About us.
About
Women in Aid & Development (WiAD) is an Australian-based membership organisation for all women who work in, or aspire to work in, the international aid, development and humanitarian sectors.
Our vision is an aid and development sector in which women support women to be successful in their careers and to achieve gender parity across leadership roles.
Our mission is to share the skills, knowledge and experience of women in these sectors to incite, inspire and support all women to pursue and succeed in leadership roles.
We engage with around 5000 women in Australia and around the world by providing networking events for women committed to self-improvement where they exchange knowledge, insights and experiences at meetings in Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. We also share information via LinkedIn, Facebook and the website on careers and leadership, and deliver a successful mentoring program and workshops to help women embrace challenges and opportunities in their life.
We assist women to overcome structural, cultural and societal barriers they face in striving to achieve leadership roles and gender parity in leadership of the sector.
Our values.
We commit to supporting other women to succeed in their careers, to continue to learn to be the best versions of ourselves and to embrace challenges and opportunities. We believe we will grow alongside other women to have a more significant and positive impact on our world.
Women helping women to succeed
Embracing challenges and opportunities in our lives and careers
Perpetual learning and self-improvement
We are welcoming for and respectful of all women, inclusive of trans women and non-binary people from all disciplines to share knowledge and experience and gain insight and inspiration from others.
Aid and development depend on cooperation and teamwork to achieve success, both within organisations and between organisations, and we know women are leaders in cooperating.
Join us.
We welcome you to join us at an event, as a member of our organisation or to make a contribution online. Whether you work in programs, policy, finance, fundraising, human resources, administration, and are new to the sector, a team leader, manager or board member - we all learn from each other.
Join us at an event in Canberra, Melbourne or Sydney or online via zoom.
Become a member as an individual or organisation.
A membership with Women in Aid & Development will accelerate your career and entitle you to member-only benefits including free events and mentoring.
While we are based in Australia, we welcome you from every corner of the globe - whether you are working close to home, in a distant city or in a remote field based program at the front line of conflict and human suffering. Women in Aid & Development is supported by men and women across the sector and especially at senior executive, CEO and Director level – all keen to see greater representation of women in leadership roles and all working together towards gender parity in the sector.
Join the online community - make a contribution, read the blog and join our community of leaders on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Women supporting women.
Women think about and work for the betterment of other people's lives in this sector, but very rarely do women take time to think about themselves, next steps in their careers and how to secure leadership roles.
We know that men meet many of the same challenges as women working towards and in senior leadership roles, however women encounter a number of barriers that men do not. For this reason, we believe women speakers provide greater insight and guidance to our members who attend events and are interested in advancing their careers.
We welcome men to our meetings and invite them to speak on occasion, however engagement and willingness to ask questions is highest when women share their unique experiences and challenges that are specific to women in the workplace.
