As a women-led organisation, we at Cherwell Collective are proud to be part of an incredible community of women supporting each other and celebrating International Women’s Day in Oxfordshire. Our team of 11 (and growing!) amazing ladies are always supporting each other in learning and growing, and we are grateful for this day to commemorate them and all of the women that inspire and contribute to the change we’re bringing about in our community.

International Women’s Day Event

It was our privilege yesterday to visit the Inspire Inclusion event for International Women’s Day in Oxfordshire at Keble College, and we are feeling inspired by the incredible speakers and leaders.

Thank you to organisers Gardner Leader and Critchley’s who invited Cherwell Collective as a special guest to attend a full morning of talks and round tables celebrating female leadership.  We felt honoured and humbled to be included.

It was a  privilege to meet and talk to female leaders from different sectors working for change, including scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators. Speakers including Professor Ellie Barnes, Professor of Hepatorlogy and Experimental Medicine at Oxford, and Susan Burton, CEO and Founder of Classlist, shared their stories, successes and the reality of living with uncertainty and failure.  

Dr Sioned Jones of new start up, Babysbiome, talked about the realities of raising investment as a woman and Sharon Parker Lines from Astroscale, talked about the importance of inspiring the next generation and “being the person that we want future generations to be.”  Their stories resonated and demonstrated how women can be a driving force for change locally and globally.

Takeaways

One of the highlights for us was the panel discussion and the honesty of women in the room about the barriers they’ve faced, their unrelenting optimism and resilience to make change happen in their fields of influence.

As a female-led Collective, we understand the barriers to female leadership and work hard to promote inclusion and support our female employees and volunteers to achieve their potential.  It feels like the world is changing, and the experiences of the inspirational women at the Inspire Inclusion event, have given us more energy to make the changes we want to see in the world, and bring others along for a more sustainable future for all of us.