International Women’s Day Conference
ON International Women’s Day KBN invites you to celebrate the achievements of women in all spheres of life. This year’s theme, Cultural Transformation, sets out to remind us that gender equality, inclusion and diversity remains a significant challenge, one that is hindering potential competitiveness, growth and prosperity. A lot of efforts and progress have been registered at regional, national and international levels towards achieving empowering women and elevating them politically, economically, socially, and culturally. In Kerry we look forward to a bright future with even more women in higher-wage jobs throughout high-growth sectors. At KBN we remain committed to empowering women to realise their full potential within the global marketplace and aim to build upon the legacy of previous generations of women who have bravely broken through both economic and political barriers.
Our event, “Cultural Transformation” is comprised of a morning session of thought-provoking presentations held by inspirational women who are leaders in their field, followed by lunch in a dynamic networking environment. One such leader is Orla Coughlan, who over the past 25 years has teamed with business leaders in multi-cultural, global markets, focussing on acquiring and growing businesses, developing talent to lead and deliver customer centric organisations. Orla is member of the leadership team of 30% Club Ireland whose focus has become synonymous with building gender balance on boards. The 30% club is working towards having women in 30% of key leadership positions by 2030. The club does not believe mandatory quotas are the right approach. Instead, it supports a voluntary approach in order to realise meaningful, sustainable change. Orla who currently lives part-time in Dingle presents “Better Gender Balance” at the upcoming event. Her previous roles included EMEA HR Director at HP, Global Vice President HR at Activision Blizzard, and she was most recently Chief Human Resources Director at eir. On leaving eir she has become a Director of CDP Leadership Consulting,
The event is open to all and not only highlighted by strong key note speakers in the domains of women in business but also women changing the world in other spheres. Joanne O’Riordan, who will place emphasis on the need for Inclusion, is a woman who spearheaded a campaign against cuts to disability which led to her appearance on RTE’s Late Late Show. Joanne is one of seven people suffering from a rare disease known as Tetra-amelia syndrome. The Irish Times described her TV appearance as “one of the guests on the show in recent years who has made the most impact on viewers”. In 2012 Joanne received a standing ovation for her address to the United Nations on the use of Technology, where she challenging those present to build a robot for her to use. Later her brother made a film on her life titled “No Limbs No Limits”.
Tammy Darcy founder of The Shona Project has devoted her energies into ensuring that women and girls must have the tools they need to succeed. The organisation aims to educate, empower and inspire today’s Irish Girls to become tomorrow’s strong, confident and content young women. Through their school workshops, events and online platforms, Shona has reached over 100,000 in the past year and Tammy was announced as a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland awardee in October 2017. Tammy highlights the need for “Cultural Intelligence” ensuring that girls grow up safe, educated and healthy, and that women and girls are free from violence in the home, in their communities, at school and at work.
Sinead Devlin from Belfast, will cover the controversial topic of “Unconscious Bias”. The session investigates the unconscious feelings we have towards other people. Unconscious feelings can play a strong part in influencing our judgement of certain people and groups, away from being balanced or even-handed in many different areas of life. In 2006 Sinead set up her own company, Develop Associates, delivering HR consultancy, talent management, management & leadership development and Career Coaching services to a number of public sector, SME and blue chip organisations across the UK and Ireland. Sinead has been an Emergenetics practitioner since September 2011. She previously spent 8 years operating in various HR roles within the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, at both a national and international level and formerly held the position of Head of Organisation Development at Ulster Bank. Sinead has worked with leaders and teams in companies such as PayPal, Microsoft and she has delivered many engaging sessions at conferences such as the IoD’s Women’s Leadership Conference in 2013.
The morning session kicks off with Lisa Fingleton. Lisa is the Project Coordinator of ‘Moving On’, a new employment project for women in Kerry who wish to return to work. The project supports women through training, work experience and direct links with employers. Lisa has over 20 years experience in promoting equality and inclusion across all sectors. She worked as a trainer on the Equality For Women programme, a development officer for the Equality Authority and a freelance consultant with Traveller, LGBT and women’s groups. She is a passionate advocate for a more inclusive workplace and society. She will draw on her experience to explain how we can create more fair, accessible and ultimately more productive working environments.
The event will be held in The Brehon Hotel in Killarney and starts at 9:30am with refreshments on arrival. Organisers and promoters of KBN say they are working diligently to encourage women to enter and succeed in the workforce while addressing the many barriers women still face in achieving economic success, including those that impede women’s access to capital, markets, and networking opportunities. Tickets for the event cost between €10 and €25 are available online at: https://kbnwomensday.eventbrite.ie