MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday June 9, 2017
GIRLEDWORLD LEADERSHIP SUMMIT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
A world-first education event for girls to close the gender gap and smash the glass ceiling.
Melbourne, Australia: An Australian start-up founded to smash the glass ceiling, tackle the workforce gender participation gap, teach girls how to lead and get more girls into startup, entrepreneurship and STEM careers, is holding the inaugural girledworld Leadership Summit the weekend of June 24/25 at the University of Melbourne’s Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship.
This is the first event of its kind, and will allow hundreds of secondary school aged girls to immerse in skill- building leadership workshops, hear powerful stories of startup success and career advice from extraordinary local and international female leaders and founders, and experience first-hand the 21st century innovations and enterprise skillsets that will define the future of work.
To be opened by Federal Minister Kelly O’Dwyer, Hon. Philip Dalidakis of the Victorian Government, Kate Cornick CEO LaunchVic, Georgia Beattie CEO StartupVic and Dr Rufus Black, Master of Ormond College and Innovation and Science Australia Board Member, the event is spear-headed by Master of Entrepreneurship alumni Edwina Kolomanski (scholar of Entrepreneurship and Law) and Madeleine Grummet (journalist, entrepreneur and mother of four daughters) who are passionate about equipping girls with what they need to lead, succeed and innovate to create the businesses of Australia’s future.
The Summit will explore exponential technologies, automation, digital disruption and the erosion of traditional 'safe' jobs, and will teach girls Design Thinking, teamwork, public speaking, agile and deep dives into STEM, coding and virtual reality. The event will also feature inspiring keynotes from global and local startup founders including Airbnb, IBM, StartupVic, LaunchVic, Atlassian, Girl Geek Academy, The Hacker Exchange, TOM Organic, AirWallex, Mumtaza, Melbourne Accelerator Program, MYOB, FYA + many more!
This is about better learning, better outcomes and building girls up so they can shape their futures in a changing world. Girls can’t be what they can’t see. So we need more female role models in startup, STEM and leadership showing girls the way, and driving the Australian Government’s innovation agenda.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade, The Hon. Philip Dalidakis:
“Girledworld is a really important event that supports young women understanding that they can be the best that they can be, that there are no limitations, there are no boundaries, there are no ceilings.”
Quotes attributable to girledworld Co-Founders (Madeleine Grummet and Edwina Kolomanski):
“It’s time to close the gender gap and show girls what’s possible for them. We’ve designed an event that will engage, inspire and educate girls by teaching them new skillsets and mindsets, and connect them with Australia’s most inspiring female trailblazers in the innovation, entrepreneurship and STEM sectors.”
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