The virtual meetings regularly gather at least thirty women, and the circle of regular participants in the work of the newly created Australian/New Zealander network of women has recently been joined by Australian women of Croatian background now resident in Croatia and successful Croatian women now in the United Arab Emirates.
In November of 2019 the Australian Croatian Chamber of Commerce in New South Wales joined Betty Pavelich—who serves as our ambassador to Australia and New Zealand—to stage the first Croatian Women in Leadership in Australia and New Zealand symposium in Canberra. Some one hundred women gathered for the event from almost all the Australian federal states and New Zealand. Although this was the first gathering of its kind tickets were in short supply.
At the first event the organisers, ambassador Pavelich and Australian Croatian Chamber of Commerce secretary Sonja Palic, noted that the core objective of the gathering was to promote networking among women in Australia and New Zealand, the sharing of experiences, and collaboration. The motivation for this, the organisers point out, is twofold: firstly, the widespread acknowledgement that at top positions in government and corporations, and in general at leading posts in organisations, women remain significantly underrepresented, and secondly, that the ethnic Croatians in Australia are insufficiently interconnected and often uninformed as to the events in Croatian communities in a neighbouring federal state, sometimes in a neighbouring city.
At the end of the exceedingly successful two and a half days of the gathering in Canberra, dominated by a very warm, congenial and positive atmosphere, the organisers promised to continue to connect Australian and New Zealander women of Croatian background, and to host a second meeting of successful Croatian women in November of 2020.
And then the global pandemic scare hit, cutting Australia off from the rest of the world, and its federal states off one from the other. In these novel circumstances, with most Australians subjected to the imposed lockdowns, working from home; in a situation in which especially small and family run companies found themselves facing existential problems, the initiators of this network of women decided to launch a virtual support group.
The first online meeting was staged in May and has been followed ever since with regular monthly sessions. From a virtual Saturday coffee break it has quickly morphed into a regular mini-conference at which the organisers present, on a monthly basis, successful women from the Australian federal states, with the working portion followed by a discussion and a short informal confab.
At the monthly gatherings the discussion revolves around the successes achieved by women of Croatian background in all domains of public and societal life, from politics to banking and healthcare, education, science and the arts. This network of women in Australia and New Zealand has already produced a number of successful business collaborations, created new and reinforced old friendships.
It is important to emphasise a few reasons why these meetings are significant. Firstly, these are the only regular gatherings of ethnic Croatians (women) from all of Australia and New Zealand. Secondly, the goal is to point to the presence of our people in all branches of the economy, from industry to higher education, and their achievements. Thirdly, the organisers of the network have truly achieved a setting in which women can support one another. And finally, this network of Australian and New Zealander women of Croatian extraction is rapidly attracting new members, which is growing the network to the benefit of the whole of our diaspora in this part of the world.
The network brings together businesswomen, owners of companies, women of Croatian background at prominent positions in government and non-governmental institutions, the heads/presidents of local organisations, researchers with Australian universities, leading society figures and a growing number of artists from all domains in the arts, from painting to film and music. However, the doors of this network of women of Croatian descent in Australia and New Zealand is open to all women that wish to contribute to the ethnic Croatian community in this part of the world, regardless of their positions and occupations. If the pandemic restrictions allow for it the next, second, gathering is planned for March of 2021.
By: Jasna Novak Milić
Lead
The virtual meetings regularly gather at least thirty women, and the circle of regular participants in the work of the newly created Australian/New Zealander network of women has recently been joined by Australian women of Croatian background now resident in Croatia and successful Croatian women now in the United Arab Emirates.