Sue Advani hosts empowerment session for women looking to enter the work force
On Saturday, 26 August, the Coronation Club in Burwood was the venue for a women’s empowerment program ‘Light House’ that was organised by Lean In Inc. The organisation was started under the guidance of Sue Advani to allow women migrants to participate fully in the community by empowering them. Lean In aims to facilitate this by the provision of relevant skills required to enable this assimilation both professionally and socially. The team works with women migrants from all national, ethnic and religious backgrounds.The other members of the team are Gauri Ahuja, Ekta Nankani, Urvashi Arora, Sunaina Chand Gowan and Kiran Jassal.
Light House was an informative and interactive event that had several speakers who shared their experiences and expertise with the attendees. Sherief Razzaque spoke about the relevance of resume writing as that is the first projection of an individual to a prospective employer. He spoke about the importance of what needs to be kept in and kept out of a resume. His talk was followed by Kavita Mishra who shared her journey from stay at home mum to of an executive in a leading bank in Australia. She spoke about some key points that helped her and her team succeed in reaching their set goals and the one that stuck with the audience was, “Eat your frog in the morning.”
Soraya Raju spoke about image and the perception that creates in the mind of the observer. It is very important to be dressed to the occasion and have the right attire. When someone walks in through the door it is the attire that strikes the eye first!
Azita Abdollahian had a very inspiring survival story to share. As a refugee from the Middle East, Azita had to battle not only her own shortcomings due to her lack of knowledge of the English language, but also had to cope with an abusive relationship at home. Her story sent out the clear message that nothing is impossible to achieve if one has the willpower to do it. Her address was followed by an excellent talk by Kamal Sarma, who is part of the RUOK team. He raised some very relevant points about keeping the energy levels high and surrounding oneself with people who can become one’s support system. Rinku Razdan, a woman entrepreneur presented to the audience an app that she has developed that once launched will be of great assistance to the new migrants both socially and professionally.
Jodi Mckay, the Labour member for Strathfield, has been a champion of women and women empowerment. She is a great role model and has always been there to support and encourage the women in the community. She said that women may have to work harder as they juggle a number of things but she asked the women in the room not to be scared of working harder. She shared some inspiring snippets of her journey into politics and how she enjoys working with and for the people every day. The session was summed up beautifully by Sue Advani. She captured the very essence of it all by quoting Kevin Spacey, “If you are lucky enough to do well, it is your responsibility to send the elevator back down.”
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