was postponed. Another of our high-achieving alumnae, Stephanie, and Louise were going to address the tech audience. Our thoughts are with those impacted by Alfred and we hope that the recovery is swift.
At Sydney Airport, we joined staff from all areas of the airport to hear from Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton and board member, Margaret Staib Air Vice Marshal AM whose ground-breaking achievements had all of us in awe of her strength, courage, compassion and achievements. Two of our remarkable alumnae, Khawlah and Zelda, joined Louise as they talked about the scholarship program and the impact it has had on their educational journeys so far.
Gwen and Emily, two of our alumnae, attended the International Women’s Day lunch hosted by Amazon at the stunning Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney. The event featured an afternoon of insightful discussions and inspiring speeches. Janet Menzies, Country Manager at Amazon, led the fireside chat, while Patricia Routledge, Head of Communications at IKEA ANZ, was the keynote speaker. The event celebrated leadership and offered a fresh perspective to empower the next generation of women leaders.
Kim, Irene, Cara, Louise and two long-term volunteer coaches attended the All About Women ‘festival’ at the Sydney Opera House where they were treated to a feminist roast, interviews and panel discussions on topics as diverse and, at times, confronting as reproductive rights, menopause and dealing with grief.
At Harding Miller, we are always working towards empowering young women and International Women’s Day (Week!) was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to be inspired and challenged to #Accelerate (even more) Action.
