JLC’s Annual International Women’s Day Conference
We were thrilled to welcome over 60 guests to our annual International Women’s Day event last Thursday, 6th March, focussing on this years’ theme of ‘Accelerating Action’. The day consisted of networking and learning opportunities with attendees hearing from an array of guest speakers throughout the day including Jewish Women’s Aid, KeshetUK, Jewish Care and our keynote speaker: Linda Plant.
Linda, shared her fascinating journey from market stall holder at fifteen years old to the worldwide business owner and entrepreneur she is now, sharing how she was frequently the only female in the room, often in foreign countries dealing with different cultures. She stated: “Always say yes and then work it out afterwards. Once you’ve said no – the door is closed, and an opportunity is gone.”
In order to allow participants to meet one another and form new connections, in groups, they were asked two questions:
What action would you like to accelerate in your own work?
What could your organisation do differently to accelerate change and improve the culture of the organisation?
The answers and conversations that followed were fascinating and really set the tone for the remainder of the day, providing tangible takeaways to promote further conversations within their organisations.
The day concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Claudia Mendoza (CEO at the Jewish Leadership Council), with panellists Jo Bucci (CEO at the Jewish Chronicle) and Harriet Waley-Cohen (multi-award-winning speaker, trainer and coach). It was a lively and fascinating conversation and highlighted how far we have come in championing women’s rights but acknowledged there is still lots more that can and should be done. There was an interesting focus on the importance of allyship, not only from male colleagues but just how important women-to-women allyship really is.
Head of Programmes Laurence Rosenthal and Head of Operations Natasha Glass at the JLC stated: “We were delighted to once again host an inspirational day marking International Women's Day. The community is very fortunate to have so many amazing women in positions that directly impact their respective organisations and their service users. Organisations are investing in their female staff’s development more than ever and we have seen this further through the record number of applications for our Adam Science and Dangoor Senior Leadership Programme. There was a real buzz and energy throughout the day which we hope inspired the participants to continue what they are doing!”
