Despite a rollercoaster of a year since the last International Women’s Day and the introduction of Covid restrictions, IWD 2021 was marked with the same enthusiasm and verve as always!
The year’s global UN Women theme for IWD was ‘Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’. This theme celebrated the tremendous efforts of women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future, especially during recovery from the pandemic.
In honour of the theme, we partnered with ACFID (Australian Council for International Development) to bring attendees a lively lunchtime discussion with incredible leaders across the sector who shared advice, guidance and inspiration as they encouraged women working across aid and development to step into leadership.
Our panel discussion was followed by small group networking sessions with the panellists, other guest speakers and participants. The event was extremely successful as we heard some incredible experiences, gained knowledge, and reflected on the challenges faced on the road to leadership.
Watch the event
Guest speakers
Bettina Baldeschi
Bettina was appointed Chief Executive Officer of International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) in late 2017.
She joined IWDA in 2012 as Director of Communications and Fundraising, leading the transformation of the organisation’s brand identity, media profile and communications strategy. Bettina later served as the Director of IWDA’s Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM) program – a world-first, gender-sensitive and multidimensional measure of poverty. Before joining IWDA, Bettina held a number of executive roles with Oxfam Great Britain, and also worked with UNHCR in Canberra.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Communication Studies from the University of East London and a Master of Studies, Gender and Development, from the University of Oxford.
Rosie Wheen
Rosie is a passionate advocate for human rights, gender equality and universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene. She has two decades of international development experience, having lived and worked in Indonesia for six years before joining WaterAid Australia at its inception in 2004. She was Director of International Programs prior to becoming Chief Executive in 2016. Rosie’s leadership manifesto focuses on being an authentic, servant leader who always pushes herself beyond her comfort zone; this is where Rosie believes she learns most and performs at her best.
Rosie serves on the Board of the THREE Foundation, ACFID and is a Founder and Committee Member of Not in My Workplace, a group of executive leaders working to address workplace harassment and abuse across all industries in Victoria. Rosie has recently discovered obstacle racing and electric bikes, which keep her sane and healthy. She is a shamelessly proud mother of two boys.
Jenny Mori
Jenny is an accountant by profession and has been working mainly in private and development sectors. She is currently Director of Operations at WaterAid Papua New Guinea and previously worked as Senior Accountant and Operations Manager..
Jenny is mother of four kids (three sons and one daughter). She has lived in Port Moresby for the last 18 years but always loves to travel back to her village where she grew up to spend time with her extended families.