Local women were celebrated at the International Women’s Day 2023 Breakfast on Friday, hosted by the Women in Business and Regional Development (WiBRD).
Over 90 people attended the sold-out breakfast and WiBRD co-chair Brittany Shelton said the board was pleased with how the event went.
“We start planning these things months and months prior to the event so it is always lovely to see it all come together to fruition in the end,” Ms Shelton said.
“We originally issued 70 tickets, but we actually had to increase that because we had such an overwhelming response, so we ended up shifting it from The Henty to the Commodore to fit some extra people in.
“We issued an extra 20 tickets, but we were all receiving phone calls and messages the day before from people but unfortunately the event had sold out.”
Katie Fox and Cathy Beckman were the event MC’s and attendees tuned into a livestream of the Adelaide International Women’s Day Breakfast before hearing from a panel of local speakers in a range of industries.
“We do livestream the Adelaide event and after we have heard from bigger speakers in Adelaide, we always like to bring it back and hear from our local inspiring women,” Ms Shelton said.
“One of our mission statement goals is to celebrate and champion local women in business in our region, so this is the perfect opportunity to stop and celebrate the achievements for the amazing women right there in the Limestone Coast.
“There are these amazing inspiring women, people like Caroline Kennedy who are doing these things in New York and Japan, and we hear these big places with big names.
“But to be honest the bigger impact for our community and for us, is our local women who are doing just as impressive and amazing things.
“I think it is more important even for our local young people in particular to see these amazing women are doing these things and they are right here, I think that is probably the most inspiring for our local young people is to see what the people who live in our community and our region are doing.”
Former WiBRD board member Di Ind hosted the panel of speakers which included Liz McKinnon, Rhiannon Mathers and Ebony Cunningham.
Ms McKinnon has a background in forestry and was appointed South Australia’s first Cross Border Commissioner, Ms Mathers has a management role at TimberLink, and Ms Cunningham is a solicitor who opened her own law firm, Brite Legal.
“I think that our local panel were amazing, we are so limited with the time that we get for a breakfast event because everyone has to rush off to work, but I honestly wish we could have spent more time with our panel because they all have such a valuable contribution,” Ms Shelton said.
“They are all very different women but every single one of them brings something unique to the table, and they are all very inspiring and they are all pioneers in their field in a way.”
During the Adelaide livestream, attendees heard from speakers including Senator Penny Wong, who was the first woman to be elected as the Australian Labor Party Senate leader, and United States Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy.
“I think ambassador Caroline Kennedy was a great choice, particularly at the moment I think we have moved into such a global world now and I think looking at our relationships with other countries is so important,” Ms Shelton said.
“Like she said, women’s rights are not just a national issue, it is a global issue, and that is something that building those strong relationships with other nations can help us to support the women who are in even less fortunate circumstances than ourselves.”
Ms Shelton thanked all WiBRD partners who helped make the event happen.
“Women and Business and Regional Development, we are completely not-for-profit, so we are supported by partners, and they are the ones that make events like this morning possible,” she said.
