SOLD OUT - International Woman's Day Lunch

Welcome to our annual International Women’s Day event… where we celebrate three amazing women who are each playing their part in working towards a gender-balanced world in their chosen fields.

The theme for International Women's Day 2021 is 'Choose to Challenge'.

‘A challenged world is an alert world.  Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.  We can choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequity. We can choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements.  Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.   From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge’.

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women - while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender balance.

Hosted by Enterprise Great Lake Taupō and supported by Soroptimist International Taupō, this event is open to anyone (it’s not just for women!) and is suitable for all ages.

Guest speakers for International Women's Day 2021:

Sarah Cowley Ross: Passionate about health, wellbeing and performance Sarah Cowley Ross loves to see people thrive. A New Zealand born Samoan, Sarah fulfilled a long dream of becoming an Olympian in 2012 competing at the London Olympics in the heptathlon. She represented New Zealand at two Commonwealth Games in the heptathlon (2006) and high jump (2014).

After retiring from competitive athletics in 2014 Sarah now uses her time to help inspire health, love and performance. She is the Chair of the New Zealand Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission sitting on the Board of the NZOC and University Tertiary Sport NZ as well as being a selector for Athletics NZ. She is a dedicated columnist to the Locker Room profiling women in sport and regularly contributes to other media outlets. Her most important role is Mum to Max and Poppy.

Jenny Rudd - I’m the editor of the two greatest magazines in the world.  UNO: The last word in everything Bay-of-Plenty. When you read UNO you don't come away wishing you were thinner/richer/hotter, but rather, hell yeah! I live with all these amazing people! They are me! We feature people, places to eat and visit, things to do and beautiful homes.  SheEO: A global magazine featuring women working on the world's to-do list. They use business to work on poverty, the environment, equality, and other whopping great issues that we have to solve for our beautiful world.  We run our magazines from Mt Maunganui with a small but perfect team. Did I mention I LOVE my magazines?

Juliet Hull - Commencing her career as an intensive care nurse Juliet has since had over 20 years working across both Australia and New Zealand in the dynamic environment of Healthcare. Extensive experience in Sales, Marketing, Leadership and Governance, she has helped companies be successful via creating culture changes, structural changes and built many successful commercial teams. An energetic and engaging leader who likes to be called a practical visionary. Living her motto of ‘Feel the Fear and do it anyway’ Juliet in 2021 has moved into being an independent Board Executive and Consultant.  Juliet relocated to Taupo permanently in 2020 with her Husband and daughter.

Guests are encouraged to support the Soroptimist International Taupō who are our event partners.  Soroptimist International is a global network of women who inspire action and create opportunities to transform the lives of women and girls by: advocating for equity and equality; creating safe and healthy environments; increasing access to education; and developing leadership and practical skills for a sustainable future.

This year Soroptimist International Taupō invite you to donate personal care/hygiene items for women who find themselves in need of help from the Women’s Refuges in Taupō.   Items could include shampoo, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, or sanitary items.  We will also be collecting for ‘Project Uplift’ (link to: https://www.upliftbras.org/)  - for women in disadvantaged communities a bra is often unobtainable or unaffordable. This project collects new and second hand bras and sends them wherever we have requests. We welcome donations of all sizes of bras!  With your help we look forward to helping these women out again this year -  The items donated last year were gratefully received.

Your ticket price includes a delicious buffet luncheon, tea & coffee, a goodie bag and your chance to win a spot prize… as well as networking opportunities and of course, listening to and learning from our amazing guest speakers.

We encourage you to book your tickets early as this event always sells out.  Feel free to contact Monique Lagas (admin@taupo.biz) if you have any queries about the event.