Impact

Held through the challenging times of COVID19 lockdowns and amidst a growing sense of isolation, the C2 – Connect and Collaborate program brought young women, seasoned leaders from across the tech industries, and a team of skilled facilitators together in a series of “career hacks”. With over 150 young women participating in live events in Melbourne and Sydney or from across the country via virtual conference, we helped inspire the next generation of young women leaders, strengthened their networks and created tangible pathways to career success. 

As part of this program, we also developed detailed toolkits and facilitation guides which are openly available to any organisation wanting to improve diversity in their workforce.

The challenge

Companies across various industries are awakening to the realisation that a diverse workforce not only fosters a more vibrant and innovative environment, but it also holds the key to sustained success and growth. One critical aspect of building a diverse workforce is ensuring the active inclusion and representation of women at all levels of an organisation. But you cannot create a powerful pipeline of young women leaders if you can attract them into your industry from the earliest stages of their careers.

In discussion with our company partners – Aquent, Amazon (AWS), ISPT Super Property, Optus, Salesforce, Siemens, Vibewire and Encompass Corporation – we recognised that many organisations are simply not registering with young women as a career opportunity. While career options are wide open for school age girls, by the time they enter tertiary education, their career choices and pathways are hardening – with many technology and technical industry careers actively discounted by young women.

Our challenge was to find or create new pathways for young women.

Innovating on purpose

Recognising the immense value that women bring to the forward-thinking organisation, our program was created as a co-design process between the participants, the facilitators at Disruptors Co and our company partners. 

Our company partners – Aquent, Amazon (AWS), ISPT Super Property, Optus, Salesforce, Siemens, Vibewire and Encompass Corporation – were instrumental in providing a landscape of the problems to be solved, and guiding teams towards innovative solutions. Students also heard from senior members of staff, and their personal, unique and often unconventional career paths.

Throughout the half-day events, partnering companies offered their encouragement and mentorship to the budding tech talent, helping teams of 4 to 5 refine their solution and create the most compelling pitch possible.

At the end of the session, each team pitched their solutions to a panel of expert judges who revelled in the difficult task of choosing the winning teams. The judges provided feedback to everyone, ensuring that all participants walked away from the events with invaluable knowledge and insights.