Dream, Girl (then get out there and do it!)

Co-Founder of girledworld Madeleine Grummet is delighted to be part of the panel of guest speakers at the inaugural Australian screening of acclaimed US documentary Dream, Girl on March 15 thanks to Suburban Sandcastles.

Dream, Girl the brainchild of US-based Producer Erin Bagwell, was made by an incredible all-female crew in New York, and celebrates inspiring, female entrepreneurs who are passionate about elevating and empowering women in business across the globe. Since screening at The White House the film has gone on to reach audiences in 81 countries with amazing storytelling that leaves you reeling (in a good way!)

Producer and Director Erin Bagwell was recently named on Oprah Winfrey's #SuperSoul100, a list featuring extraordinary individuals who live life intentionally, create transformative social impact and bring global inspiration to others (which this film certainly does in spades!)

This screening will assist Dream, Girl in its mission to tell the stories of struggle and triumph by females at the helm of brand new startups and multi-million dollar entities, and how they are breaking through biases and leading the charge of the new business normal to carve out the future of work (females are currently launching 1200 new businesses a day).

Join Madeleine Grummet, Jess Jones of Soar Collective, Bridget Wood (founder of these sell-out events) and a roomful of inspiring women to take in the film, ignite conversations about female leadership, courage and entrepreneurship, and celebrate the incredible women of Dream, Girl who are forging paths and fuelling the startup pipeline with disruptive businesses built on their own terms.

All bookings via www.suburbansandcastles.com

For more on Dream, Girl visit www.dreamgirlfilm.com

A year on: The unexpected learnings from Entrepreneurial Education

It’s a year this week that Madeleine and I met for the first time.

We were two in a cohort of almost 20 students, all about to start a year-long Masters program at the University of Melbourne’s Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship.

Adding to usual first-day nerves, there was another layer of anxiety shared amongst us as this was a brand new course, curriculum, faculty and with a building that wasn’t quite finished yet.

Before this first week I had never heard of lean, agile or a business model canvas and it turns out I had no real understanding of entrepreneurship. I’d heard of Branson, Jobs, Gates … but that was pretty much it!

This past year I have been on a completely unexpected learning curve.

Yes, I’ve learnt a lot about business, innovation and the world of Silicon Valley but the most profound learnings are applicable to much more than just entrepreneurship…

Here are some of the highlights:

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1. Find your person

You hear people encouraging you to “find your tribe” quite a lot and, I must admit, I cringe a little when I hear that saying.

But I do think that finding people who energise, encourage, challenge and support you is so, so, so important.

What is misleading about “finding your tribe” is that it makes it seem like you need to find a whole group of like-minded people when, really, all you need is just one person.

I feel extremely fortunate to have turned up at the Wade Institute at the same time as Madeleine. We’re the same and different in many ways but every time we talk (which is a lot these days) I feel inspired and energised, with the belief that we can do whatever we put our minds and efforts to.

We laugh a lot. We have meaningful conversations. We have many shared values. And most importantly we listen to and empower one another. 

Entrepreneurship can be a very lonely road at times so make sure you’re on the journey with the right people. 

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2. Learn to love learning

Before my Masters I never thought that I liked learning. Scarred from undergraduate degrees that required endless prac reports and essay after essay, at my first graduation ceremony I vowed that I would never go back.

Ha! It took me just under three years to break that promise and I was enrolled in a post-graduate degree.

So what was different this time around?

By the time I turned up to do my Masters I’d already seen the inside of three different organisations. Some things I liked, some I didn’t. But what really struck me was in some work environments, continuous learning wasn’t a thing. You learnt your place, your job and that was it. If you weren’t surrounded by curious people, you could easily stop learning right then and there.

I never thought that this was an issue until I found myself desperate to acquire new skills, seek new information and self-educate outside of working hours. I didn't want to admit it but I missed learning.  

Entrepreneurial education has taught me to scan, read, gather information from any reliable source. From reading case study after case study, I’ve seen how little bits of information can drive big change and innovation. You need to keep your eyes and ears open for information all the time - you never know when the dots might connect on something amazing!

Amusingly now, I’m dabbling with the ol’ PHD idea ... but give it a few years at least!

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3. Just start

Put your hand up if you’re highly self critical *typing pauses as I raise my hand*

It can be so hard to judge your performance. Expectations are unrealistic. Nothing is ever good enough.

It can be easy to be in a constant state of ideating and planning without ever actioning anything.

This is fear.

You need to move past it. 

My message to those reading is to simply start. Whether it be entrepreneurship or something completely unrelated, just start and see where it takes you.

A year ago that’s exactly what we did and we haven’t looked back. We’ve had a year of learnings, new friends, connections, inside jokes and a whole lot of memories!

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4. Be kind to yourself

During our last semester stress levels were high. After a presentation, one of our professors came up to me to see how I was feeling. We’d spent weeks and many late nights preparing for this presentation and in hindsight it was pretty good! But being the hypercritical personality that I am I was immediately looking for all the weaknesses and areas of improvement in our performance.

After a few minutes of drilling questions to our professor like “What do we need to do differently next time?” and “How can we improve the value proposition of our pitch?” he stopped me and said:

“You are one of the most self-critical people that I have met in more than a decade of teaching university students. Today was good. The work was good. You’ve put a lot of effort into this. Be kinder to yourself and the work that you have produced. Yes - you can always improve but everything is ok. ”

Wait. What? You're not supposed to know that I’m self-critical - you’re just supposed to think that I’m a smart, hard-working student.

Yet this little bit of insight and feedback made me start to really think about the way that I treat myself.

And it isn't just limited to your professional life. My best friend recently told me a piece of advice.

She said:

“You need to talk to yourself the same way that you would talk to me or any of our friends. The next time that self-critical voice starts drilling you, just stop and imagine me. Would you say the same thing to my face?”

We’re so kind and encouraging to our friends but so quick to criticise ourselves.

I haven't mastered this one yet but I’m learning to be more mindful when the self-critic in me comes out to play!

Yes, be nice to others but BE NICER TO YOURSELF!

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It's amazing what a difference a year can make.

Here's to another year of new friends, learnings and memories in the making!

- E xx

Be brave. (Even if you're not, pretend to be).

If the past years of entrepreneurship and launching startups have taught me one true thing it's to feign brave, even in the face of uncertainty.

Entrepreneurship is hard.

There are no road maps, no rules, many ups, as many downs, big wins, crushing losses, wild guesses, giant leaps, incremental joys and plenty of days when you wonder why the F you started. 

