Influence

The Search is ON!!

Last year I had the absolute honour of being named one of Australia's 100 Women of Influence (and the joint Winner of the Young Leader's Category!!). It has introduced me to amazing women around the country and is a fantastic initiative.

The search is now on again! Do you know any ladies that you think are influential? Nominate them today!

afr

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AFR: "The national and international search for Australia’s most inspiring and influential women in 2013 is on. The annual Financial Review – Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards recognise and amplify the outstanding efforts of women across Australia’s economy and society. And in 2013 the momentum behind them is growing.

Launched in 2012 by then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the awards were aimed at celebrating their contribution to developing a diverse, vibrant and prosperous Australia.

The awards cover 10 categories: board/management, innovation, public policy, business entrepreneur, diversity, young leader, global, social enterprise/not-for-profit, philanthropy and local/regional.

The inaugural awards in 2012 clearly struck a chord, attracting support and entries from around Australia. At the time Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly said they were an opportunity to acknowledge the significant contribution women make in building a more sustainable economic and social future.

“These awards are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the success and achievements of women across Australia and we look forward to starting the search again this year.”

“Westpac is proud to continue its support of the 100 Women of Influence awards. It’s an important way to acknowledge the significant contribution that women are making to achieve change in their local communities, businesses and society more generally.”

Financial Review Group chief executive and publisher, Brett Clegg, said: “Westpac and AFR want to acknowledge and take pride in powerful female leaders across all aspects of our society.

“Being involved at the inception of this initiative has been a great source of pride personally and for the Financial Review. This is an incredibly impactful and powerful awards program and there’s no better partner from our perspective than Gail and the Westpac team.”

A woman of influence is someone who can demonstrate collaboration within and beyond their field, and a wider circle of influence than through their direct role.

They exert influence by contributing to women’s advancement across society and economic life, and to Australian communities through collaboration and mentoring and not settling for the status quo.

Nominations were shortlisted and assessed by a panel of judges against a range of criteria, including the nominee’s personal and career achievements, contribution beyond their direct role and their mentoring and support for other women.

Nominations to the 2013 100 Women of Influence awards are open this Monday July 8 and close on Sunday August 18. Entries can be submitted online at www.afr.com/100women."

Read the rest of the article on the AFR here!

Links, Links, Links - 26th December 2012

My regular collection of internet links and tidbits for your enjoyment…! Leave any recommendations or thoughts in the comments box below =)  Today we have 12 year old app developers, a little about Asian/Australian politics, why the password is defunct and much more!

The video below is a short, moving film dedicated to the children in Syria.

Forbes’ List of 30 under 30. Inspiring stuff! Makes you feel like you have underutilised your life perhaps…or just inspires you to do more – better late than never! =)

On another note, An All American Nightmare: Remember Guantanamo Bay? Yes. Torture as part of national policy isn’t acceptable, for any country. 

At what passes for trials at our prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba, disclosure of the details of torture is forbidden, effectively preventing anyone from learning anything about what the CIA did with its victims. We are encouraged to do what’s best for America and, as Barack Obama put it, “look forward, not backward,” with the same zeal as, after 9/11, we were encouraged to save America by going shopping.

Bradley Manning, by the way, the lad allegedly responsible for taking the Wikileaks files, is being held “like an animal”. He could spend the rest of his life in prison if charged.  Isn’t it interesting he isn’t awarded similar recognition along with Julian Assange?

More after the jump…

Overeating is now a bigger problem than malnutrition, according to “the most comprehensive disease report ever produced”.  So that diet you were going on is actually helping combat a global disease, nice! The story has some other (good) news though on how we have dealt with disease more generally. 

 

20 most influential women (in Australia) of 2012. Great to see a Muslim lady up in there!

 

Malala, runner up Time Person of the Year. A young girl who is truly the epitome of bravery.

 

A really interesting look at how a website like Wiki deals with a mass shooting…

 

A thought provoking article on the ‘anxious’ language Australia has used over the last 100 years in terms of its relationship with Asia 

 

The Conversation calls for scientists to use the trust placed in them by the public to talk about and push the agenda of “future energy solutions” as people haven’t made their minds yet…but soon do so.

 

This is a 12 year old kid who is an app developer…awesome. Also, he is exceptionally confident at speaking in front of a large group of people – I know at his age, I didn’t use hand gestures nearly as well… (oh and my hands and knees shook like mad. Eyebrows were all over the place as well…)

 

We know so little about the new leaders of China…and they aren’t all engineers anymore.

In a 2009 speech in Mexico, Xi Jinping said that "some foreigners with full bellies and nothing better to do engage in finger-pointing at us." He then added, "First, China does not export revolution; second, it does not export famine and poverty; and third, it does not mess around with you. So what else is there to say?"

 

This is fabulous reading: Kill the Password: Why a String of Characters Can’t Protect Us Anymore

You have a secret that can ruin your life.

It’s not a well-kept secret, either. Just a simple string of characters—maybe six of them if you’re careless, 16 if you’re cautious—that can reveal everything about you.

Your email. Your bank account. Your address and credit card number. Photos of your kids or, worse, of yourself, naked. The precise location where you’re sitting right now as you read these words. Since the dawn of the information age, we’ve bought into the idea that a password, so long as it’s elaborate enough, is an adequate means of protecting all this precious data. But in 2012 that’s a fallacy, a fantasy, an outdated sales pitch. And anyone who still mouths it is a sucker—or someone who takesyou for one.

No matter how complex, no matter how unique, your passwords can no longer protect you.

 

Pimp my aid: A tongue in cheek site on international aid.

 

Don’t want to research when you buy products? TheWirecutter.com just gives you the single best product (in their opinion) of everything techy. Kinda awesome.

 

Jobs are hard to come by in this day and age.  Here are perhaps some ways you can use the awesome tool LinkedIn to network and help out (if you are looking for ideas…LinkedIn is a great tool. Seriously)

 

Freedom in the digital world? Questions Seth Godin wishes we were asking…

Should everyone, even the presumed innocent, be required to put their DNA in a databank so that violent criminals are much more likely to be found? If not, who should have their data shared? How many innocent people behind bars could we free (and guilty parties could we catch?)