From the National Director

“Why do I have to explain my worth to a bunch of dudes just so I can work and be respected in my chosen profession?” 
“I’m tired of having to do all the convincing and running around and placating.”

As we prepare to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, I wanted to share a frustrated tweet from one of our members. The theme for IWD 2018 is #PressForProgress.

NAWO’s vision is for a world where women and men can be equally represented and valued at every level. In a time of #metoo and all kinds of craziness in the upper echelons of political life it is easy to become disillusioned and start wondering if things will ever change.

A part of me felt so connected to the tweeted sentiment and I had an urge to tweet back #metoo to our frustrated friend.

But a stronger feeling prevailed – a feeling of tremendous optimism. NAWO is a network of optimism. Why? Because every individual who comes to a NAWO event, volunteers as a Committee Member, a Mentor, a Guest Speaker or a Panelist, everyone who supports and hosts NAWO events or an initiative at their place of work, is a person willing to ride the wave of change and #pressforprogress. That is thousands of people, across multiple industries, in our national network who are taking practical, pragmatic action (that is, they are doing more than talking) to strengthen the pipeline of female talent and nurture a culture of real inclusion.

We are very proud of the work our network does to support NAWO women in their careers by hosting events with inspiring guest speakers & role models, providing women with the opportunity to build valuable support networks and enabling access to high quality professional development. All structured around 5 key areas of learning to ensure we #pressforprogress in the career trajectory of NAWO women.

We strive to stretch the minds of senior executives, at every opportunity – to get them to #pressforprogress with their diversity strategies – to help them identify what works and what doesn’t and encourage them to walk the talk.

We drive initiatives to attract young women into operational roles to #pressforprogress in the early attraction of women to traditionally male dominated industries.

We share conversations and advice to help our members #pressforprogress with initiatives relevant to inclusion – topics like parenting, workplace flexibility, managing everyday bias, reframing recruitment and selection practices. The list goes on.

To the women in our network I say: ‘we are with you’. We understand your frustrations, your challenges,  yes it sucks that they are still there, but NAWO is here to support you through them. We also see the possibilities and the opportunities for more rapid change and as a growing network of likeminded individuals and organisations we will continue to #PressForProgress, every day, until hopefully one day we won’t need to anymore.

Happy International Women’s Day!