International Women's Day Brave & Bold Edition
The theme this year is #EachforEqual. An equal world is an enabled world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.
We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations, and celebrate women's achievements.
Meet our 6 BRAVE & BOLD WOMEN for #IWD
Maye Musk
71 year old Maye Musk is a supermodel and registered dietitian. Her new book, “A Woman Makes a Plan,” details how she found her way as a mother, businesswoman, and model.
Musk, the mother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, says the way she raised her children was very similar to the way she was raised. She always worked as a mother and she let her children see that and be a part of it. She encouraged them to follow their passions and to help people.
Musk says that ageism in media and other industries is primarily a problem for women. She says women are neglected as they get older, which is not the case for men. She believes women should make up half of all CEOs and presidents and thinks it would make for a kinder and gentler world.
Tarana Burke
The ‘Me Too’ movement was founded in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence, particularly Black women and girls, and other young women of colour from low wealth communities, to find pathways to healing.
Their vision from the beginning was to address both the dearth in resources for survivors of sexual violence and to build a community of advocates, driven by survivors, who will be at the forefront of creating solutions to interrupt sexual violence in their communities.
In less than six months, because of the viral #metoo hashtag, a vital conversation about sexual violence has been thrust into the national dialogue.
What started as local grassroots work has expanded to reach a global community of survivors from all walks of life and helped to de-stigmatise the act of surviving by highlighting the breadth and impact of sexual violence worldwide.
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Ardern embodies feminine leadership at its best. The 39 year old has been the Prime Minister of New Zealand since 26 October 2017. She has also served as the Leader of the Labour Party since 1 August 2017.
Ardern's government has focused particularly on the New Zealand housing crisis, child poverty, and social inequality. In March 2019, she led the country through the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings, and her government introduced strict gun laws in response.
She was the world's youngest female head of government, having taken office at age 37. Ardern became the world's second elected head of government to give birth while in office (after Benazir Bhutto) when her daughter was born on 21 June 2018.
For her global outreach, leadership skills, and the fact that New Zealand's global ratings of approval and importance are significantly improving under her premiership, she has been widely described as the most powerful woman in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the most powerful women in the world. A truly brave and bold woman!
Jenny Kee
No woman embodies brave and bold like Jenny Kee. The Australian fashion designer was born 1947 in Bondi to a Chinese father and a sixth-generation Australian mother of Italian/Anglo Saxon descent.
Kee started her career in fashion with modelling, at one time featuring as the face of Canadian Airlines.
She was married to Australian artist Michael Ramsden for 21 years. In 1965 she moved to London and became involved in the swinging London and underground scene, where she sold ethnic and retro clothes, cast-off Dior clothes, and Indian embroideries to a hippy clientele at the Chelsea Antique Market for Vern Lambert.
Jenny was in a long-term relationship with artist Danton Hughes, son of the art critic Robert Hughes.
Danton Hughes tragically committed suicide in their Blackheath home in 2001.
In 2006, she published her autobiography and account of her life in swinging London, A Big Life.
In 1972 she returned to Australia, and in 1973 opened a fashion boutique Flamingo Park, and started collaborating with fashion and textile designer Linda Jackson to create a national fashion identity. Among their creations was a knitted koala jumper that was owned by Lady Diana Spencer.
Jenny is on our wish-list for speakers for this year's event!
Silvana Stefanovic-Riley
Those who attended Redefining Ageing 2019 will never forget Silvana or her heart breaking story of betrayal that changed her life nearly 6 years ago. The silence in the room was palpable as we all sobbed with her.
Silvana Stefanovic-Riley is a psychologist and a retired senior public servant who spent 36 years working in the human services field. She has worked extensively in the areas of statutory child protection, domestic violence, homelessness and the provision of disability services.
Since her retirement two and a half years ago, Silvana has cared for her terminally ill father, discovered social media - in particular Instagram, mastered the art of selfie taking, bursting into colour and dressing as a form of self expression.
She is currently travelling the world on a journey of self-discovery, creating friendships, taking endless photos and even penning an odd poem.
Namira Salim
Born in Karachi, is a Pakistani explorer and artist based in Monaco and Dubai. In April 2007, She was the first Pakistani to reach the North Pole and then the South Pole in January 2008.
She is the first Asian to skydive over Mount Everest, during the First Everest Skydives 2008.
An embodiment of courage, Namira Salim is a founder astronaut of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, the first private space-line of the world. She is internationally renowned as the first (future) Space Tourist of South Asian origin.