No startup comes easy. It's hard, hard work. Relentless. And you've got to really want to do it because no one else is going to push you to get up every day and keep working on your big idea to build a winning team and sticky customer base that enables your (temporary) survival.

It's a race to market, so you've got to get out there (even on the days you don't want to) and bang your drum so you stay visible, keep finding a way to GSD (however scrappy), gain traction, engage with mentors who've navigated the path before you and tap the rich seams and opportunities of the local support ecosystem (we have a thriving hub of accelerators, industry supporters, investor meets and entrepreneurship initiatives proliferating in Melbourne right now, so Victoria is indeed ripe for startups to seed).

Entrepreneurs know all this. That it's up to them to work their secret sauce (and the talent they can convince to come along for the ride). 

Entrepreneurs also know it's hard work because they've already made their first difficult choices, stepped away from safety, challenged status quo and begun to smash their own glass ceilings because they've seen an opportunity where others didn't, a better idea, a white space. (Ideas are the easy part, of course).

Many of the exceptional individuals I met in the University of Melbourne's Master of Entrepreneurship last year (you know who you are!), any of whom could use their abundant talents in traditional workplaces, had already decided that their passion for entrepreneurship, business acumen, quest for innovation and incurable curiosity combined with a healthy risk appetite meant traditional work pathways weren't going to cut it. (Watch this space as their stars rise in the years to come.)

But the facts remain. The odds are stacked against entrepreneurs.

Nine out of 10 startups fail*, the market is full of products no-one wants, founding teams regularly implode, funds atomise and customers need to be insatiably wooed and squarely won which often takes a critical combo of cash, luck and rapid pivoting for product market fit. (And let’s face it - if the dog won’t eat it, you go hungry.)

So you work out pretty fast that you need to use the ecosystem to give yourself the best chance at success.

Yes, you need to pitch. Yes, you need to hustle. Yes, you need to do your homework. (And yes, you need to prove people are actually willing to part with their dollars for your product.) But mostly you need to use your networks, and use them well and wisely.

I’ve been lucky enough to meet with and learn from Silicon Valley front runners (on Katie Mihell’s Women In Focus Innovation Tour in September 2017) and many of Australia's leading startup game-changers, VCs and industry leaders over the past years. Taking the hard-won advice of those who’ve started, survived and scaled is invaluable. You can’t get it unless you seek it.

But so too, the hard lessons learned from the unique starting, stopping and painful skinning of your own startup ventures is how you learn where your own roadblocks are.

Entrepreneurship can be taught and, more importantly, learned, but it would seem that much of what holds one back from startup success is not our businesses but ourselves.

The startup ecosystem right here in Victoria is full of people with varying talent and drive and dynamism but who, like all real entrepreneurs, have significant imposter syndrome and self-doubt when they fall down startup rabbit-holes. 

The critical difference between those who can and those who can't is their willingness to be brave, back themselves, challenge status quo, use networks, weather startup stumbles, and to keep getting up, pushing hard, pivoting, validating and pivoting again til they eventually land on a market. 

Then they swim like mad. Without the maps.

It's the mindset that makes an entrepreneur.

Make yours a brave one this year.

Madeleine x

#juststart #beashark #startup #stepup #girledworld @girledworld

*Forbes 'Entrepreneurs' 2016

Arianna(!)

I feel it’s important that from the outset, I highlight that this is an article about Arianna Huffington and NOT Ariana Grande.

This distinctive first name is known by young girls and teenagers today as an uber slim and overly glamorous pop-star, Ariana Grande. You would have heard her catchy tunes on Spotify playlists, the radio and whenever you're out and about in shops and cafes.

Is this Ariana a role model for the next generation of empowered females…? Hmm probably not. Especially not when you catch a glimpse of her overly sexual and suggestive lyrics. But I’ll stop myself before I go down the path of critiquing the state of female pop culture.

There is, however, another Arian(n)a who is an incredible role model! You've probably heard of her...

Huffington Post is one of the world’s most visited website for news, politics, sport, entertainment and wellness information. Launching online in 2005, the site sold to AOL in 2011 for a reported $300million.

For those of us who love reading Huffington Post, well, we’ve discovered even more reasons to love it’s inspirational co-founder Arianna Huffington.

Here are some of our favourite Huffington highlights:

1. She’s super smart. Moving away from her hometown Athens, Greece, Huffington moved to the UK in her late teens to study an M.A. in Economics at Cambridge University. When she arrived at Cambridge, she struggled with English and subsequently joined the debating society to improve her accent and speaking skills. Whoever said debating wasn’t cool?!

2. She’s all for more girls in STEAM pathways. Huffington highlights a number of important points in the current STEM discussion. She suggests that STEM should include Arts (to become STEAM) as arts (particularly for children) promotes creative thinking and problem solving. Without arts, we’re drowning in data and are starved of vision and wisdom. To read more from Huffington on this topic, click here.

3. She’s all about sleep. In Huffington’s latest book, The Sleep Revolution: Changing Your Life, One Night at a Time, she’s preaching sleep and rest. Huffington claims that we are in a sleep deprivation crisis which has profound consequences – on our health, our job performance, our relationships and our happiness. A timely reminder to sleep and get some rest this silly season.

4. She’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. In 2012, Huffington won a Pulitzer Prizes for National Reporting and has written 15 books to date.

5. She bucks the trend. Tech and media companies are still dominated by male owners and executives. Huffington is a shining example that it is possible for women to succeed in these industries. However, stories of female success, like Huffington are still too few and far between.

At girledworld, we champion female role models from all backgrounds. We want to ensure that female role models are visible to our younger generation. If you have any feature suggestions, we’d LOVE to hear from you. Drop us an email: hello@girledworld.com

girledworld - building the next generation of female leaders, founders and STEM champions.

Lead From The Front: KRISTEN HILTON

Off the back of the fantastic and inspiring Business Chicks Facebook event one rainy night in Melbourne last week, we wanted to share with you 3 things that matter to us at girledworld right now.

1. The powerful, purposeful, important words of Kristen Hilton, Victoria's Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner, whose speech blew us away at the Business Chicks Facebook event, and which speaks to women everywhere about the importance of stepping up to lead from the front. See Hilton's full speech below. Let us know what you think.

2. We took a BIG moment yesterday to celebrate the appointment of Susan Kiefel as Australia's first female High Court Chief Justice in 115 years. This is BIG news. A BIG first for diversity. And worth being excited about. We were :)

3. We leaned in to listen as Mia Garlick, Facebook's Director of Policy Australia New Zealand, spoke candidly last week about the state of affairs at Facebook stating that they too had a long way to go before they had truly representative diversity internally, and that women generally lacked the confidence to get the skills they needed to step into tech and leadership.

Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg's 'Be The Nerd' and Hackergirl initiatives are attempting to address this lack of diversity and drive more women and girls into STEM.

girledworld supports both of these initiatives as we, too, work towards diversity first, for the business betterment of all.

Hope your hump day has been fruitful. MG x

PS: Pour a cuppa or glass of grapes and find the time and space to read Kristen's speech below.
We think it's truly inspiring. (And we also think we need many more Kristen's in the room, and in the world.)

KRISTEN HILTON
Speech at Facebook Business Chicks event
Wednesday November 21, 2016

“It’s great to be in a room full of women.

I want to acknowledge the role that Facebook and other social media platforms have played over the last decade in creating really inclusive online communities and support groups where knowledge and experience can be shared. Where people, particularly those who experience isolation or some form of exclusion in our communities, can come together. They may experience exclusion or isolation because of a disability, because of their sexual orientation, or because of their gender, and through Facebook they’ve been able to connect with each other in radical and meaningful ways.

I’ve been involved in social justice and human rights for about the last 20 years, and during that time I’ve seen online communities start revolutions, in the political world, in the social world and in the business world, and I think that has changed the way in which we understand our world.

As radical as it might sound, the Commission, and myself as Commissioner (which actually is a pretty bureaucratic sounding title) part of our role is about changing the world as well. And part of our mandate as contained in our acts, is about working towards a more equal and inclusive community. And that includes empowering women, and empowering our daughters to reach their full potential.

I’m conscious that I’m speaking to a roomful of women today whose lived experience of the workplace may involve working in a male-dominated environment, possibly trying to juggle parenting and other caring responsibilities, and trying to seek workplace flexibility without much success.

I’ve had my own experience of that and certainly at the Commission where we receive complaints of discrimination every day, some of the most common complaints we receive are from women in the workplace who still experience significant levels of sexual discrimination and harassment.

Despite the lack of progress that women have made in the workplace over the last couple of decades we still see structural and attitudinal bias. The chances of becoming a CEO in the business world are stacked against you. 5 out of 6 CEOs are men. And the other indicators of gender equality are pretty awful as well. In the ASX200 there are more CEOs named Peter than there are women. Sexual harassment continues to affect women at a much higher rate than men. One third of women (that’s 33%) have been sexually harassed by the time they’re 15. The gender pay gap is stacked between 15 and 18% with women on average earning $23,000 less than men and if you’re a woman, you’re far more likely to retire without the same level of superannuation. So that’s the community and that’s the society within which we find ourselves today.

The good news is and I think you’re the face of that good news, is that that is starting to change. The pipeline of women in management and leadership roles is increasing. We are talking more than ever about gender equality and what that means.

Collectively and individually we are confronting and contesting and considering our own biases, our own preferences, and until that happens, and until we look deeply at our own cultural and our own gender biases, women will not only still face obstacles in the workplace, be constructively dismissed and made redundant when they’re pregnant or when they’re seeking to return to work on a part-time basis, until then young girls in schools will still have their images spread across social media by boys in those schools without their consent, and until then we will not be able to reduce the appalling rates of violence against women which have been the subject of a Royal Commission in this state in the last couple of months.

It strikes me that an arrogant solution in terms of the business world to overcome some of these obstacles is to set up your own small business, to lead from the front, to be creative, and to use the technology that is available to you to promote flexible work practices that better serve women, and that better serve men.

Because let me be frank.

If there is a stigma attached to women working flexibly, that stigma is equally true for men. (I’ve got 3 small children) and I remember when after my partner asked to work one day a week flexibly from home he was told that 'he wasn’t taking his work seriously'. So until we make those sorts of issues social issues and not just women issues, then we’re not going to get there.

I grew up in country Victoria and my parents were small business people. They owned a fashion shop. And I very much understand the sacrifices that come in terms of setting up your own small business.

I was one of five girls, and we used to have to spend our weekends clearing coat-hangers out of change-rooms and comparing fashion parades, and marketing Cherry Lane tshirts before market day! So (talking to you) as small business owners I also understand first-hand that there is a creativity, a leadership, an entrepreneurship that’s probably in your DNA.

I wish you well, and I commend Facebook and Business Chicks for this initiative to support women in small business. Because you also have a role in supporting each other.

Your other leadership role I think comes from the way in which you deal with your staff and any employees that you may have. As you probably know you have obligations under Equal Opportunity laws to make sure you have workplaces that are free from discrimination, and that are safe and inclusive.

And I say that not just because it's a legal obligation but because I think it's a social and moral obligation as well. And all of the research shows that it makes your business much more profitable, and much more productive.

The more diverse and inclusive your environments are, whether they're online, or in the workplace, the more productive and creative and innovative and shapeshifting your business will be.

You are representative of how things are changing.

You have chosen to be leaders in your field. Or to aspire to be leaders in your field.

And to challenge the outdated notion that all men are decision makers, or that all decision makers are men.

It's inspiring.

I hope you draw inspiration from each other and from the people that you hear from tonight, and I wish you all the very best in challenging the status quo.

Thank you.

THE GRUMMET GAGGLE: GRACE TALES

Since launching girledworld through the University of Melbourne with my cracker-jack Co-founder Edwina Kolomanski a few months ago, many people have asked me about my own four girls, and my approach to mothering. In other words, how am I helping them rise to meet their potential and what does the everyday stuff of life and parenting look like in our house?

What I can say is that like any working parents bringing up their bambinos, it is perfectly chaotic,  and we have all the usual thrills and spills and almost-didn't-make-it-where's-my-sports-top-eggs-for-dinner-no-toilet-paper-get-in-the-car-what-do-you-mean-you-need-to-build-the-city-of-Pompei-at-scale-and-bring-it-to-school-tomorrow-WTF moments.

But that's normal. And we're lucky. And we seriously do take stock of our good fortune regularly. We don't have to look too far to see suffering. Reminds us to carpe diem, and give when and where we can to communities around us that need a hand.

I thought this article on our family and in particular bringing up girls that featured on The Grace Tales summed up the stuff of our life better than I can rehash here.

Enjoy. And thanks for reading. MG x

Read The Grace Tales: The Tale of Madeleine, Violet, Audrey, Harriet & Olive Grummet here.

When Women Succeed, We All Win: Facebook Business Chicks Melbourne Event Wrap

I pushed myself out of my Uggs and into the rain last night, against my instinct, against my will, and into the city in the throws of peak hour. Through the traffic, up a lift, wet-haired, into a room, wondering why ..... and then instantly, I was warmed and it was worth it.

