The Women in Innovation & Technology (WIT) board has been busy and successfully growing our network and influence in the South Australian community over the last few months…
Last November we held a fabulous lunch-time panel event, “Beyond the Glass Ceiling”. This was held in the stunning PricewaterhouseCoopers Flinders room, on the 14th floor of 91 King William St. There was lively discussion with our three panelists, Dagmar Egen – CEO of Alpha Jade, Julie Wobber – Partner at KPMG and Jane Brabham – Director of Brabham Consulting, with the discussion facilitated by Christine Molitor – Director of Molitor James. With a fantastic venue, great food and stimulating debate, this event was a credit to all involved.
Our first event for 2011 was a breakfast event at the Adelaide Zoo’s new venue, The Sanctuary, on March 2nd. This event was supported by itSMF (IT service management forum) and our key note speaker was Penny King, CEO of the Management & Research Centre (MARC). Penny talked about communication styles for survival in the business world; we learnt a bit about ourselves and others’ communication styles, with some of us being natural entertainers, some wanting to be rulers, others being analytical deep thinkers and finally those that concentrate on building relationships. This event was fully booked, so my thanks to all involved in supporting the event, special thanks to Penny for providing an entertaining and insightful talk.
The mentoring program for 2011 will be kicking off in April, this year I’ll be joining the group of mentors available for the program and am looking forward to meeting the protégés. Please get in touch with our Mentoring Program Director Lisa Hobden (contact details on our web site at www.wit-sa.org) if you’d like to register your interest in this year’s program.
Our other major program for 2011 is the board readiness program, managed in collaboration with AWISE. I’m a graduate of this program, so can personally recommend it as a great way to kick start your board career! Kathy Parsons is now taking applications for the 2011 program, to be considered for inclusion please submit your completed form along with your CV to brpsa@awise.org.au by 5.00 pm on Friday 4 March 2011.
My heartfelt thanks go to the great team I have working with me on the WIT board; together we’re working hard to connect women working in all areas of innovation and technology. Some new connections that have recently been forged between WIT and other organisations include relationships with itSMF, the Office for Women, Australian Information Industry Association and RiAus. This is in addition to our long standing relationships with other organisations, including the Australian Computer Society, CMACS, BRM Holdich, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cliftons, the Department for Further Education Employment and Training, The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. This great network we’re building is focused on the advancement of women in non-traditional industries and roles and truly makes WIT the preferred networking and professional development organisation for women in technology and related industries.