What: Women into Public Life conference "Women’s Leadership in Reshaping Society - no longer a luxury - an imperative!"

When: Thursday 27 September 2012 

Where: Millennium Forum, Derry/Londonderry


Women into Public Life (WIPL) is organising this final conference to celebrate the work and achievements of the Project. Funded by the EU’s INTERREG IVA Programme, which is managed by the Special European Programmes Body (SEUPB), WIPL’s main focus has been addressing the under representation of women in public life. Actions have included leadership and mentoring programmes, seminars, learning between partners and research on the gender balance of decision-making structures. 

Throughout the WIPL project participants have engaged with and posed a range of questions with regard to women and leadership - What do women bring to leadership that is different? How do we empower and ‘disempower’ each other? If we had more women in leadership would we have a financial crisis? How can we ensure women are at the helm of the ship as we create a more just and fair society?  

This conference will bring together speakers to inspire and challenge us to address some of these questions. It will also celebrate the achievements of WIPL (due to finish in 2012), capture the learning from the project across three jurisdictions and build on the work undertaken. The conference will:

Hear from women who have participated in WIPL’s training programmes 
Launch research findings on the gender balance of public bodies  
Learn from international experience on the implementation of gender quotas 
Have workshops on feminism, public speaking, women on boards and politics
Motivate  women to take their power and move into leadership roles

Target  audience – this conference is aimed at individuals and organisations with an interest in women’s  equality and leadership, particularly all those women who have participated in  WIPL’s training programmes and events over the three years; representatives from voluntary and statutory agencies, academics, policy makers and politicians. 

Click here to read the conference programme.