Because Business Chicks sure do know how to turn it on.

Last night's Melbourne #SheMeansBusiness Facebook workshop led by Mia Garlick, Facebook Director of Policy Australia/NZ, had way too many data deep dives and content takeaways to detail here.

But the main gist was to trust your gut, back yourself, take risks, be a nerd, and when it comes to social strategy, make sure you know who you're talking to and how to track them. Cos if you don't know your audience and what floats their boat, you're almost certainly doomed.

We all know this, of course, but in the context of startups with to-do lists that are never done, stopping to construct a data-informed, customer-centric approach to your social strategy can often be triaged out.

Content takes time. Being interesting takes effort. Trawling data and analytics, engaging in online conversations and wading through comments can chew up the little space you have to build your business day to day. 

But the businesses on the panel including Show and Tell’s Monty Dimond, Thankyou’s Sarah Prescott and B Free Intimate Apparel’s Yael Carmeli were great examples and inspirations of businesses that prioritised social, and have built loyal and large tribes via cultivating active online conversations, authentic storytelling, and by using the power of their social channels to leverage their customer base. 

All these startups recognise social is the lifeblood of their business custom. And all admit they just cracked on at first and tried stuff, took a breath, put it out there, and measured what stuck. Through trial and error, analytics and consistent brand pillars, they gradually grew their follower base from one to stacks. With Clever. Crafty. Consistent. Compelling. Content. 

Currently, according to Mia Garlick, 14 million Australians connect on Facebook each month, and of those 13 million access Facebook on a mobile device. Instagram, part of the Facebook portfolio, also boasts a massive 7 million active Australian users each month. So we've certainly got a healthy social ecosystem ripe for the tapping. But the key message is you have to prioritise and you have to work hard to always know where your customers are, when they're active online, and how you can best talk to them. 

We've clearly come a very long way from the splash marketing of the past. Last night was a powerful reminder of just how mobile we've gone. The world and the way we communicate our stories and ourselves has undergone a seismic shift. Consumers are now the newsmakers, the storytellers, the self branders, so for businesses to remain relevant, accessible and authentic in the seas of a savvy, easily bored consumer-scape curating their own online lives, we need to create content that is ultra-engaging, on purpose, on target and worth sharing. All the time.

If you'd like to catch a live-stream of the event, a full video is available on the Business Chicks Facebook page. Worth the time.

Thanks to Business Chicks and Facebook for having us.
Look forward to the next one!

MG @girledworld

PS: See upcoming #girledworld post for a transcript of last night's amazing speech from Kristen Hilton, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner, who is standing up and challenging status quo one bold stride at a time. 

MADELEINE GRUMMET - FEATURE PROFILE THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN

"...girledworld was born of a gap. Women continue to be vastly underrepresented in STEM, startups, and corporate boardrooms across this country. 

I saw this fixed pattern of too many women of my generation selecting out, standing back, playing second fiddle in their careers and their lives. They were bringing up their girls to do the same. As a mother of four daughters, I felt compelled to do something about it, so I joined The University of Melbourne’s Master of Entrepreneurship, delivered at Wade Institute, and saw the business possibilities of that change begin to take shape."

FULL INTERVIEW CONTINUES BELOW

"The Master of Entrepreneurship at Wade Institute gave me (and my Co-founder Edwina) access to some of the most incredible thinkers, academics, and entrepreneurs of our age."

To apply for a $25,000 scholarship at Wade Institute, click below.

What was the catalyst for you launching your business girledworld?

I’d been working on the Wise Women social project with a fellow journalist, interviewing women all over the country about their choices, challenges, triumphs, and the glass ceiling that still exists. I saw this fixed pattern of too many women of my generation selecting out, standing back, playing second fiddle in their careers and their lives. They were bringing up their girls to do the same. As a mother of four daughters, I felt compelled to do something about it, so I joined The University of Melbourne’s Master of Entrepreneurship, delivered at Wade Institute, and saw the business possibilities of that change begin to take shape.

girledworld was born of a gap.

Women continue to be vastly underrepresented in STEM, startups, and corporate boardrooms across this country. girledworld takes a proactive approach because girls can’t be what they can’t see. Hence, we are building the next innovation generation of female founders, leaders and STEM champions, because we know Australia needs this to harness the full talents of the future workforce.

We’re in an age of extraordinary innovation.

Finding solutions to the world’s biggest challenges can only be achieved through harnessing the talents and conversations of the collective. Diversity will fuel this. Diverse teams make better decisions. We need the girls and women at the tables to step up, lean in, mark their mark. The Master of Entrepreneurship gave me access to some of the most incredible thinkers, academics, and entrepreneurs of our age.

What do you love most about what you do now?

I’m fueled with purpose because girledworld matters, so it’s not hard to find the motivation to get up every day and build this business with my truly awesome Master of Entrepreneurship Co-founder, Edwina Kolomanski. The rewards are rich – there are countless opportunities to connect and converse with female thought-leaders, game changes, trailblazers and status quo shakers who are shaping the next generation, and the world as we know it. And the girls we engage with are AMAZING: bursting with potential, possibility and power. We couldn’t have done this without the learning, support, wisdom and entrepreneurial ecosystem of Wade.

Who knows where we’re all heading, but I’m excited by the possibilities of exponential technologies, the collaborative economy, and a new diversity-led global-scape where everyone’s voices, values and visions are acknowledged, leveraged and used to solve some of the world’s most wicked problems.

Describe the biggest setback you faced when establishing your business? How did it affect you and how did you push through?

There are always never enough hours in the day, but this year, I also had to juggle the demands of family, multiple professional commitments (running my creative agencywww.doremecreative.com, consulting to NFPs, and board commitments), launching girledworld, and completing the Master of Entrepreneurship. Yes, it was a full dance card, but I pushed through it by triaging, using Kanban, visualising goal-setting, being buoyed by my Co-founder, and by hopping in the bath with a rocking poetry book whenever I could. Words and water soothe me.

Everyone has days where they feel flat or uninspired - do you have any tricks or tactics for overcoming these feelings?

Flat days and flat moments are part of our human fabric. You wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t have your downtimes. The best things I find to do on those days is to set the expectation bar lower, and accept that it’s ok to reduce productivity for the day –  the sky won’t fall in if you don’t move a thing on your Kanban board and stay in your nightie! It’s so easy to get caught in the spinning vortex, and by allowing yourself the time and space to take stock, to be human, to sit, to feel, to be real, to admit being overwhelmed, is when the authentic and raw YOU gets to be. If you can tap this, you always refuel. It’s where the gold is.

