Page 3 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 110 - March 2023_Neat

The invitation to the F2F Presidents meeting and YBPW Symposium in Brus-
sels 29 April 2023 was extended, with further event details to be found on the
th
BPW European Website. It would be wonderful to see as many of us as possible in
Brussels at this event, with advocacy sessions within the European Parliament.
(https://www.bpw-europe.org/)

Our Gordon-Holmes speaker was Naomi Long MLA, who has
had various prominent roles since she hosted BPW UK as the Lord
Mayor in 2010. Naomi was engaging, informative and generous with
her time. Although her speech was fantastic, Naomi came alive with
our questions from the floor. Indeed, when Judith Crowe told Naomi
that she had been one of the best Gordon-Holmes speakers in re-
cent memory, no one could disagree.

Noreen Courtney from the Belfast employer Spirit Aero systems explained
how she became the Programme Director after completing a master’s degree in
Accounts and Finance. A front facing public role for Noreen, and one that she was
happy to share the journey of. It was great to hear about the near parity within
this company, and the female apprentices winning engineering awards in this tra-
ditionally male world. STEM really is an equal opportunity career choice now.

Lunch afforded the chance to talk over the morning’s speakers, and to watch
a slideshow of us all in previous conferences and BPW experiences. The afternoon
session saw us split into two groups, Chris Nendick leading the Advocacy session,
‘How do we move forward on the successful motions at our AGM?’ Alice Minuto the
YBPW European representative took our YBPW UK members and guests into the
breakout room to discuss how to increase membership and to stay relevant. In-
deed, Alice brought along sunglasses for us all to think about how to see the world
through different eyes; what can we achieve?

Finally, it came to the end of the Conference Day, the YBPW raffle was a hit
with YBPW UK VP Yasmin Knight bringing humour and good cheer to each lot, skil-
fully helped by Otoha.

The evening was the chance to relax, to continue our discussions, and to
plan what we do next! Sunday and Monday meant home time for some, but for
others the opportunity to explore the area. The Giants Causeway tour was incredi-
ble, even if it meant we had the chance to get a little wet! The Black Cab tour
around Belfast had some of us enthralled at the history of such a beautiful city.

For the President of BPW UK, it is a wonderful reminder of who we are and
what we can achieve together. “Women, we really do mean business”.