Reflections From 2024: Women Leading Forwards

Womanity - Women in Unity

Welcome to Womanity Women in Unity, for our special compilation of select programs over the last year. We hope to inspire you through the words of three remarkable female leaders who have succeeded in their respective fields.

Our first guest in this feature is Maryana Iskander, the Chief Executive Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation, the global nonprofit that supports Wikipedia, one of the most visited sites in the world with 15 billion visits every month. Content has an impact on people’s perspectives, yet globally less than 10% of news stories featured women as a central focus. Ms Iskander shares some of the initiatives that Wikipedia applies to increase the contribution of women’s stories on Wikipedia. She shares her views on how to improve the throughput rate of women into leadership roles, and how intrinsic drivers help fuel success.

Moving from one CEO to another, our next guest is Val Nichas, the CEO of the Spur Corporation, who shares some of her journey as a woman working in the corporate world and some of the experiences that shaped her. She talks about leading with vision and intent. The Spur Corporation operates 10 brands in the casual dining sector, as well as virtual kitchen brands, and physically has over 700 restaurants across the group in 13 countries.

Our final guest in today’s feature is Julia Gillard who is best known for serving as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, and notably being the first, and so far, only woman to have held this role. Ms Gillard shares her journey navigating the challenges of being a trailblazer in high-profile leadership. She reflects on the double-edged nature of her historic appointment, where her gender was both a novelty and a target. She candidly discusses the intensifying gendered attacks she faced, offering invaluable advice to aspiring women leaders on how to confront sexism and misogyny, build networks of allies, and remain focused on their vision for change.

We hope this compilation encourages you to lead from wherever you are.

Warm wishes for the festive season from Womanity.