As part of the celebrations for this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), multimedia Relocate Global will be hosting its Think Women workshop and lunch at the Institute of Directors, London on Friday, 6 March.

Now in its third year, Think Women brings together inspiring women and men to explore how best to support women to progress in international and professional careers. Supporting IWD’s 2020 campaign theme #EachforEqual, Think Women will honour aspiring women across diverse industries who are doing great things in their sector or community, as well as discuss how inclusion, leadership development and education can promote more opportunities globally for women and girls.

“I am passionate about supporting women and girls to achieve their ambitions in life,” says Fiona Murchie, managing editor and founder of Relocate Global. “It is nearly 25 years since I first joined a leadership group for women and I know just how much the support and encouragement of other women and hearing their stories can help build confidence and keep you centred on following your dreams and ambitions.”

Workshop themes

Where the purpose of the company is aligned with individual purpose, the sky is the limit. “Teresa Boughey, Carrie Clark and Ann Ellis all have amazing personal stories to share in the workshop session ahead of lunch, to lift us up, make us smile and appreciate what we have learned by making mistakes,” says Fiona.

Sponsored by leading provider of global business solutions and consultancy services, Mauve, the workshop will include guest facilitator Teresa Boughey, best-selling author of Closing the Gap – 5 Steps to Creating an Inclusive Culture, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), and founder and CEO of Jungle HR. She is passionate about enabling organisations to create inclusive workplace cultures and will work with attendees using her unique TRIBE 5 methodology to help them move forward with confidence in their own workplace and personal leadership goals.

Teresa says, “Inclusion is the role and responsibility of everyone at an organisation. I am on a mission to influence people and businesses of all sizes by spreading the word that inclusion is accessible for everyone and we can now take it off the too-difficult-to-do pile.”

Carrie Clark, trainee airline pilot age 28 and ambassador for inclusivity in aviation, has spent more than a decade pursuing her dream of becoming an airline pilot. She will describe the hurdles she has overcome and why she wants to encourage a more diverse group of young people – particularly women – to become the next generation of pilots. She says, “Our economic background, gender, place of birth or anything else should not determine whether a career is open to us or not.”

Ann Ellis, founder of Mauve, will share her inspiring journey from Welsh farming family and headteacher to CEO of a global workforce solutions company. She wanted to be an entrepreneur at the age of nine and was the first and only ‘back-office’ employee of Mauve Group in the very early days, operating from a tiny cupboard-sized office in Teolo, Northern Italy. Today, Mauve is an international organisation providing services in more than 150 country locations worldwide.

Ann says, “I have been incredibly lucky in my career and I’ve been presented with opportunities that many others simply don’t get. I had to learn to be fearless and seize the opportunities as they arose – most paid off, some didn’t, but I kept striving and I genuinely have loved every minute. I think it’s so important that women develop the confidence to realise their self-worth and take risks on the chances they encounter. I want to share my life experiences in the hope of empowering other women to tap into that confidence and achieve their own growth, in business or otherwise.”

Keynote speaker

“We have a wonderful programme for Think Women this year and I am thrilled that Professor Vlatka Hlupic is able to join us as a truly inspirational keynote speaker over lunch,” explains Fiona.

Professor Hlupic is an international award-winning thought leader, author of best-selling books The Management Shift and Humane Capital, leading academic and professor of Leadership and Organizational Transformation at Hult Ashridge Executive Education and founder of The Management Shift Consulting and Drucker Society London.

Over lunch, she will be discussing the power of the ripple effect and how a shift in mindset can create the conditions for people to interact and spark ideas off each other. She says, “We have a well-educated female population and 80 per cent of purchasing decisions are made by women. The customer base is female, but companies are mostly run by men. The discrepancy does not make economic sense. The ripple effect is, therefore, something that women at work can use subtly to start to change the very fabric of the organisation – for the better.”

Think Women is connecting a global community and is reaching out into many geographical regions. Fiona adds, “My hope is that we will have a connected global Think Women network by IWD next year, where women can share their knowledge and successes across the world to contribute to better opportunities for girls and women everywhere. With the help of technology, our media channels and the will to collaborate and share ideas and resources supported by coaching and mentoring, Think Women can support women to flourish and grow in their organisations wherever they are.”

Think Women workshop and lunch will be held on Friday 6 March at the Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ED.

Tickets cost £80 (+VAT) to include lunch. Join us for the full event from 11:00-14:30 GMT or just for lunch and keynote at 12:30 GMT. The ticket price is the same for joining both sessions or just the lunch.

Book tickets now at https://bit.ly/2U7DZD7