ABOUT 25 women of all ages gathered at Mildura Community House on Thursday night for the organisation’s third International Women’s Day celebration.
The event focused on the theme of “Women in Leadership Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World” and featured a talk from Member for Mallee Anne Webster.
Mildura Community House chair Carmel Mackay kicked off the event, welcoming attendants and highlighting the importance of gender equity
“The joint effort between men and women is really critical moving forward,” she said.
Dr Webster discussed the ways society was changing to allow women to succeed in life and encouraged women to find platforms where they could make a difference in their communities.
“If I was going to give you a name for this short speech, it would be ‘platforms’; the opportunity to have a platform to speak, the opportunity to have a platform to make change,” she said.
“Those platforms happen by going up steps and sometimes on those steps you fall off and you just have to get up and keep going.
“And eventually, you will have a platform where you can make change, you can change the world, and I just encourage you to think about that going forward.”
Red Cliffs woman Vashti Aratangi performed a traditional Hawaiian dance of praise to conclude the presentations, which was followed by dinner and an open discussion.
Mildura Community House co-ordinator Jeannyfe Spary said she hoped the event would inspire women to feel empowered to chase their dreams, no matter what their background might be.
“As women, we play a vital role in having a progressive society, community and industry,” she said.
“Following our theme this year, I really want to encourage women to find their place in the world — whether you call that a calling or destiny.
“It has been so nice to see younger women here today and I think it is so important to share with them that they could have the future they want and to be leaders someday.
“I have four children and I always remind them that they can do what they want on their own.
“But it is also not a contest — we all have our own time to shine. You just have to wait for that moment to arrive.”
