ACLW 2013 SWECO LEADERSHIP AWARD OPENS
The SWECO Applications Deadline: Wednesday 28 November 2012 at 5pm.
Download the 2013 SWECO Application
Australian men and women are invited to submit a SWECO Application to describe initiatives for economic and social empowerment of women in Australian communities and organisations.
Applicants are asked to provide information on what they have implemented in Australia and why, how the change is sustainable, and evidence to indicate its impact on women in either an Australian community or in an organisation. Individuals can nominate themselves for the Award or be nominated by someone else.
Judging will take place from 2 January - 8 February 2013 with the winners being announced on International Women's Day, 8 March 2013.
Applicants will need to outline which category they are applying for, Community or Organisations.
AWARD
There will be 4 rankings in each category:
One First place or Gold Winner
One Second place or Silver Winner
One Third place or Bronze Winner
A Highly Commended Winner
Winners will receive an ACLW SWECO Certificate. Online and off-line publicity of the winners and their initiatives will also ensue.
Eligibility Criteria for SWECO
Sex: Female or Male
Age: 18 or older
Nationality: Australian or with Australian permanent resident status
Any individual, who works for ACLW, or is a relative of the judges, or works in the organisation of the judges will not be eligible for an award under this program.
An individual who has won the SWECO Award previously will be ineligible.
Only one application per organisation will be accepted.
SWECO Judging Criteria
SWECO Applications in both categories of Community and Organisations will be evaluated by the Judges according to the following criteria:
Leadership: the applicant should demonstrate their leadership skills employed in effectively developing, implementing and evaluating an initiative for achieving and sustaining empowerment of women in a community or organisation.
Sustainability: the applicant must describe how the initiative has sustained empowerment for women within the community or organisation, how it will continue in the future and expected outcomes.
Impact on women’s empowerment: the applicant should clearly articulate the specific intended effect on women in terms of their economic and social empowerment as well as the actual impact the initiative has on women.
Capacity: the applicant should demonstrate their capacity to collaborate with others to seek and utilise assistance and expertise to develop and implement their initiative.
Measurable and/or Non-Measurable results: the applicant should provide either quantitative evidence (eg statistics) to show progress toward the stated goal or qualitative evidence such as the milestones reached toward their stated goals.
Judging Panel
Judges for the Communities category are:
Sue Conde, Former President, United Women Australia
Mitra Khakbaz, Executive Manager, Multicultural Development Association
Graham West, CEO National Australia Day Council
Mike Zissler, CEO Lifeline Canberra
Judges for the Organisations category are:
Dr Michelle Bakar, HR Director Aust/NZ, Kellogg Australia
Susan Ferrier, Head of PPC & Internal Communication, People, Performance & Culture, KPMG
Katy McDonald, National Director, People and Development, Minter Ellison
Nareen Young, CEO, Diversity Council Australia
Dr Diann Rodgers-Healey will select the applications for the judging panel, conduct the interviews and contribute to the decisions regarding final placings.
--------------------------------------
If you have initiated a project to advance women in the community or an organisation, I invite you to consider applying for the Australian Centre for Leadership for Women's ‘Sustaining Women’s Empowerment in Communities and Organisations’ (SWECO) Award.
Here is what last year's Winners had to say about the benefits of winning SWECO.
Kat Armstrong, Gold Winner, WIPAN:
"I was so very humbled by winning the Australian's Centre for Leadership for Women's 2012 Gold SWECO Award. I just never expected this could or would happen to me. Winning this award has made me realise just how significant my voluntary contribution to my community is and should continue to be. There is just so much more work needed to be done for the many marginalised and disadvantaged women in our communities. I hope that my winning this award can and will be an inspiration and guidance to any other woman who has had a disadvantaged background, that you can achieve anything you set your mind too."
Ludo McFerran, Siliver Winner:
"The SWECO provided profile and credibility, especially in the business sector, for our national project introducing rights at work to be supported when experiencing domestic violence. Like many of my friends and colleagues who have worked for decades in the prevention of violence against women, this is more than a job. Awards like SWECO recognize the commitment and passion we invest in our work."
Karen McFadzen, Bronze Winner, CISCO:
"I was honoured to have been selected as the third place Bronze Winner of the 2012 CLW Sustaining Women’s Empowerment in Communities and Organisations (SWECO) Award. As a leader, and member of the Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China Board, the Cisco Women's Advisory Group and as Executive Sponsor for Cisco Connected Women’s Network, I am privileged to be in a position where I can act as a catalyst for change on these and other important issues. Through winning this award I have been actively sought out to participate in forums to further promote women’s capabilities with other business and community leaders. I have been delighted with the genuine interest that leaders are taking to understand what it means to have an inclusive and diverse organisation, while recognising that it is a journey and there is no one-size fits all approach. Inclusion and diversity is the responsibility of all leaders and I am truly pleased that I can play a role in raising the profile of women in communities and organisations."
Louise Perram-Fisk, Director of Transform, Department of Transport and Main Roads Highly Commended:
"Speaking on behalf of the TLWAG-Q and the Transform team that pulled together Women take the Wheel, it was a great honour to be Highly Commended for the SWECO award in 2012. This recognition spurred on our industry which employs more than 1.2 million people in
More information about SWECO