NEW SCHEME FOR WOMEN MENTORS
A mum who spearheaded the fight to save her library is part of a new scheme to get women into more prominent public and political positions, reports Ruth Mosalski
BECKY Harford is one of 26 women taking part in the new Women’s Equality Network (WEN) mentor scheme.
Through the charity, a group of 26 women have all been paired up with influential women who will act as mentors over the next year.
The mentors include Members of Parliament, Assembly Members, and councillors, along with chief executives, business owners and board members. The women met at Cardiff ’s Norwegian Church yesterday for the first time.
Becky has been paired with Plaid Cymru AM Sian Gwenllian. For Becky it is a chance to learn more about how to bring about change effectively, and not, as she says, just from her soapbox.
“I saw the adverts for the scheme on social media and I wanted to get more involved in the actual workings of politics”, she said. “I wanted to make sure that the voice of my community was being heard.”
Becky was one of those behind a campaign to save her local library in 2015. She is a member of the Rumney Forum and behind Wales’ first library of things – where people can borrow anything from lawn mowers to kitchen equipment.
“I got involved in my community and I realised I didn’t have the skills to know how the system works.
“This is the next step, taking the skills I have learnt from within my community schemes, from campaigning for the library, to make sure our voice is heard higher up.”
Before the pairing, she didn’t know about Sian, an AM elected in 2016.
“She came into politics later in life, and has been a councillor and community councillor. She has also done journalism and communications and that’s where I started with Communities First.
“She has had exactly the kind of experience I am interesting in having, in the community and in local government”.
For Ms Gwenllian, it is a way to encourage other women into politics. She said: “I came into politics as an older woman, elected in 2016 aged 60. Really, it wasn’t until that point that I could become an AM. That’s a combination of family, job and being in north Wales.
“It would be very difficult for a younger woman to be an AM while having children, and with the travelling, etc. It’s fantastic to be here and there is a lot of energy in this room.”
When a councillor in Gwynedd, she was the lone woman in a cabinet of 10. To try and address the balance issue, a scheme was set up to encourage women into politics, which she was part of.
“I was able to motivate a number of women to enter. Sometimes I think women just need that encouragement. We’re ingrained to being made to feel second best”.
Mirka Johanna Virtanen has been doing press for the Green Party for a number of years. She has been teamed with the Institute of Welsh Affairs’ Auriol Miller.
For Mirka it’s a way to get the ear of a woman of influence, but also meet people. As someone who works from home, networking is something she feels she misses out on.
“I want to do far more in terms of networks and get more knowledge about Wales, especially as I wasn’t born here”, she said. “I use a lot of the work of the IWA in terms of my research for press releases so it will be a help in a practical sense as well as enhancing my knowledge.”
For Ms Miller, she says it is a way for her to give back.
She said: “I am a firm believer in working collaboratively and supporting women at whatever stage of their career. It’s about paying it forward and helping people directly though the issues they are going to have and come across and the support they are going to need. It has never been more important for women to be playing a stronger part in public life.
“It’s important for girls growing up to see women speaking about things that matter to them, whether professional or personal.”
Justna Muhith has been paired with Prof Meena Upadhyaya. Justna says she has an interest in equality and women’s equality.
“I have never really had much of an interest in politics, I was on the periphery but I saw this scheme and I thought it would be really good to have an insight into how political campaigns are run to get involved.”
Catherine Fookes, director of WEN Wales, said the idea of the scheme was to get more women involved in public and political life.
“This is an exciting opportunity to learn from the experience and skills of some of Wales’ most inspirational women; and an important step to redress the imbalance of female representation across political arenas, public life, in the board room and in positions of authority and move towards 50:50 representation for women.”