In March, Management for Design had the pleasure of hosting a wonderful group of women for an inspiring International Women’s Day Breakfast.
The event, hosted by Business Chicks, and with over nine hundred attendees at the Crown Palladium, featured a powerful line-up of speakers; including Wendy McCarthy AO, businesswoman, activist, and writer; Kelly Cartwright OAM, Paralympian, and motivational speaker; and Nyadol Nyuon, lawyer and humanrights activist.

The theme this year was “Choose to Challenge” – which encourages calling out gender bias and inequality, so we can experience change.

Wendy McCarthy began the morning with a powerful talk on women’s rights and explained the journey and challenges she faced throughout leading the successful NSW Pro-Choice Alliance campaign and fighting for gender equality. Wendy’s advocacy and passion for women’s rights have driven the next generation of women to keep fighting for equality and solidarity. She called for a 50:50 representation of women to men in leadership roles given we represent 51% of the population and asked that we all “find our leadership voice”.

Kelly Cartwright then spoke about her personal journey of developing a rare form of cancer, which resulted in her right leg being amputated at the age of 15. Kelly has since competed at the London 2012 Paralympics, become a world champion in the long jump and 100m sprints, and become a mother (amongst a host of other things). Kelly highlighted the importance of seeing people from within, regardless of disability, gender, or race, and encouraged the audience to start the conversation around disability, to educate and normalise looking “different”.

Finally, Nyadol Nyuon delivered a speech that underlined that fighting for gender equality also means fighting for racial equality. Nyadol highlighted that race is linked to our identities, and therefore should not be considered a separate fight from gender equality, stating I am a woman only if I am a black woman. Her journey—being born and raised in refugee camps—has given her the resilience and determination to continue fighting for women’s rights and racial equality.

A special thank you to all the lovely ladies in attendance and we look forward to more eye-opening and inspiring discussions in the future.