March Edition of Leading Edge with Ann Messenger
Last Wednesday (8th March) AIM delivered the first series in what promises to be a great year of Signature Events! The annual International Women’s Day (IWD) luncheons sold out early at our five venues across the country in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba. We had over 2,000 Members and Non-Members in attendance and raised a total of $42,000 for our very worthy charity partner, PROJECT FUTURES.
Our IWD events picked up widespread media coverage from Pro-Bono Australia, Forbes, ABC Melbourne, The Courier Mail, Human Capital HC Online, and WhatsOn in Melbourne and Sydney, just to name a few. We also partnered with Business News Australia streaming live to air Facebook interviews with the debaters in Sydney and Brisbane. I’m also pleased to report that the AIM Twitter account even trended! I’d like to thank our generous sponsors, supporters, guest speakers, volunteers, AIM Members and of course, AIM’s staff, as this success would not have been possible without you.
IWD provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements and to call for greater representation and equality. As we raise awareness of gender diversity and promote gender equality through light-hearted yet thought-provoking debates, we are reminded of just how far we’ve come. But we’re also reminded of just how far we still have to go with not only closing the gender pay gap and getting more women into management and leadership, but also with empowering every women around the world to be able to make their own choices and most importantly, to become masters of their own destinies.
This year, AIM celebrated 20 years of supporting the global International Women’s Day initiative. That’s 20 years of advocating for gender diversity in the workplace. We’re very proud of our history of advocating for greater diversity. By investigating, discussing and advocating for gender diversity, LGBTQIA representation, older workers, young managers and greater cultural diversity in the workplace, we hope to effect real change in Australian work places and ultimately in Australian society. A diverse workforce reflects the diversity of Australian society and there is a considerable body of research to support the link between workplace diversity and business success.
As we move into the second quarter of 2017 (Yes! Already!), AIM’s commitment to developing great managers and leaders is, of course, still at the heart of everything we do. The Leadership Outlook series has been touring across the country from February and finishes up in April. These professional development workshops are designed to help build and improve high performing teams, in turn developing more effective organisations. This aligns with AIM’s vision – better managers, better leaders for a better society. Why not find a date and location near you here!
As promised in February’s edition of Leading Edge, there is some very big – and I know you will agree - long overdue news for 2017.
I am delighted to announce that over the past 12-months we have heard your feedback about the lack of focus on Membership on the current AIM website. This has been one of the main sources of discontentment from our Members, and of course, as a Fellow of the Institute, I completely agree.
As such, we have now completed the development of a new, Member centric website that is fully focused on Membership of AIM – the peak body for professional managers and leaders. The new site is dedicated to presenting relevant, topical and insightful content for AIM Members and for the broader management and leadership community around Australia.
In addition, AIM’s new website offers a fully upgraded and revamped Member Portal that allows you exclusive access to the Member-only aspects of your organisation.
AIM’s Leadership Matters blog has been incorporated into the new site and the look and feel has undergone a complete refresh.
AIM’s new website will be launched very soon. An exciting new world of Membership awaits us!
As part of our commitment to offering engagement activities to Members right across the country, we will soon launch a new series of thought leadership webinars. Available to all Members and giving the convenience of logging on, no matter where you are, the webinars will address how to manage the realities of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world and how to capitalise on opportunities. The first webinar will be at the end of April and will cover Leadership and Risk. More details including how to register will be sent shortly.
I am very much looking forward to the great new initiatives we’re launching this year and once again thank all our Members for your continued support.