Tricks and tactics: Mindfulness, calling old mates, walking the bay, hugging the dog, digital detoxing, star gazing. Always does the trick.

What has been your most effective marketing tactic or strategy?

If you want to rock your marketing, on and offline, you need to use the seven wonders, and always tell a story that matters. Storytelling is the most powerful thing we can do. It’s how we make sense of ourselves, the changing world around us, and how humans connect about the deeply human stuff which sits at the heart of our desires and motivations.

Tell a story.
Be likeable.
Be interesting.
Be consistent.
Be trustworthy.
Be amazing.
Be you.

Words of Wisdom / Personal Quote

I’m fuelled by quiet heroes – ordinary people doing extraordinary things, transcending status quo. They’re the ones that shake the world. And anyone can do that. You’ve just got to spend your days doing it.

This quote sums it up beautifully.

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” – Annie Dillard

Fenton & Fenton Peace Of Art Exhibition

Proud, purpose-fuelled and privileged to be part of the Fenton & Fenton Peace Of Art Exhibition 2016. 

Peace Of Art is a biennial online art auction showcasing the works of 100 of Australia's coveted emerging artists, with 100% of proceeds benefiting School's A Gift - an Australian not-for-profit organisation that helps children living in poverty by working towards building schools in remote parts of Ethiopia.

In 2014 Fenton & Fenton raised more than $100,000 for @schoolsagift and the funds have since been used to construct a new secondary school in a remote region where previously no secondary schools have existed.

The founder, Georgina Fenton, with the help of her fab sister Lucy, said so far the charity has managed to enable over 1500 children in remote areas of Ethiopia access to secondary education with more than half of them being girls. This is transformative, life-changing work, and work that we at girledworld dig deeply.

This year Fenton & Fenton aim to surpass the figure raised from the last event which will enable @schoolsagift to continue their work in improving the livelihoods of children living in rural Ethiopia.

Artists this year include @antoinetteferwerda @anyapaintface @armellehabib @barbarakitallides @beciorpin @emmalipscombe_ @jaivasicek @merciperci @laurablythman @madeleine_stamer @mwestonart @taisnaith @b_a_k_e_s__b_a_k_e_s @peachesandkeen and more.

BID BIG, GIVE BIG, BE BIG. 
Good for your walls. Good for the world. Get on it.
Online auction now open. Be nimble. Be quick.

Madeleine Grummet
Co-founder girledworld
'Dazzle Deep

Female Founders Leading The Way

In the face of all this US circusery, here's a good news story of the day.

On Wednesday 26 October, The University of Melbourne held its inaugural Master of Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition where 11 startups competed for one of two $10,000 ‘Best Startup Pitch’ prizes. While everyone who presented was a winner, it being the culmination of the intensive one-year course, the clear stand-out was the support for female founders with the majority of the presenting teams having women.

Bucking the trends

Only 24% of Australian startups founded in 2014 had female founders, according to a2015 survey conducted by Startup Muster. The Wade Institute, home to The University of Melbourne’s Master of Entrepreneurship, beat this trend in its inaugural year with a diverse cohort of students that included 60% women, 40% with a STEM degree, and three Ph.D.’s.

Acting General Manager of Wade Institute, Georgia McDonald, is proud that Wade is a meritocracy that welcomes people of all backgrounds.

“Our application and selection process is based on capability, potential, and passion; this is intrinsically gender-neutral, and that’s how we like it. We know we need a cohort of students with a diversity of experiences, perspectives, and expertise to help us create a robust learning environment. But to achieve this, we needed to attract diverse individuals before they’d even made the leap and submitted an application. When I spoke with prospective students, particularly women, I coached them not to let self-doubt deter them. They have everything they need already in their hands to make the leap now.”

Eleanor Toulmin, Master of Entrepreneurship student and Co-founder of one of the winning teams, is a great example of a woman who opted-in and feels empowered by Wade’s gender-inclusive environment.

“I’ve finally found a place where it’s OK to be a woman who is smart and ambitious. In fact, it’s rewarded and encouraged," she said.

Toulmin's AgTech startup, MimicTec, is developing a physical product that will improve the productivity and animal welfare in poultry farming. Before even graduating, the team have been accepted into two startup accelerators, SproutX and Melbourne Accelerator Program’s Escape Velocity – a great endorsement of their product and their capability as entrepreneurs.

Fighting imposter syndrome

Only a fraction of VC-backed ventures are led by women.

If we’re to reverse this trend women need to be ready, willing, and able to put up their hand and opt-in earlier in their journey. That’s why it’s important for us to encourage and support women to overcome their self-doubt and throw their hat in the ring.

One of the winners from the night was Bindi Raja, founder of MedTech startup Teenyco. Despite winning the CMB Capital ‘Best Startup Pitch’ $10,000 prize, Raja acknowledges that imposter syndrome followed her all the way to the stage.

“Even right before I got up on that stage to pitch, I didn’t think I belonged there. I compared myself to others thinking, of course, they could do it – they’re smarter, more articulate.”

“But this year, I’ve learned that if I don’t back myself, why would anyone else. Irrespective of if anyone else understood my idea or not, I knew it wasn’t going to be because I didn’t believe in myself. That was all I needed and getting off that stage, I knew I gave it my best. This year taught me to be OK with taking two steps instead of expecting ten every time and then feeling the pressure of not being good enough. Two steps forward is still moving me in the right direction.”

Making an impact

Madeleine Grummet, Master of Entrepreneurship student and mother of four daughters, is passionate about leading by example.

“If you want to change a generation you start with the girls. And with innovation, entrepreneurship, diversity and female leadership firmly on the agenda right now, I believe it’s time to build the ecosystem from the bottom up.”

Madeleine pitched her startup, GirledWorld, with her fellow classmate and co-founder, Edwina Kolomanski, to a highly responsive audience who cheered in support.

“Acting as a preventative measure to address the gender imbalance in STEM, startup, and leadership fields when they first emerge, GirledWorld is feeding the startup pipeline and building pathways for girls aged 15-18 through events, mentoring, internships and e-learning tools for Australian schools."

They recently signed a partnership deal with Airbnb to support their upcoming conference – part of Airbnb’s commitment to fighting against bias and discrimination.

Other female-founded startups from the Master of Entrepreneurship 2016 cohort includeM-Time, service-based startup giving busy parents more time for themselves by providing a Mum or Dadcierge, Mind My Business, online platform connecting small business owners with skilled ‘Relievers’ who can mind the business, and Ikora, online fashion marketplace that creates a personalised shop based on the user’s style and brand preference.

