Attending the BPW New Zealand Conference

Travelling across the Tasman Sea

Thanks to the generous funds presented by BPW Australia and BPW New Zealand, I was given the opportunity to travel to New Zealand for their National BPW Conference in April 2008. As on the second day of the conference, I launched the Keys to Achievement program in New Zealand after launching it across Australia in November 2007. On a personal level, it was amazing for me to see a program that I wrote was being shared internationally now. Many New Zealand club members embraced the program with enthusiasm and commented how useful the program will be in their club. BPW Australia was able to provide not only the KTA Booklet but also all the support resources such as the press release, member progress spreadsheet, powerpoint presentation, Club President’s guide and personal KTA action plan.

Meeting Young BPW Convener, Rachael Clarke

Rachael Clarke has only recently taken on the position of Young BPW Convener in New Zealand. Some of the struggles Young BPW have encountered are difficulty in accessing accurate data about the Young BPW membership as well as retaining young members in clubs. Rachael put forward an interesting resolution at the NZ conference for NZ to put forward a resolution at the International Congress to increase the age of Young BPW to under 40 years old. I will be consulting with the Board and Young BPW’s across Australia to advise the National BPW Board as to how we should vote at International Congress about this resolution. Rachael and I brainstormed a number of ways to work together in the future. These include:

• Promote contact between Young BPW’s from particular clubs, especially those that are travelling between the countries.
• Share information about Young BPW over a Wikispace.
• Invite New Zealand Young BPW’s onto the teleseminars that Australia are looking at implementing.
• New Zealand would support an Asia Pacific Young BPW meeting.
• Invite Rachael Clarke to join our Young BPW Board Meeting Teleconferences.

Meeting Delegates

At every BPW conference that I attend, I always get to meet such interesting people, and this was the case at the BPW New Zealand Conference this was no different.

BPW International President Dr. Chonchanok Viravan and BPW International Officer, Deon Naphaphen Wejjijiva from Thailand – I have been fortunate enough to meet with Nok and Deon a couple of times in the past year.

International Vice President Liz Benham from New York – Liz has nominated for the International President’s role, so it was great to have the opportunity to show off the Keys to Achievement program and share with her some of my ideas for BPW.

Picture: L – R: Alicia Curtis, Freda Miriklis, Antoinette Ruegg

International Executive Secretary Freda Miriklis from Australia – Freda is such an inspiration. As a past Young BPW Award winner for Australia, she has now gone on and taken on the role of Executive Secretary for the past three years. Freda has also nominated for the International Vice President role.

Immediate Past International President Dr. Antoinette Ruegg from Switzerland – an expert of leadership differences between men and women. Pauline Gabbar – another former President of the NZ Federation, Pauline has travelled countless times to BPW Nepal to bring funds for the literacy program for women.

International Projects Chair Susan Jones from Australia - Susan is a passionate BPW member promoting the diverse projects from around the world. Susan has nominated for the Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator.

Picture: L – R: Freda Miriklis, Alicia Curtis, Susan Jones, Marilyn Forsythe, Glenys Jones

Joan Bielby – a former President of the NZ Federation, Joan is a trailblazer for women’s rights. She was recently awarded Queen’s Service Order.

NZ Program & Mentoring Convenor, Gwendolyn Needham – Gwen is coordinating the Keys To Achievement program in New Zealand. She gave the challenge to all club presidents including 1. Use the ‘3-person team approach’ to lead the KTA programme. 2. Achieve your own accredited Bronze Key status by August 08. 3. Inspire and lead all members to achieve Bronze Key status by Conference in May, 2009.

There were many interesting speakers during the conference too including the Hon. Steve Chadwick, Minister of Women’s Affairs speaking about the new challenges for women to create equal opportunities. Their Keynote Speaker, Hannah Samuels, a Reputations expert, spoke about the role of reputation in building a strong brand. Dr. Antoinette Ruegg who presented her research on the gender differences between the leadership styles of men and women.

There was a panel on “Challenges and Actions for the Future” chaired by Young BPW Rachael Clarke. The topics and panellists were; Gender Equity by Shenagh Gleisner, CEO of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs; Eliminating Violence Against Women by Anne Todd-Lambie, Family Lawyer; Protecting our Environment by Linda Shaw, Mecologist; Empowering Young Women by Judit Klein, student delegate to the Global Young Leaders Conference in New York in June; Lowering Barriers to Leadership by Jackie Blue MP; Enhancing the BPW Profile by Hannah Samuel.

Conclusion

The opportunity to meet Young BPW and BPW members from New Zealand and share with them the Keys to Achievement program was very exciting.

Alicia Curtis - National Young BPW Chair