The Central West Women’s Forum was established to give a voice to women of the Central West who want to make a difference, achieve results and influence the choices available across the region.

Its diverse membership provides support, encouragement and development opportunities to each other from within its resources whilst coordinating external speakers and experiences. Members of the Forum are linked by their desire to have a strong region known for its commitment to excellence in leadership.

The Central West Women’s Forum have announced the fourth high profile speaker in its Leadership Series: Libby Bleakley. Libby was a Police Officer for 29 years; developed a youth and community centre in Timor-Leste; is an author and runs a coffee roasting business raising funds for the centre in Timor-Leste.

On March 7, Libby will address an audience at Quest Orange to celebrate International Women’s Day with the 2020 campaign theme being #EachforEqual. This event builds on the success of three quarterly events in 2019, with speakers NSW Minister the Hon Bronnie Taylor; Dr. Skye Saunders and Australian Environment Minister the Hon. Sussan Ley MP.

Chair of the Central West Women’s Forum, Mary Brell OAM said, “We are delighted that Libby will be our speaker as we celebrate International Women’s Day, we are also grateful to Amy van de Ven, the franchisee of Quest Orange, for sponsoring the event and providing the venue.’

“It’s not a ‘women only’ group, men are certainly invited to come along. We need to work with and alongside men to make the best of any organisation. We all come with different skills, let’s bring our skills together and make the organisation the best it can possibly be. I think women have certainly struggled their way through a lot of issues and what we are trying to do is support them. Let’s make them stronger out here in the west,” said Mary.

The event will start at 6pm with informal networking in the Ground floor Conference Room, drinks and canapes will be available. Guests will then hear Libby talk about her wonderfully varied leadership story followed by more networking to conclude at 8:30 pm

“Our December event with the Hon. Sussan Ley MP, Australian Environment Minister was a significant success and we look forward to welcoming back people who have enjoyed our Leadership Series so far, as well as welcoming new members at a cost of membership of $1.”

The Central West Women’s Forum works through sub-groups to provide women with opportunities to succeed. The sub-groups include leadership, governance, mentoring, well-being, mental health, and literacy.

Details of the event and more information about the Central West Women’s Forum are available on their Facebook page, ‘Central West Women’s Forum.’

The cost for the event is $40 which includes drinks and canapes, bookings are essential at: https://www.trybooking.com/BIIRQ