A word from the Committee
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Welcome to the June edition of the LG Professionals SA Women’s Network Newsletter.
The theme for the Network for 2023 is ‘Discovery’ – around finding your passion, building confidence and courage to be yourself and finally taking the plunge to make these changes.
On 31 May we welcomed a record number of 143 attendees to Rural City of Murray Bridge for our second Network Forum of the year – ‘Now You See Me’, with the program focussed around having the confidence and courage to be yourself and let yourself be seen.
The following quote resonated with us as we reflected on the impactful presentations:
“When we don’t allow ourselves to be seen, we diminish our importance in this world. We undervalue ourselves. We hold ourselves back from greatness. We stifle our contributions. And it just plain doesn’t feel good.”
(Michelle D’Avella, Tiny Buddha blog).
Disappearing is easy and doesn’t take much energy – but its courageous to step out of our comfort zones, taking a risk and backing ourselves to step forward into discomfort and challenges with confidence .
Always be confident to be your authentic self.
We’re excited to develop the program for the final forum of 2023 and look forward to sharing further information with you soon.
We hope you enjoy this edition!
Best wishes, Women's Network Committee Members - Donna Johnston, Kate Grigg and Caitlin Tierney |
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Reflections on the Recent Women's Network Forum: Now You See Me
A big thank you to those who attended in person and on Zoom for a RECORD BREAKING attendance at the second Women’s Network Forum of 2023 'Now You See Me' hosted at Rural City of Murray Bridge.
Anna Lee from Hacks for Her had us reflecting on our experiences and feelings of when we did or did not use courage and why building courage can be more valuable than the focus on building confidence. She had us all stroking our cheeks by the end of her session and giggling at her suggestions for self-celebration.
We were all then captivated with a ‘My Story’ from Heather Barclay, Acting CEO of the Rural City of Murray Bridge. Heather shared her life and career journey in an incredibly vulnerable way that had the entire room in silence. Her journey showed us that in order to grow, you need the support and guidance of a good leader.
Finally, we heard from three inspiring women in a panel session made up of Charli Austin, Administration Officer Community Development at the Rural City of Murray Bridge, Haylee Campbell, Administration Officer Infrastructure Field Services at Mid Murray Council and Melissa Kretschmer, Director City Services at Port Augusta City Council. All women shared their career journeys so far, how they have shown courage and what lessons they have learnt on the way.
On behalf of the Women’s Network Committee, thank you to all attendees and guests speakers for making this event so wonderful, it was a pleasure hosting you in Murray Bridge. |
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Attendees at the Women's Network Forum: 'Now You See Me'.
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Ashleigh Atze
LG Professionals SA
Women’s Network Committee |
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Women's Network Forum
Friday 22 September 2023
9:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Marion Cultural Centre and via Zoom |
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Women's Network Conference
Friday 3 November 2023
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Adelaide Convention Centre |
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2023 CAREER NAVIGATOR PROGRAM - SAVE THE DATE
The Career Navigator Program supports women to develop a strong, authentic professional identity and approach their career and work with positivity and proactivity. The Program equips participants with the knowledge, skills and confidence to:
- build their professional presence and profile
- maintain their cool in stressful and challenging situations
- understand and navigate organisational politics and team dynamics with integrity
- apply a Growth Mindset to personal and professional challenges to build resilience and wellbeing
- set and pursue personal and professional goals
Key program dates:
- Wednesday 2 August - 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
- Thursday 10 August - 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM
- Friday 11 August - 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM
- Thursday 17 August - 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Keep an eye on your email, the Career Navigator Program will be launching soon. |
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CONGRATULATIONS TO CITY OF PORT ADELAIDE ENFIELD
The recipient of the 2023 LG Professionals SA Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion was City of Port Adelaide Enfield for ‘Women in PAE’ – an initiative which has taken a stand to do what is right, now, and address the systemic drivers of gender inequality.
By challenging long held social and workplace norms, the City of Port Adelaide Enfield has implemented changes which deliver both immediate and longer-term benefits. Encouragingly, positive impacts are already being delivered because of the Women in PAE project, including exceeding the 40:40:20 gender target for executive leadership, a gender balanced senior leadership team and the creation of a common set of senior leadership competencies to remove any unconscious gender bias within occupations.
