Frustrated by the gender imbalance, local Geelong business owner, Lisa Sweeney, is taking on the national gender equality issues by announcing the Gender Equity Awards on 17 August and working with organisations across Australia!
When it comes to issues of gender equality, gender bias, stereotyping, pay-gaps and the list goes on, Lisa Sweeney has seen, heard, listened and coached people on all the issues.
Lisa is the Executive Director and CEO of Business in Heels, an organisation to connect, fast-track professional and businesswomen, with over 160,000 connected women. Through the extensive mentoring programs run at BIH, Lisa and the team work with 100’s of women to coach and navigate the daily perils and issues in workplace, and these workplace issues continue to flood the conversations.
Looking for inspiration? Check out our list of the other insanely cool, inspiring and motivational women from Geelong.
Findings from the WGEA March 2022 report show little shift for women in leadership;17.6% of chair positions; 31.2% of directorships; represent 19.4% of CEOs; and 34.5% of key management personnel, which is all still a long way from 50%.
Similarly, The Champions of Change Coalition continues to gain advocates, as does Work180. Yet despite this, COVID has resulted in a backward step with the gender pay gap sitting today at 13.8%.
Frustrated by the continual gender imbalance, Lisa is launching the National Gender Equity Awards, focusing on the stories of success in regards to gender equality.
Lifting the bar of gender standards, the awards will take place at Crown Casino in Melbourne on August 17, inspiring a groundswell of activity by acknowledging great organisations and individual advocates. The sharing of their stories and best practices will give others a roadmap and the incentive to succeed.
Organisation categories for both Enterprise and Small and medium-sized enterprises include Technology, Insurance, Finance, Mining & Energy, and General Business, while individuals categories include employee, HR leader, Marketing leader, sales leader, operations leader, IT leader, finance leader and CEO.
If your organisation is passionate about gender equity then you are eligible to enter. Nominations are now open for these categories and will close May 31.
The awards will be judged by 20 senior business leaders from from all backgrounds with finalists announced on July 1.
“These awards are aimed to encourage competition between businesses especially in the ‘War for Talent’. By striving to achieve, we hope to create a groundswell of activity driven by best practice and inspired by the stories of individuals. Every little bit counts and maybe this will be the tipping point in driving change. I would like to see some major change in my lifetime,” says Lisa Sweeney.
With a vision for equality for all in the workplace, Lisa is challenging and working with organisations nationally to put their best foot forward with the launch of these awards. But for Lisa it doesn’t stop there, she’s recently launched a new area of the business ‘Business in Mentoring’ – mentoring for males and females to create an equal future for all.
Hoping to get organisations talking about the good news stories in workplace, Lisa wants to change the focus and bring the positivity forward to inspire other organisations and individuals. Find out more here.
