More women need to get engaged
26th September 2013
As part of Parliament Week 2013 we’ve joined-up with a number of partners to encourage more women to become engaged in public life.
This is important because from Parish Councils through to the Welsh Government and beyond, women are underrepresented in political and public life. As these are roles that help to shape the world we live in, it is particularly important for us to encourage far more women to take up positions in public life.
For women themselves, actively engaging in public life and our democratic processes is a hugely rewarding career path that helps to make a genuine and positive contribution to Welsh society.
It’s an important challenge for us to work towards a Wales where women are equally represented in public life. For this year’s Parliament Week we’ve joined together with:
Parliament Week
The Presiding Officer for Wales
Women in Public Life
Women Making a Difference
Electoral Reform Society
This autumn we will be holding a number of events sponsored by Rosemary Butler AM as part of the ‘Women in Public Life’ campaign.
19 November, North Wales Women’s Centre, Rhyl, 12-2pm
22 November, Pierhead Building, Cardiff Bay, 12-2pm
At these events, we will be bringing together women already involved in public life as well as those interested in finding out more to share thoughts and experiences.
The events are free to attend and aim to identify ways more women can be encouraged to get involved in politics.
The events will include:
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Stories from inspirational women
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Speakers, including Steve Brooks – Director Electoral Reform Society Wales
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Group discussions and feedback to a carefully selected panel of experts
There is high demand to attend these event so if you would like to attend please request your place as soon as possible by registering through Eventbrite below.
“If the people who represent us aren’t representative of us, how can we expect them to understand women and take the issues they face into consideration?”
- Joy Kent, Chief Executive
Don’t worry if you can’t make it to the events; there are two great ways you can help women to get engaged – we need your stories!
Video Stories
Firstly, on 8th October we’re running a video session at our office in Anchor Court, Cardiff between 5pm and 6.30pm. All you need to do is drop in and we’ll record you telling your story. It’s as simple as that; you don’t need any experience of being filmed as our team will be on hand to help you.
The video content will become part of the presentation at the Pierhead event and you’ll be playing an important part in helping other women to consider entering into public life.
Please email [email protected] or call 029 2047 8900 to let us know what time you’d like to come along.
Alternatively, you can help by writing you story and sharing it with us. We’ll publish the stories on the Chwarae Teg blog and promote them on social media.
Your Stories
| Debbie’s story | |
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Hailey’s story |
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Sue's Story |
Sharing your experience will help to motivate other women to think about becoming active in public life.
Here are some pointers to help you prepare your story
Length
Around 500 words is ideal – that’s about 1 page of A4
Structure
Introduction: Briefly say who you are and explain the role you currently undertake in public life.
Why
Readers will be fascinated to know why you decided to pursue a role in public life – this is a key element to your story. Did someone inspire you? Did a teacher encourage you? Was there a specific episode in your life that prompted you?
How
Explain what you did to achieve your role in public life. This is also a good time to offer any encouragement to other women to help them turn their interest into action.
What
Here you can explain the path you’ve travelled on in terms of different roles that will have helped you get where you are today.
Also feel free to explain any future ambitions you have.
Tips
One way to end your story is to offer some tips and advice based on your experience.
Submission:
Please email your stories to [email protected]
Where possible attach a photograph of yourself to help bring your story to life.
Anwen will email you to confirm when your story will be published.
You can also follow our tweets about Parliament Week by following us on Twitter
Follow @womenspire
- Help us influence government, industry and academia
- Help us keep gender on the agenda
- Have your views taken into account
Did you Know?
"Companies with 30% women in senior positions are more likely to have a culture where all women thrive"
- London Business School