In further support of female founders, Wade Institute offers a $25,000 scholarship to study the Master of Entrepreneurship, provided by Naomi Milgrom, CEO of Sussan Group.

For a summary of all the startups that presented at the Pitch Night, click here.

Application deadline to study the Master of Entrepreneurship in 2017:

Wednesday 30 November 2016. Apply here.

For media inquiries, contact enquiries@wadeinstitute.org.au

Article courtesy The Wade Institute, Melbourne University.

THERE IS A CRACK IN EVERYTHING. THAT'S HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN.

I can't help but see the world through a prism this morning.

This was pinned to the wall of one of my four daughters classrooms.

It's a series of questions and inquiries about light.

I thought I'd answer a few of the questions.

I WONDER.

Does the sun turn off?

Yes it does. It can. It did. One dark, divided day in 2016.

How are the lights made?

The lights are made when strong people see something in the dark, so they stand up, and then something awesome starts to shine out of them and it makes your eyes hurt.

Why do we need light?

We need it because without it, we'll stay in the dark ages. And we don't want that. Lots of bad stuff happens there.

I wonder what happens when you shine different lights on objects?

Well, usually, you get to see right through them - if they're transparent. If they're not, it's sometimes hard to make sense of what you're looking at.

How many different things create light?

Light can come from the most surprising places.

A famous man called Mr Leonard Cohen once said: "There is a crack / a crack in everything / that's what lets the light in."

And a famous woman called Maya Angelou once said: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be?”

I wonder if light can go through glass.

I wonder too. I believe it can. If there's enough of it. If all across the world you got lots of light at the same time. Then yes. The big glass ceiling would break.

Can you change the colour of fire?

No my darlings. Fire is orange.

I wonder what that room would look like if we turned the lights on?

I don't think we'll do that. It's a bit scary in there. Let's wait til your older. And then you can turn on every light you see. Go nuts.

Can you make electricity from the sun?

Yes. Indeed you can. The sun's amazing. The sun gets to get up every day, yawn, look down and say WTF? What happened down there?!

Look! There is a crack. A crack in everything. (That's how the light gets in).

#hilary2016 #election2016 #election #trump #letthelightin #girledworld

@girledworld

POST SCRIPT: After publishing this earlier today I have since learned and it has been officially confirmed that Leonard Cohen has died today, aged 82.

Cohen was rare, cherished, and a visionary.

A gifted Canadian poet, songwriter, novelist and artist, he became, and will remain, an international legend. 

He once famously said: "I wish the women would hurry up and take over."

We will.

Together with the good men amongst us.

One day very soon.

#RIP #leonardcohen

POST POST SCRIPT: This article expresses the opinion of Madeleine Grummet, Co-Founder of girledworld, and mother of four daughters.

It was written at a moment in time. A moment when the world was left momentarily wondering.

The bigger story is that Madeleine believes the future is bright, will be full of light, and will be full of girls who step up and women who lead.
 

girledworld looks forward to playing a part in this.

Good Pitch² Australia

girledworld enters a powerful storied world in Sydney today for Good Pitch Australia - where we will come together in a room full of extraordinary visionaries, thinkers and game-changers at the Sydney Opera House to witness the power of documentary storytelling for social impact, which gives voice and access to lives we will never live.

Good Pitch Australia connects philanthropists with passionate filmmakers to fund the films the world needs to see. This is about shifting the landscape, challenging status quo, bringing dark stories up into the light - be it policy change, shifting consciousness, changing behaviours, or elevating an issue that isn’t getting attention amongst the noise and haste of a world moving too fast. 

It's also about starting conversations to ignite change - in the round today, at the table tonight, at the policy level, in the broader community, in schools, in boardrooms, and anywhere decisions are made that shape the way we live and play. 

The brainchild of Ian Darling and Malinda Wink, Good Pitch Australia brings together filmmakers with NGOs, foundations, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, potential corporate and brand partners, broadcasters and media with leading social issues — to forge powerful alliances around-ground breaking films that are good for all these partners, good for the films and good for society.

Today, six selected filmmaking teams will pitch their social impact documentaries over 40-minutes and will outline their associated outreach social impact campaigns to the invited representatives at the table, and a theatre of up to 300 selected participants. A moderated session follows with a group of strategically selected participants at the table, changing for each film project, with the the aim of connecting the best possible partners to the films, and creating a lasting and unique coalition around each film, to maximise its impact and influence in the years ahead.

To date, more than 128 documentary projects have been presented at Good Pitch events in London, Oxford, New York, Washington DC, Toronto and Chicago as well as Good Pitch² events in San Francisco, Johannesburg, Taipei, Buenos Aires, Mumbai and Australia. More than 2137 organisations have attended a Good Pitch event — varied organisations from different sectors all bringing something unique to the table: expert knowledge, research and archives, memberships and networks and mailing lists, campaigning and lobbying expertise and access to policymakers as well as production and outreach funding. Together they make powerful allies.

Without doubt, diversity is the driver here. And film, funding and faith in story is used as a force for good.

Good Pitch is a BRITDOC project in partnership with Ford Foundation and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, and today's event is hosted by Shark Island Institute and DAF (Documentary Australia Foundation) in partnership with Philanthropy Australia and Pro Bono Australia.

girledworld is delighted to be part of the diverse mix, and to bring our unique voice, perspective and stories to the round today. 

We look forward to sharing our event experiences shortly! 

YGAP SHE Network Melbourne Launch!

We warmly invite Melbourne women and girls aged 15-18 to join a roomful of incredible female trailblazers, changemakers and entrepreneurs for a night of inspiration, storytelling, good food and great banter next WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 2 at YGAP in Richmond.

Femtrepreneurship will celebrate the dynamic female entrepreneurial community both here and overseas, and showcase the incredible work YGAP do to support female entrepreneurs improving the lives of women and girls in South Africa.

Speakers on the night will include South African YGAP Impact EntrepreneurLebogang Bogapane telling her powerful story of courage and change, phenomenal local trailblazer Sheree Rubinstein, Founder of One Roof Women - the home for women who are making it happen - and Marianne Roux, Founder of the Coalition for Female Social Entrepreneurs. These amazing women all have stories worth hearing, and stories that will inspire, empower and educate all who attend, and stimulate many conversations.

So please feel free to bring along friends, colleagues, sisters, mothers, daughters, aunts.

I'm delighted to co-lead the YGAP SHE team in Melbourne with my Girledworld co-founder Edwina Kolomanski, and with the ongoing support of Elliot Costello, Patrick O'Callaghan, Kaitlin Tait, Aaron Tait and the amazing YGAP crew, and we both look forward to meeting many new Melbourne women at our launch event next Wednesday.

