After it’s maiden outing in February 2015, the agenda for the 2016 instalment was set during the the First Women Working Lunch in September, when former First Women Award winners such as Tinder Foundation’s Helen Milner and Quintessentially Events’ Anabel Fielding gathered.
The all-day event will provide an opportunity to: meet women who have excelled in male-dominated industries; get unique insight to accelerate your career; share ideas and forge connections with like-minded people.
The First Women Summit will also feature an intimate interview with Katherine Ryan, looking at how she went about making it as a female comedian.
Central to the theme will be discussing whether recent media coverage over prejudice has done more to damage the cause of women in business than support it, and whether small businesses can achieve the same diversity aspirations as corporate giants.
One delegate last year said: “I thought it was an inspiring day. I got a huge amount of support and inspiration for my business and made some excellent contacts.
“The phrase ‘Women work within an ecosystem rather than an egosystem’ resinated with me, and it was also evident throughout the summit that everyone I spoke to, whether they be a delegate or speaker, were open to debate, discussion and were available to help without necessarily having an agenda.”
Last year saw contributions from the likes of Adnams operations director Karen Hester and Harvey Nash director Carol Rosati. Technology entrepreneur Vin Murria also joined a discussion on macho boardroom cultures, three months after she sold her company for £725m.
With sponsorship and support from Bupa, Equity FD and Elegant Resorts, the First Women Summit is on track to be even bigger and better than it’s last outing.
Read more about the First Women Summit:
- Flexible working requires a cultural change to work
- Are quotas bad for business?
- Educating girls on under-represented sectors
The First Women movement gathers steam throughout the year, bringing together the working lunch, summit and exclusive profiles on the website, to culminate in the First Women Awards night on 11 June. In 2015, the 11th outing of the awards were hosted by award-winning and widely-celebrated journalist and presenter Clare Balding – who went on to pick up a Lifetime Achievement prize.
Tickets for the First Women Summit are available online, with discounts available for the purchase of two or three delegate entries.
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