International Women's Day

International Women's Day Breakfast

With International Women’s Day being celebrated on Friday 8 March, we  enjoyed our International Women’s Day Breakfast for Year 10 students and their mothers.  Our keynote presenters at the Breakfast were alumnae, Azmeena Hussain, lawyer (Class of 2004) and Lauren McCutcheon, engineer (Class of 2012).

Azmeena spoke passionately about her background and the need for women to redefine the narrative. Lauren spoke about looking forward to a day when we shall not need to talk about gender as it will no longer be something which separates the sexes. Both were beacons of hope and stood out as young women who were not afraid to pursue the unconventional.

Azmeena Hussain (2004)

Azmeena was a student at Sacré Cœur  for two years in Year 11 and 12 from 2003-2004. She was heavily involved in all aspects of school life, particularly in the areas of social justice and sport. Her goal, at the time was to go to University and a pursue a career in Law.

Azmeena is now a Principal at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers. She is the Melbourne office leader of the Road, Work and Comcare departments. She is a Law Institute of Victoria, Accredited Specialist in personal injury law and graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Additionally, Azmeena is the Deputy Chair of InTouch Multicultural Centre against Family Violence and Deputy Chair of the Islamic Museum of Australia. She is a Trustee and Director of the Victoria Women’s Trust and an AFL Multicultural Ambassador. She is the Chair of Maurice Blackburn’s National Cultural Diversity Network and a passionate advocate for human rights.

She is an outgoing Advisor to Victoria Police, Chief Commissioner's Human Rights Strategic Advisory Committee, Judge on the Australia Day Awards, Vice President of the Office for Women at the Islamic Council of Victoria and Director of the Southern Migrant Resource Centre.

Most recently, she has been listed in the prestigious Doyle’s Guide as a preeminent Australian personal injuries lawyer.

Read about her recent appointment as the first Muslim woman partner at Maurice Blackburn here

Lauren McCutcheon (2012)

Lauren was a student at Sacré Cœur from 2007-2012. Her dedication to studies was evident throughout her entire time as a a student and she graduated as the Dux of the Class of 2012.

She went on to pursue a degree in both Law and Engineering. In 2015 she won the RMIT University Award for Outstanding Student Achievement. In conjunction with this, Lauren partook in the LITE - Leadership in a Technological Environment initiative as part of the Monash Engineering Excellence award. This involved developing insight into the modern world of engineering through a range of industry partners, one of which was John Holland. After being awarded the Sir John Holland Scholarship, Lauren commenced work in 2014 with them whilst still studying.  

Over the past four years, she has worked on a variety of projects including the Westgate Bridge Maintenance Package, Burke North Centre McKinnon Level Crossing Removals, Melbourne Metro Early Works and currently the West Gate Tunnel Project. Through the support of John Holland, Lauren was awarded the 2015 National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Student Prize.

Finally, Lauren has also completed 12 months of in-house legal experience as a legal undergraduate with John Holland whilst completing  three months legal study in Italy as part of the Monash Prato Program.