YGAP is an International Development not-for- profit with an innovative approach to poverty alleviation.

YGAP backs impact entrepreneurs - or as they like to call them ‘local leaders’ - with great solutions to local problems in some of the world’s toughest communities.

Rather than imposing perceived solutions on a foreign community, YGAP supports the local leaders who live there and have developed their own.

Because YGAP believes the best solutions are entrepreneurial, so \ focus on early stage ventures that exist to improve access to education or healthcare, create jobs or build safer homes.

YGAP believes this is the most effective, sustainable means of tackling poverty because these local leaders understand the unique challenges of their communities. YGAP's role is simply to help refine and scale their solutions.

It's been truly an honour working with YGAP this year on their SHE and partnership programs, and I look forward to seeing many of you next week to chat, reconnect, and toast the official launch of YGAP SHE Melbourne Network.

Warm regards,

Madeleine x
Co-Founder girledworld
YGAP SHE Programs Lead
Founder Do Re Me Creative

 

EVENT DETAILS

YGAP SHE Melbourne Network Launch

Wednesday 2nd November, 2016

6.30pm - 9.00pm

YGAP Function Space

111-113 Swan Street, Richmond.

$35 includes champagne on arrival, Feast of Merit delicious sharing platters and supports the ongoing work of YGAP.

Femtrepreneurship is proudly brought to you by YGAP and generously sponsored by Forever New, and One Roof Women. We are thankful for their ongoing support.

BOOKINGS HERE VIA Eventbrite.

It's never too late to be a ROCKSTAR.

"It's never too late to be a rockstar."

At #girledworld we help girls find their inner rockstar whatever that might be.

Because we think girls need to speak up, step up and try bold, new and big stage things. Like learning about entrepreneurship, how to harness their inner power, how to think big and how to lead.

We do that by providing girls aged 15-18 with access on and offline to mentors, amazing female leaders and world-changing women so girls can see and be taught what's possible for them.

We also deliver events, programs and in-school workshops which are age-appropriate, highly engaging, interactive, and combine the latest thinking on leadership, innovation and startup methodology and practice.

Our leadership and entrepreneurship curriculum is based on extensive research, founder experience and input from leading education experts including the Melbourne Accelerator Program, Melbourne University, the Melbourne Business School, Foundation for Young Australians, YGAP (Young Generation Against Poverty) and the Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship. Our initiatives are continually evolving to make sure we're at the forefront of international best practice so we can deliver rich and high impact learning experiences to the girls we're trying to help step up.

We also believe one the most effective ways for girls to develop, adopt and practice new mindsets and skillsets is through immersive, practical experiences. So we collaborate with businesses big and small, startups, universities and co-working spaces to design internships, work experience placements, events and hands-on training programs to motivate and encourage girls aged 15-19 to step up to leadership, startups and STEM pathways.

If you're a business, startup or female leader with something to bring to the ecosystem, we'd love to hear from you! 

We're working to tip the balance.

We're working to tip the balance.

Girls can't be what they can't see. 

So we need more women in leadership roles across this country to close the gender gap, and because diversity is good for everyone.

So @girledworld we're making today's girls tomorrow's leaders by harnessing the talents of amazing female leaders and entrepreneurs all over Australia to build a powerful network that girls can tap to begin to understand their own leadership potential.

We also partner with gender-friendly workplaces, run events, education, work experience, internships and mentorship to motivate and encourage girls aged 15-19 to step up to STEM, startups and leadership.

Because we believe in the power of the collective, and that big ideas backed by education, inspiration, empowerment and access to female role models gives our girls today the best chance of success tomorrow.

For more information on our girledworld Big Ideas Conference (June 2017) proudly supported by Airbnb, please get in touch here.

#girledworld #empower #inspire #educate #startup #STEM #stepup#leadership #wadeinstitute #collaborate #rolemodels

The Gender Gap? We're closing it. #girledworld

We're closing the gender gap.
We teach girls to step up, startup, and succeed.

"If you want to change a generation, start with the girls."

The STEM-der Gap.

STEM matters.

It matters because we know the future of Australia will rely heavily on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) - disciplines at the core of innovation - to sustain economic growth, compete in the emerging sectors that new technologies will create, and to enable new approaches to cross-sectoral innovative problem-solving for challenges now and into the future.

However, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitive Report 2015/16, Australia continues to lag behind most advanced economies in innovation.

The report also highlights that those who graduate in STEM specialties may not be fully equipped to contribute to the creation of an innovative workplace. This problem will only change with improved engagement, collaboration and participation between schools, tertiary institutions and industry, so together they can build STEM pathways, develop and apply world-class educational frameworks and use collective diversity to drive innovation.

But part of the problem is that in order to drive innovation we need to bring STEM course participation numbers up across the board. And when you look at the data, Australia currently has an alarming underrepresentation of women in the STEM sector overall. Like the gender gap, the STEM-der Gap is real.

According to a recent Australian Government National Innovation and Science Agenda Report, only one in four IT graduates and fewer than one in 10 engineering graduates are women.

Further, women occupy fewer than one in five senior researcher positions in Australian universities and research institutes, and around one quarter of the STEM workforce overall.

How do we bridge the gender gap for the future benefit of us all?

We can only do this with a concerted, national effort to overcome the cultural, institutional and organisational barriers and unconscious biases that discourage girls and women from studying STEM, and that limit their opportunities to pursue careers in STEM.

So at girledworld we think part of the solution is to elevate STEM role models to make them visible, thereby inspiring girls, science teachers, educators, entrepreneurs, executives, manufacturers, editors and policy-makers, to work towards a new normal STEM workforce where women are as present as men.

Because role models matter a lot. 
Girls can't be what they can't see.
And they don't know what they don't know.

At girledworld we are stepping up to this challenge to take action via advocacy campaigns, education-industry collaborations, industry-supported engagement in STEM, visible mentoring, and by creating direct links between what girls aged 15-18 are learning in school, and showing them this will shape what’s possible for them in their future workforce pathways. 

Cultivating, educating and inspiring an interest in STEM at the year 9-12 year levels will help increase the number of girls taking up STEM subjects in higher education and in their future careers, give girls real experiences and understandings of STEM possibilities and workplaces, and will ultimately work to close the gender gap down the line.

But we can’t do this alone.

To do this, girledworld requires the expertise, support and guidance of educators, industry and leading STEM organisations across Australia.

