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Meggie Palmer
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY Uniting under the UN Women banner for International Women’s Day 2021, #womenlead, our Senior School International Women’s Day Committee prepared a series of wonderful events in early March for our community to celebrate this important event on the global calendar. At Senior School Assembly students drew on the resources of the UN Women Australia’s 2021 IWD live streamed event, particularly the message of Yasmin Poole. An award-winning speaker, writer and youth advocate, Yasmin is Plan International's National Ambassador and champions the importance of young women being heard in Australia's political conversations. She has also appeared on prominent television programmes such as Q+A, The Drum and The Project. As Young Influencer of the Year 2021, Yasmin urged our students to choose to challenge ourselves, each other and our institutions to address gender inequality at its roots. She drew on her experiences and that of many other marginalised women to highlight the manner in which women have for too long been forcefully excluded from the shaping of Australia. Yasmin urged her audience to take all women seriously, to choose to challenge each other and our institutions. She encouraged all women to take control of their personal narrative, as she has in the face of adversity. Poole challenged the entire community to ‘chip away at the roots of gender inequality’ in order to ‘grow together’. Her final image, a ‘forest of freedom for all’, was an uplifting vision of the future; a vision set to inspire our community.
This message of combating gender inequality and working together to action genuine change was echoed at our 2021 Ruyton UN International Women’s Day Breakfast by special guest keynote speaker, Meggie Palmer. A former journalist and now social advocate for gender equality, Meggie is the founder of PepTalkHer, a global tech company with a mission to close the gender pay gap. Drawing on her own personal experiences working in the media, Meggie spoke to the assembled audience of Senior School students, their mothers and other women from our community about the importance of knowing your worth, learning from mistakes and choosing to challenge societal norms. Reminding the girls about the power of the individual, she implored the girls to speak up in instances of inequality and understand that any action of courage, however small, still has the ability to contribute to broader social change. Meggie firmly believes in the power of story as a trigger for broader talking, sharing and normalising in society, for ‘when no one talks about it, nothing is done’. Inciting the girls to speak up and get involved, Meggie was resolute. ‘Our voice and our stories and the most important tools we have’. Our International Women’s Day Student Committee was honoured and inspired to work with these two influential and inspirational women and has taken strength from their powerfully simple messages. Lauren Perfect Deputy Principal – Head of Senior School Brigid Steele Marketing and Publications Manager FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.yasminpoole.com www.meggiepalmer.com
autumn 2021
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