#BeBoldForChange – AFA Inspire celebrates International Women’s Day
Dianne Charman
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA)’s powerhouse for women in financial advice, AFA Inspire, is calling on the financial services industry to #BeBoldForChange, in support of International Women’s Day (IWD), with a series of events to be held across Australia.
Celebrated globally on 8 March, IWD is committed to driving change for women, helping them to move closer to gender parity and encouraging the creation of more inclusive cultures.
AFA Inspire Chair, Dianne Charman, said the AFA Inspire #BeBoldForChange events in support of IWD represent an important opportunity to be a part of a global community striving for change. “Research has shown that closing the gender parity gap could take 170 years – we have to do better than that and as an international community, we can,” she said. “I encourage everyone who attends one of AFA Inspire’s nationwide events to take a moment to pause, look around the room and realize they are part of something bigger and that together with others around the world, they really can make a difference.”
Ms Charman also said the financial advice community can play a crucial role in improving outcomes for women. “AFA Inspire has dual objectives – to encourage more women to become advisers and, more broadly, to encourage women to be more involved in their financial future,” she said. “If we can meet these two objectives, it will help us address the retirement gap. Closing the retirement gap is critical for all Australians, particularly women who generally have lower superannuation account balances than men, and the financial advice community has the expertise and experience to do it.”
The AFA Inspire #BeBoldForChange events will kick off in Melbourne on the eve of IWD on 7 March with special guest speaker, Sadhana Smiles, CEO of Harcourts Group Victoria.
Breakfast events will be held on the morning of IWD in both Perth and Adelaide, with the Perth event hosting self-made international business woman, Marnie LeFevre. Adelaide will host two prominent South Australian businesswomen – Genevieve Theseira-Haese, Lady Mayoress of Adelaide and gold medal paralympian, Katrina Webb.
Sydney, Hobart and Brisbane will all host lunch events, with the Sydney event featuring a panel of leading Australians, including Libby Lyons – Director, Workplace Gender Equality Agency; Kerry Chikarovski – Government Relations and Former NSW Opposition Leader; Philippa Sheehan – Managing Director, My Planner Australia; Brad Fox – AFA CEO; Jonathan Hoyle – Stanford Brown CEO and Julia Newbould – Senior Marketing Specialist, Customer Communications & Stella Network Lead at BT. Aleks Vickovich, Managing Editor, Wealth and Innovation at Momentum Media will facilitate the session.
Two special guests will speak at the Hobart event – Gill Berriman, an advocate for transformational leadership at all levels of the educational system and Bernadette Black, CEO and Founding Director of Brave Foundation and Telstra’s 2016 Tasmanian Business Women of the Year. Dr Jane Thomason, CEO of Abt Associates (Australia) will be special guest at the Brisbane IWD lunch.
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