THE FUTURE OF FEMALE LEADERSHIP
Innovation Day
“The Female Leadership day allows young women to empower themselves and prepare for the workforce. It has given me access to female leaders who do what I want to be doing and provided connections to those working in STEM industries. Their stories are so helpful and inspiring. It is more than discovering your future, it also provides you with a chance to reflect on yourself. Events like this are so important for us to feel empowered in the STEM areas. We are not aware of all the opportunities available to us. Here, we can create a strong platform for our ideas. This is crucial in promoting equality and meeting these female innovators opens our eyes to what lies beyond school."
Statements from young women who represented their high schools in 2019
WHILE YOUNG WOMEN ARE CONSIDERING THEIR FUTURE CAREERS, HOW MANY OF THEM...
Think STEM education is important for achieving impact goals and solving real world problems?
Understand how their interests intersect with the technology and innovation sectors?
Have heard of the Sydney Startup Hub or know what a 'startup' is?
Know a female innovator whom they admire?
"While women constitute almost 50% of the labor market, there are only 28% of women in STEM fields as opposed to 72% of men."
(National Girls Collaborative Project: 2018)
Why young women need mentors
Women are underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Even in companies where the representation of women is higher, women are less likely to hold executive positions and are, on average, paid less than men. In male dominated workplaces women are more likely to experience prejudice because of their gender. Young women, in particular, are less likely to be able to identify female role-models in the STEM space and can be heavily impacted by socialisation and unequal exposure to these fields when making decisions about their future career paths. STEM subjects are often siloed off from other areas of learning, making it hard for some young women to understand how their interests and passions intersect with these fields.
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ACTIVITIES
ON THE DAY
The future of work for women is changing but we are tired of telling young women about it... we want to show them! Gathering at the Sydney Startup Hub, female senior high school students from across Sydney connect with Australia's best innovators for experiential learning that could change a future career, inspire a bold idea, or challenge an assumption! This full day event will challenge the perceptions of successful female innovators, as well as those who are only just beginning to help create a network of women who are committed to building inclusive teams, workplaces and technologies. To be STEM leaders, young women need to have the opportunity to know, admire, connect with and learn from female innovators.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Before the Event
Students are provided with an educational resource package prior to their attendance– scalable resources which can also be shared with their broader school community. Schools will be encouraged to facilitate an internal mentorship program in which the student is matched with a female STEM teacher. This educational mentor will support the student’s preparations for the event, as well as attending with them on the day. The resource pack includes readings and activities on prototyping and ideation, small business basics and entrepreneurship, pitch materials, startup culture and female led innovation history, a vocabulary list of industry specific terms, phrases, and acronyms, and a network map of the female leaders attending, their biographies and professional experience.
WELCOME & WORKSHOPS
Session One
Students arrive at the Sydney Startup hub for an official address and welcome from the NSW government's Jobs for NSW. Students participate in an interactive educational workshop addressing key areas of learning– startups, small business, innovation entrepreneurship and STEM leadership.
TOUR AND TRAINING
Session Two
Students tour the Sydney Startup Hub with community leaders from Australia's best startup incubators and accelerators to see how the country's most exciting new companies collaborate in dynamic working environments. Students then participate in a coaching session with an ex Silicon Valley executive to work on removing the mental blocks that stifle creativity and innovation. Self-reflection exercises help grow confidence and communication skills.
SPEED MENTORING
Session Three
Interactive presentations are led by the event's corporate sponsors. Executive women from top tier coporates discuss leadership and career pathways for women and how STEM is used in their products and processes. This is followed by a speed mentoring lunch in which students rotate between networking sessions with a broad range of female innovation leaders. Scientists, policy makers, designers, coders, IP lawyers, storytellers and content creators, CEOs, academics, founders, investors... you name it!
AFTER THE EVENT
Alumni
We are always collaborating with our partners in the innovation sectors– speaking, sharing and showing our work and tech at a wide range of events across the country. Orbispace alumni will continue to receive educational content generated by parallel initiatives, as well as being invited to attend STEM and innovation related opportunities hosted by our partners, including being given access to additional free or discounted programs.
"We were honoured to be able to participate in this event where we exchanged stories with young women full of potential and bright futures. Our EY representatives shared our vision for females entering the workforce and pursing future leadership roles. In turn, we directly learnt from the participants about what concerns, issues and dreams they had. Through our interactions, we also realised there is still a strong need to continue to expose these young women to the diverse range of leadership opportunities available to them in the tech and innovation space. As part of our commitment to build a better working world, we took our learnings back and are actively addressing them through our EY STEM Initiative."
Zainab Farouk, Innovator - Ernst and Young (EY)
2019 CORPORATE SPONSORS
ERNST & YOUNG (EY)
"In a world that’s changing faster than ever, our purpose acts as our ‘North Star’ guiding our more than 280,000 people — providing the context and meaning for the work we do every day. At EY, we help digital pioneers fight data piracy; guide governments through cash-flow crises; unlock new medical treatments with data analytics; and pursue high quality audits to build trust in financial markets and business. In other words, working with entrepreneurs, companies, and entire countries to solve their most pressing challenges."
"Developing individual connections with the girls during the one on one sessions and hearing about their plans for their future made the event very rewarding. I was pleased to have this opportunity to answer questions from the girls about my company’s work and my own personal career path, and to inform and encourage the girls to explore STEM fields, particularly engineering."
Jan Mason, CEO - Quest Payment Systems
2019 ATTENDEES
In 2019 we hosted 100 women
Read about some of the amazing women who attended our leadership innovation day in 2019
OUR LEADERS AND OUR FUTURE
JULIE DEMSEY
EX-SILICON VALLEY EXECUTIVE (YAHOO) AND CORPORATE MINDSET COACH
With over two decades working in the Silicon Valley and in Australia’s thriving startup space, contributing to hundreds of businesses, I’ve learned the key to exceptional results stems from one vital focus - mindset. My passion working with individuals and companies to cultivate the right culture, develop high performing teams and drive sustainable businesses led me to my purpose in mindset mastery. The mind is powerful. It sets up our core beliefs, habits and actions. We’ve all experienced being held back by our mindset, but stop and think... what has that really cost you over your lifetime? As a leading mindset coach, certified hypnotherapist, speaker and facilitator, my work across the globe is life changing. Our minds are like powerful icebergs, with the majority submerged and unseen. I work to unlock your subconscious to gain clarity on where your mind is holding you back, reset your thinking to propel you forward, and connect you back to your true potential without derailing your life. In addition to working with individual clients, I create group sessions to decrease stress and anxiety, and increase confidence, fearlessness, authenticity and remove blocks and limiting beliefs that no longer serve the team so they can soar to the next level to create impact and success.
STARTUPS INVITE STUDENTS TO CONSIDER THE FUTURE
About - Sydney Catholic Schools Magazine
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