The morning of International Women’s Day saw the launch of the Humber Women in the Workforce project, with women from across the area packing into the Aura Innovation Centre to listen to some inspirational guest speakers and learn more about the new scheme.
The £1.3m project will provide training for over 600 women in the Humber region, with those taking part given opportunities including formal training, upskilling, work placements and networking.
Speakers included Jo Barnes of Sewell Estates, Helen Gibson MBE of Agencia, and Councillor Jane Evison of East Riding of Yorkshire Council. The three influential women talked about what it’s taken to get to the top as a woman in the workplace, plus tips for helping others, including creating your own network, calling out people who ignore women’s ideas in meetings, making things personal, speaking up when you witness bias, not judging what women wear, and never stopping being “difficult”.
Guests stayed to network afterwards, with lots of interesting conversations taking place around “breaking the bias” – the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day.
Those who attended reported being inspired by the event, and looking forward to seeing how they can be part of the project in future. It was also great to see male colleagues joining the event, as it’ll take an effort from everyone to address inequality, support positive culture change and enable women to be the best that they can be in the workforce.
Watch this space for upcoming Women in the Workforce events and training.
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