Women in Leadership
CSIA’s Women in Leadership program brings together women from across the community services and other local business and industry to address gender parity on boards.
Diversity has never been more important for community services as boards draw on a range of experiences and knowledge to navigate the complex and unprecedented issues Industry faces.
Since 2016 CSIA has partnered with Government and Industry to research the current state of community services boards and develop a program of events to address gender parity. CSIA’s leadership events provide an opportunity for women to come together to share ideas, hear from women in leadership roles, network and empower the next generation of leaders.
In 2020 and beyond, we continue this focus recognising that while there are professional development opportunities for women to receive governance training there is a missing pathway between getting qualifications and joining a board in a leadership position. Giving women new opportunities to connect with and receive mentoring by directors of boards is critical to gender parity.
Towards Gender Parity
The Government’s Participation and Leadership section of the Queensland Women’s Strategy (2016-2021) identifies the need to increase women’s participation and progression in leadership, senior management roles and Directors on Board positions. Here at CSIA, we share this priority with our focus squarely on the Community Services Industry. In partnership with the Office for Women, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, CSIA delivered the Towards Gender Parity: Women on Community Services Boards report. The findings of the report suggest that while representation is improving, there is more work to be undertaken to improve gender parity at both senior positions in community services organisations and on their boards of management. Recommendations from the report call for us to acknowledge the women in leadership roles, how they are retained and find ways to prepare the next generation.
Leading women of community services
Read about leading women in the Community Services Industry and their advice to support leadership pathways:
