Interact Club - International Women's Day Breakfast

On Thursday 5 March, a team of four Rotary Interact Club members, along with Ms Dickinson and Ms Mohan, attended the International Women’s Day Breakfast at Palladium Crown. Alongside over 1000 other passionate individuals, those attending from St Albans Secondary College were: May Nguyen (Vice President), Tiffani Tran (Secretary), Cindy Nguyen (Project Coordinator), and Taylah Tran.

 

Between delicious meals of eggs and bacon, croissants and sweet dessert, our students joined other Interact Club members across Victoria to celebrate the incredible achievements of women in different industries as well as to discuss their right to ‘A Seat At The Table’.

 

Speaking at the event were distinguished panellists:

  • Sally Capp: the first woman occupying the position of Lord Mayor of Melbourne since the ’80s, as well as the first woman to hold the post for Agent-General for Victoria in the UK.
  • Terry Moran: Chancellor Federation University, previously CEO of the Office of the State Training Board in Victoria and Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the most senior position in the Australian public service, having been appointed by Kevin Rudd and continuing the position under Julia Gillard.
  • Deb Platz: National Manager of the Crime Operations portfolio. 
  • David Leser: Australian journalist and author on social and political issues. He has been the Middle East and Washington D.C. correspondent as well as feature writer in Australia for the Murdoch, Packer, and Fairfax presses.
  • Melinda Cilento: CEO of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia and member of the Parliamentary Budget Office panel of expert advisors. 

 

“It was such an honour to attend this breakfast. Surrounded by so many other passionate members of Interact, I felt both inspired and proud of the huge, inclusive family we are. A surprising fact I learnt was that Australia’s gender pay gap is currently 14%. I hope that we can continue working together to see this number reduced in the future, and am thankful for being given the opportunity to participate in such a meaningful event.” - Cindy Nguyen

 

"Being a part of the breakfast amongst Interact members from other schools and listening to the extraordinary panellists gave me a sense of pride and motivated me to continue to put the effort in achieving our goals in the Interact Club to make changes about equality. The event was not only about inspiration, but its purpose was also for individuals to take action by having a go and pushing boundaries. I am extremely grateful for being given this opportunity and hope that I can make small actions to improve equality towards women and men." - Taylah Tran

 

 

 

Cindy Nguyen

Project Coordinator