Leading the way
Claudia Johnson
Assistant Principal - Engagement & Wellbeing
I had the pleasure of escorting Emily Lynch (School Captain) and Saskia Black (Vice Captain) to attend the Women Unlimited Leadership Summit earlier this year, at the Sofitel, Melbourne.
Kamala Harris was the extraordinary and articulate keynote speaker who spoke with such passion about rebuilding trust. She drew on the current experiences of distrust in her home country of the United States and on her experiences of building trust with communities. There were lots of links drawn to how we can build, sustain and grow trust in our own communities. The renowned journalist, author and podcast co-host Leigh Sales led a more informal discussion where we heard about her interactions, and trust building, with heads of state, including some notable big personalities.
The two-day program was packed with amazing speakers. A hilarious hour was spent with Annabel Crabb, author and journalist, who both delighted and inspired the audience with her take on the ‘rules’, who the rules protect or serve (not always the same people equally) and how ‘bendy’ they are (bending for some and not others). Annabel celebrated the advances for women and encouraged the continued challenging of the rules.
There were too many inspiring speakers to condense into a short article, but the Honourable Jennifer Coate AO, Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission summed up the varying themes of the conference by asking and answering: “Why are we still having summit for women in leadership? Because women are still experiencing internal and external questioning to take up and hold positions of authority, leadership and control.” Jennifer’s authority and knowledge was a calm counterpoint to the styles of other speakers – fiery, irreverent, inclusive, analytical – and served as lucid example of how people – women – can be successful in different ways.
What was evident to us all was the recurring theme of young people are central to the purpose for change and as the agents of change.
Emily, Saskia and I would love to talk with anyone about our experiences at the Women Unlimited Leadership Summit so please seek us out to have a chat!
Emily Lynch
Year 12
School Captain
The Women Unlimited Summit was such an inspiring experience. We were so lucky to spend two amazing days listening to stories from women who are leaders across a huge range of professions. They all had such incredible stories to tell.
Listening to Kamala Harris speak was the most exciting part of the summit for me. She talked a lot about young people and their impact in leadership, which was encouraging and reassuring as it showed me the importance of young voices in making change. The main takeaway from all the speeches was that we should stop underestimating what we can achieve - a motivating message that I'll remember as I navigate my role as School Captain.