We are honoured to so far have the support and expertise of Women in STEM Australia, WISE (University of Melbourne Women In Science & Engineering), the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP), and leading scientists from the MCRI who will work with us to lead by example, paving the way as females leading and driving research and enjoying great careers built on STEM, and encouraging girls aged 15-18 to study STEM subjects.

We are also delighted to announce our 2017 girledworld Big Ideas Conference sponsor Airbnb, who is committed to workforce diversity, women in tech, and addressing the gender balance by changing hiring policy and practice.

According to Elena Grewal, a data science manager at Airbnb in a recentEnterpriseTech article:

“Airbnb is a global community, our mission is to belong everywhere. So it’s really important to have a team that reflects our community, to be able to gain the right kinds of insights from our data, to have people with a variety of opinions and perspectives in the room. We knew this was something we needed to focus on.”

Grewal said the recognition that something had to be done took place in 2014 when the company realized that in the previous year only 10 per cent of new hires had been women.

“This was really a wake-up call that we couldn’t continue the way we were. The women on our team were quickly becoming outnumbered and we knew that having a diverse team was important to us. We weren’t being intentional in our hiring to create as diverse a team as needed.”

Airbnb subsequently adopted a diversity strategy and changed hiring practices to overcome unconscious bias. And the results were impressive: By the end of 2015, the data science group alone had doubled the percentage of women from 15 per cent to 30 per cent.

Girledworld will officially launch next Wednesday October 26, 2016, at the University of Melbourne’s Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship.

Together, we look forward to helping girls step up to STEM, and growing the next generation of female leaders, founders and STEM champions.

We look forward to sharing the journey with you.

If you are a workplace interested in closing the gender gap, building diversity and working with us to encourage girls to step up to STEM, leadership and entrepreneurship, please get in touch here. We’d love to hear from you!

Madeleine Grummet & Edwina Kolomanski
Co-Founders #girledworld

“If you want to change a generation, you start with the girls.”

Can you name 3 female leaders?

At #girledworld our mission is build the next innovation generation of female leaders, entrepreneurs and STEM champions. Because we think Australia needs more women in these roles.

So we've been out and about talking to lots of girls lately, and recently asked a group of girls if they could name just 3 female leaders.

The results were surprising.

Here's what they said.

PLEASE SHARE if you agree.

Girl in the World

For those of you who know me in the real, you'd know who I am, where I'm at, and my take on girls in the world.

You'd also know that as a Mum to four awesome daughters, princess-ery, damsel in distress-ery, Barbie-ery, anti-STEM-ery, chattel-ry, tradition-ery and any sniff of 'gender disablement' is disallowed in our casa. 

Because truth be told, we don't do a lot of weeping, sweeping or role keeping in this house. 

This is because the gender of my offspring has never been a determinant of their capabilities, possibilities and opportunities. My daughters are humans in the world, and frankly, the world awaits their (hopefully awesome) human doings. #watchthisspace! 

Except for the small fact, of course, that the world that awaits them has a forcefield of cultural, institutional and organisational gender barriers that will close many doors before my girls can step through them and test their worth. 

And except, of course, that only 1 in 4 IT graduates and 1 in 10 engineering graduates are women.

And except, even after all these years, it looks like we've still got a long way to go, babies, before diversity, parity and gender equality is anywhere near reached in the boardrooms, businesses and backwaters of this country. 

Last month’s Australian Government Workplace Gender Equality Report threw up some startling stats worth ogling:

• The full-time average hourly earnings for women are 13.9% less than men’s full-time average hourly earnings.
• The gender pay gap in ASX 200 organisations is 28.7%.
• Average graduate salaries for women are 9.4% less than for men of equal qualification and experience.
• Average superannuation balances for women at retirement are 52.8% less than those for men.
• One-quarter (25.1%) of Agency reporting organisations have no key management personnel who are women.
• Women hold 14.2% of chair positions, 23.6% of directorships, and represent just 15.4% of CEOs in Agency reporting organisations.

I could go on. But you get the drift. 

Clearly, there’s some serious work to do.

Closing the gender gap, enabling workplace diversity, changing organisational culture and cultivating a new tribe of female leaders is going to take a seismic generational shift. And this change won’t happen unless change happens.

 

So we’ve been working on it. 

This year, at the University of Melbourne's Wade Institute, alongside my Co-Founder and fellow Master of Entrepreneurship colleague Edwina Kolomanski, we’ve been quietly understanding and building out an ecosystem to ensure girls in the world get what they need to step into the future.

It’s called GirledWorld.

And what we do is inspire, empower, educate and activate girls to help them build their futures by giving them real world experiences, events and education about STEM, startups and stepping up, create opportunities inside startups alongside leading entrepreneurs, and immerse girls in business so they can learn as they go. 

This is stuff that schools can't teach. 

And it's what will take today's girls into an uncertain future equipped with the mindsets, skill-sets, tech-cred and personal capabilities to make a disproportionate difference to the world.

With innovation, entrepreneurship, diversity and female leadership firmly on the agenda right now, we think it’s time to build the future for girls from the bottom up. And that for Australia’s startup ecosystem to reach its future full potential, today's girls need to lean in, step up and make tomorrow's mark.

So we’ve partnered with some of Melbourne’s leading female business people, business organisations and startup co-work spaces including One Roof Women, Collective Campus and depo8, who are all working with us to connect and prepare the next generation of female entrepreneurs via event series, work experience placements, experiential learning opportunities, mini internships and tertiary and startup pathway programs.

Supporting accelerators and incubators including LaunchVic, Startup Victoria, MAP, the Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship and the University of Melbourne, we are partnering with businesses big and small and working to make Victoria the destination for entrepreneurial cultivation, opportunity creation and a new generation of female leaders.

All of this, we think, will start to shape the change we need to see.

Because girls can't be what they can't see.

Our mission is simple.

GirledWorld will:

• Get girls to step up into STEM and entrepreneurship by building connections with professional mentors, career advisors, leading universities and educational institutions. 
• Educate, inspire and encourage girls and women to participate in startups, entrepreneurial activities and innovation career pathways
• Offer experiential learning opportunities, mentoring events and innovation education to girls and women to increase participation of girls and women in the innovation ecosystem
• Cultivate female leadership capabilities for application in key industry, business and government sectors through mentoring, education and events
• Build a value-creating network of experienced female business mentors who will work with us to inspire, connect and prepare the next generation of female leaders and entrepreneurs

If you'd like to join our partnerships and pathways program or register to be part of our summer 2017 cohort please get in touch at hello@girledworld.com 

The future starts here.

A University of Melbourne Wade Institute startup, boldly changing the world, one girl at a time.