The Geelong branch of women’s rights advocacy organisation Zonta International held a special dinner to celebrate the upcoming International Women’s Day next week.
The event, held at the City of Geelong Bowls Club’s Pekish, also marked Zonta Rose Day, which coincides with International Women’s Day on March 8 and is a chance for the organisation to reflect on past achievements and honour the current efforts of individuals working towards gender equity.
Attendees at the sold-out celebration heard from a range of guest speakers, including local businesswoman and Geelong Cats director Lyndsay Sharp, as well as inducting new members.
Zonta Geelong president Fiona MacDowall said it was wonderful to hear the stories of women such as Ms Sharp, which highlighted both how much progress has been made and how much work still needs to be done.
“It was great to hear her story, how things have changed since she started out,” Ms MacDougal said.
“The things that happened in the workplace back in those days, you just can’t imagine them happening now. So we’ve certainly come a long way, but we’ve still got a ways to go.
“We also had people from other service organisations, the National Council of Women, our Zonta district governor, and we heard from Paula Kontelj who was representing Fernwood, one of our sponsors last night.”
Zonta Geelong conducts a number of projects and fundraising initiatives to support women locally and across the globe, assembling and distributing birthing kits to parts of the world where women are often forced to give birth on dirt floors and hand-making breast care cushions for men and women who have undergone breast surgery.
The organisation also sponsors two scholarships for young women’s education – the Young Women in Public Affairs Scholarship and a Sainsbury/Zanden Scholarship to assist female students overcome adversity – and the City of Greater Geelong’s Women in Community Life Award.
Details: www.zontageelong.org.au or zontaclubgeelong@yahoo.com.au.
