Women for Election Australia: Recruiting for a New Chair
Summary: Women for Election Australia (WFEA) is looking for a passionate, engaging new Chair to lead the exponential growth of the organisation. Supported by a hard-working Board, an experienced and highly-driven CEO and a volunteer secretariat, the new Chair will continue the momentum of inspiring and equipping more women, particularly women of diverse backgrounds, to run for public office in Australia.
About us: While determinedly non-partisan, Women for Election Australia is working towards 50:50 gender representation at all levels of government in Australia.
For WFEA, having gender parity, including women of diverse backgrounds, in Australia’s legislative chambers, is not only a fundamental issue of democratic fairness, but a crucial step in addressing some of our biggest policy challenges and restoring faith in democracy.
As a strategic aim, WFEA will equip 2000 women to run for office by 2022, through online and face to face workshops, mentoring, networking and additional masterclass training.
Despite the trials of 2020, WFEA’s activities ramped up considerably last year due to a combination of strategic focus and government grants. The organisation’s profile has been steadily growing due to its sought-after, non-partisan training programs, philanthropic support and considered promotional activities.
About the role: Our ideal candidate will:
- Be a passionate advocate for gender and diversity equality
- Be a seasoned, energetic networker experienced in raising funds
- Have demonstrable skills in scaling organisations
- Have an understanding of Australian politics and political systems
- Have experience with volunteer boards, and best practice governance
The Board meets once every alternate month, with committee meetings in between. COVID has illustrated that the bulk of meetings can be run remotely, though occasional face-to-face get togethers (in Sydney, where the current board is largely based) would be beneficial.
After a successful year, WFEA’s current strategic priority is raising sufficient financial support to ensure that the CEO has the resources to execute the 2022 strategy, with the support of the Board.
The Chair will be responsible for focusing the efforts of fellow directors, the CEO and staff to support the organisation’s exponential growth, and make a positive difference to the gender balance in legislatures across Australia.
For further information, please contact WFEA CEO, Licia Heath: [email protected] or 0410550338.
