South Australian women’s international impact celebrated in SOLD OUT event

South Australian women leading change in their communities and across the world will come together to inspire the next generation of leaders and change makers in a sold out event in Adelaide next week.

The Australia Day Council of South Australia, together with the Office for Women,
have created this special event to celebrate South Australian Women who are
committed to making a difference in the world through their service and work.

The diverse group of speakers, including Dr Gill Hicks AM MBE, 2015 SA Australian of the Year and Kirstie Parker, Director of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Department of the Premier and Cabinet, are all leaders in their chosen fields.

Australian Day Council of South Australia CEO, Jan Chorley, is proud to have been a part of bringing these women together.

“These women bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise over a wide breadth of
backgrounds and industries.

“This event is for those who care about our future, to inspire future women in
leadership and to showcase South Australian women who each day, are making a
difference in the world,” said Ms Chorley.

Jane Sloane, Director of the Women’s Empowerment Program at The Asia
Foundation based in San Francisco, is leading a women’s climate resilience program across Asia and the Pacific focussed on furthering women’s leadership in responding to climate change and ensuring women’s access to higher paid green jobs in the rising green economy.

Jane Sloane believes that the importance of women’s role in driving change cannot be understated.

“We’ve seen globally that societies are better, both politically and economically,
when women play an active role in leadership, decision making and the workforce.

“This is affirmed in a recent McKinsey Global Institute report that revealed that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality. To achieve this, public, private, and social sectors will need to act to close gender gaps in work and society.”

“In my work, making the wrong decision can be a matter of life and death. I have
learned to trust in my judgement and have confidence in myself. This has allowed
me and those around me to expose growing inequality and fight for change.

“The more women play an active role in decision making, leadership, and the
workforce, the stronger we as a society will become. Not only here in Australia, but globally,” said Ms Sloane.

Dr Minerva Nasser-Eddine, Director of Al Hikma, a Middle East Advisory agency, and Visiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide, was also enthusiastic about the event.

“I am always grateful for any opportunity to speak out against the negative
stereotypes of people from the middle east and middle eastern descent and
enlighten people around the issues of concern to these communities, particularly in a post 9/11 environment,” said Dr Nasser-Eddine.

“As a female from an Arabic speaking community I have faced a lot of opposition in my career. Arabic culture is quite conservative and patriarchal, I’m often the only woman in a room full of men talking politics.

“As someone who looks, and is, ‘other,’ I have experienced a lot of covert racism in South Australia. As an adult, I have learned to call out racism for what it is and teach people that I am no different to them. We’re all human beings sharing the same space.”

“A lot of my research is around trying to find ways to help refugees from war-torn
countries, like Syria, reconcile their differences and resolve conflict among
themselves. Conflict has scarred these refugees and continues to play out in their
communities, bringing about closure will help them to successfully integrate in the
Australian community.”

“I have been a mentor to many young women over the years. I try to teach them
that as an Australian of an Arabic speaking background, they will face challenges, but it’s not impossible to overcome them,” said Dr Nasser-Eddine.

“Inspiring South Australian Women Impacting the World” will be held at 5pm,
Monday 13 August, at the National Wine Centre, corner of Hackney Rd & Botanic
Rd, Adelaide.