Insurance broker and risk adviser JLT has hosted its largest International Women's Day celebrations, bringing together men and women “champions of change” who delivered powerful messages on “throwing away structures.”
The 'Women@JLT' initiative was attended by more than 440 clients, staff, and guests in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland; and featured speakers including Sarah Stephens, JLT’s head of cyber; Digivizer CEO Emma Lo Russo; and entrepreneur Alicia Curtis.
“There is a lot of talk about ‘breaking the mould’ … but why adhere to the ‘mould’ in the first place?” Stephens asked. “Create your own structures and environments which work for you, speak up about it, and start advocating change. Fifty-two percent of employees across JLT Australia are women, and I have been very fortunate at JLT to be able to create my own way of working and succeed in quite a male dominated industry along with my female peers in cyber.”
Lo Russo echoed Stephen's sentiment, as she advised attendees to “work without limitation” and not let the “law of the lid” govern them.
“You don’t have to accept what you are given – not your role, not your hours, not where you work from,” Lo Russo said. “It’s about breaking through with your mindset first and having the courage to pursue and live by what you value.”
At JLT's Perth event, panelists tackled the need to identify “male champions of change” within the workplace to drive gender equality.
“We need to reimagine what the workplace could look like with changes that both men and women would like – we need to humanise the workplace again,” Curtis said.
