International Women's Day event: Breaking the bias with Brighte

International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate the achievements of women while acknowledging the work still to be done to achieve true gender parity. This year’s theme #BreakTheBias was focused on breaking down biases to create a more diverse and equitable world where difference is valued.

In support of this mission, we invited six women who are forging their own paths in the technology and energy industries to join us for a virtual panel discussion hosted by our very own Hassanah Rudd. During the event, our panellists shared their career stories, biases they’ve faced along the way and the strategies that have helped them through tough times.

“You cannot shortcut the challenges, the peaks and troughs, the getting things wrong process that comes with running your own business,” said Co-Founder of Āhau and Director at Making Everything Achievable, Kaye-Maree Dunn. 

The discussion highlighted the importance of recognising systemic biases in order to overcome them and enable more women to thrive.

“It’s only natural that maybe we would start to believe these things which aren’t true,” said Lauren Peate, CEO and Founder of insights platform Multitudes. “It’s normal for us to doubt ourselves.”

“I’ll take the good, I’ll assess the bad and I’ll just turn up again. As women, it’s so important that we just keep doing that and we don’t let any of those things just knock us over,” said Director of Alinga Energy Consulting, Ruby Heard.

A huge thank you to our amazing panellists:

• Professor Mary-Anne Williams, Innovation Chair at UNSW and Founder of The Magic Lab at UTS
• Lauren Humphrey, Co-Founder and CEO of The Mintable
• Kaye-Maree Dunn, Co-Founder of Āhau and Director at Making Everything Achievable 
• Lucinda Hankin, Director of Private Investments at Grok
• Ruby Heard, Director of Alinga Energy Consulting
• Lauren Peate, Founder and CEO of Multitudes

To find out more about International Women’s Day, visit internationalwomensday.com.