To read more about the project and other finalists in the category please click here.
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Mark Withers, CEO, City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Leeanne McEwan, Women's Advocacy Officer, City of Port Adelaide Enfield and Pippa Webb, CEO, Maxima. |
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We recently spoke with Heather Barclay from Rural City of Murray Bridge about her role as Acting Chief Executive Officer and her career to date.
What is your proudest career moment?
There are many, but most recently, delivery of the Adelaide
Road Linear Park in Murray Bridge. It is not only transformational from a town
entrance perspective, but feels like it changes the face of Murray Bridge, for
visitors and tourism to the region, and importantly it has created a community
place and space for meeting and recreating that did not exist before – the
community loves it and is proud their town is changing.
You are currently Acting CEO
– congratulations! What does a typical day look like for you in this role?
It’s mostly back to back meetings and focuses on the business of
Council and maintaining and building relationships for economy and community
wellbeing, towards creating a thriving community. At the moment the work
is diverse and has a strategic focus, Strategic Plan Review, Structure Planning
as part of our Future Cities Program and of course the Annual Business Plan and
Budget process which is more challenging than it has been for some time given
the financial environment.
What do you enjoy most about
working in local government?
I love working regional!!! At the base-line it is about
people, relationships and community – recently the Murray River Floods have
shown how important these community relationships are. Mostly, it’s so good to be part of the system that supports local communities directly. |
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Who or what has inspired you in your career?
Good leadership inspires me, it is the key to our growth as individuals and as a community – without it organisations and communities can become stale.
What piece of advice would you give to someone with aspirations to move into a leadership role?-
Treat people well, respect them, value their contribution and they will respond
- Take opportunities as they arise – it’s how you grow – you don’t need a tight plan
- Choose who leads you...
- Work towards TEAM Play always – the opportunities are amazing when you are aligned.
What do you like to do outside of work?-
Spending quality time with my partner
- Camping / fishing / beach walking
- Walking, running and cycling for fitness
- PS - I like red wine a lot too...
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BOOK CLUB!
Do you enjoy a good read? The Women's Network Committee has prepared a carefully curated list of some of their favourite books that might interest you:
For Children - The girls' guide to growth mindset: a can-do approach to building confidence, courage, and grit / by Kendra Coate
- Ninja Life Hacks (Children’s book series) – Life is tough, but so are you / multiple authors.
- Girls are pretty; an empowering book / by Susann Hoffman
For Adults
- Radical confidence: 10 no-BS lessons on becoming the hero of your own life / by Lisa Bilyeu
- Nonviolent Communication: A language of life – Life-changing tools for healthy relationships / by Marshall B Rosenburg
- Caught in the Act; Boy, girl, artist, advocate. Courtney is more than the sum of her parts / by Shane Jenek aka Courtney Act
Inspirational quotes to get you thinking:
- “The secret to having it all is knowing that you already do” - Unknown
- “I'm on a journey, I'm where I’m meant to be. One step at a time, I will do this for me” - Bec Aldridge
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Invitation to connect
As the LG Professionals SA Women’s Network Committee represents you, we would love to hear your suggestions of content for future editions. Please feel encouraged to send relevant articles, links, profiles or information through to Haylie Maynard, Membership and Networks Officer at haylie@lgprofessionalssa.org.au. |
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About Local Government Professionals Australia, SA
LG Professionals SA is a not-for-profit member based association representing professionals working in local government in South Australia.
We have the ability to link and connect people from different councils who may not otherwise form relationships or share.
Our high quality professional development programs and networking events are uniquely local government – reflective of the culture of the sector and sensitive to the needs of its professionals.
The content of our events and programs are informed by our members and people who genuinely care about the sector.
We provide a safe and supportive environment in which to grow and learn while creating opportunities to make time away from the office to work on the business or on self.
We award and acknowledge achievements of excellence. We are proud to be part of a national Federation of State based Local Government Professionals Australia organisations, supported by a national office dedicated to supporting the National Local Government sector. |
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