Celebrations at the Senedd for Women in Public Life

The Senedd, in Cardiff Bay, was the venue for a celebration to mark the end of the Women in Public Life Development Scheme, on Wednesday 9 December 2015.

Dame Rosemary Butler AM, Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales, established the Women in Public Life Development Scheme last year and it was officially launched in October 2014. Cardiff Business School and the charity Chwarae Teg, were jointly responsible for the Scheme’s delivery.

The celebratory event saw the Scheme’s mentees, mentors, facilitators and other guests gather to officially record the end of the first Women in Public Life Scheme and reflect on the highlights.

Hosted by Dame Rosemary Butler, Cardiff University was represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Elizabeth Treasure, and Sarah Lethbridge, Director of Executive Education at Cardiff Business School.

During the last year, the 14 mentees, have been helped to develop the skills and confidence to apply for and work in public life. This included intensive personal development and skills training, one to one mentoring support and role shadowing opportunities at the highest levels in public bodies.

The Executive Education unit was responsible for much of the formal learning and its Director, Ms Lethbridge, said of the Scheme: “Women are often significantly unrepresented in public life and the Women in Public Life Development Scheme sought to redress this imbalance.

“Cardiff Business School was proud to co-deliver this Scheme and help to ensure the effective development and future promotion of women in to senior roles in public life. Facilitating the learning opportunities for this Scheme was a wonderful opportunity to share the expertise, insight and knowledge of our faculty to the benefit of the mentees. Promoting gender equality in business and education has long been important to the School and we are committed to delivering social value alongside economic value. This Scheme was a prime example of the positive contribution we can make.”

Cardiff Business School recently announced its commitment to becoming a Public Value Business School, placing social improvement alongside economic development at the heart of its teaching and research.