International Women’s Day celebrated in Narrabri

International Women’s Day celebrations kicked off on Tuesday morning, with Narrabri Shire Council hosting an inspiring breakfast event at The Crossing Theatre.

The stellar list of speakers included women working in science technology engineering and maths, and they all discussed ways to encourage more women to step into the STEM space.

STEM is traditionally regarded as a male-dominated field, so it was fitting to promote the need for more women to join the industry on International Women’s Day, with this year’s IWD theme being ‘Break the Bias’.

Following an Acknowledgment to Country by Lynn Trindall, Naomi Nielson was the event’s first guest speaker; she is shaking up the STEM space through her work at the University of New England.

Working as the project director of the university’s STEM Q project, Naomi is passionate about providing both education and employment pathways into STEM, especially for women from regional NSW.

Narrabri High School student Eliza Dampney wow-ed the crowd with her fun, engaging and intelligent speech.

Eliza is one of NHS’ brightest stars and her love of numbers and statistics has her seeking out career prospects in STEM.

The 16-year-old spoke about the awesome opportunities she gained through the Curious Minds Program as a young rural woman.

Displaying a maturity well beyond her years, Eliza also talked about helping her dad on the farm by analysing and comparing data to find patterns in cattle and grain prices.

Guest speaker Rebecca Shephard represented the wonderfully talented women working in agriculture.

The research associate from the University of Sydney’s Plant Breeding Institute shared her story about the highs and lows of transitioning from suburban Sydney beach life to the North West to pursue her career.

Bec spoke about her search to find a female mentor, her decision to start a family, and also the importance of mentoring others including some young Wee Waa High School students who were in the crowd and were very impressed by Bec’s speech.

The audience was excited to welcome the final speaker Jillian Kilby to the stage, and also to the Narrabri business community.

Jill is about to open a community and coworking space, The Exchange, where the old Faulkner’s Cordial Factory and Ice Works used to be located on Maitland Street.

In 2018, Jill ambitiously bought a 133-year-old post office in Dubbo and has transformed it into an iconic coworking space where business owners connect and wonderful ideas flourish under the clock tower.

The Exchange has been the first home of many start-up businesses and entrepreneurs, such as the Buy from the Bush team – it’s a place where people can book an office for the day, take part in a course, escape the chaos of the farm, get social interaction and even better, good internet service.

The Exchange has been so successful in Dubbo that Jill and her team are now bringing the idea to Narrabri to support individuals and businesses.

Jill is a civil engineer, Stanford University graduate and Sir John Monash scholar who has combined her love of buildings and infrastructure with her passion for making the impossible possible and her strong belief that people should be able to work from anywhere, including, the bush.

In her speech, Jill spoke about what can be achieved when rural businesses work together and honestly shared the challenges and hurdles she’s faced, making it clear to the crowd that her successful career path did hit plenty of road bumps along the way.

“Write your goals in pen and your plans in pencil,” Jill told the crowd.