We had such an incredible time hosting the Breaking Barriers: Women in Leadership panel with our incredible panellists. The panel consisted of Haylee Putaranui: Director of Māori Strategy at Fonterra, Emma Barrett: Public Sector Director at Microsoft, and Victoria Lyons: People Experience Lead at Spark.

Our discussion followed the career journeys of these female leaders, as well as the challenges they had faced. Finally, our speakers bestowed our members with invaluable advice that will support them in future positions of leadership! The night concluded with the announcement of our giveaway winners, and an opportunity for networking.

Our aim of this event was to foster an engaging and inclusive environment, particularly by promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in corporate spaces. The panel certainly proved successful in achieving this, with our members buzzing after the discussion.

We would like to acknowledge the organisations that supported this event. A massive thank you to our drinks sponsor, Pete's Natural, the catering supplied by Totos Pizza and Hello Delicious, and our giveaway sponsors: Standard Issue, QT Auckland, Complete Studio, Caci and Spark New Zealand.

We had the pleasure of hosting a Financial Masterclass facilitated by Bloomberg, in the Owen G Glenn Building on Wednesday 2nd August.

The wonderful Bloomberg representatives helped the students understand the importance of investing and equipped our members with all the tools needed for financial success - from active vs passive investing, to Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), and Fundamental and Technical analysis. The workshop was highly engaging, providing our members with the opportunity to expand on their prior knowledge, ask questions and participate in the conversation with financial experts. Bloomberg also generously supplied merchandise, leaving a lasting impression on our members.

We would like to express our gratitude to Bloomberg for collaborating with UAWB by delivering this exclusive Financial Masterclass to the Women In Business community. The attendees extracted some great insights, and the workshop provided them with the necessary education and motivation to explore potential investment opportunities.

At the conclusion of the workshop, we transitioned to a networking session, where our UAWB members were able to discuss their learnings and dive into further questions; accompanied by delicious catering from Best Ugly Bagels and Krispy Kreme.

On Monday 7th August, 40 members of the UAWB community had the privilege of visiting the EY Auckland office to embark on a climate change and sustainability workshop.

After a short introduction from Emma Byrt, (Campus Recruitment Senior Consultant) and the six EY representatives from various service lines, we participated in an icebreaker, where our members were able to make new connections. Following this, we heard from Sarah Gulley (Climate Change & Sustainability Consultant) who shared some invalubale insights about her journey at EY.

Our members then had 40 minutes to work in small groups as they tackled a sustainability challenge. This was centred around addressing overconsumption in the homewares and fashion industry. Students were required to devise recommendations to be enacted by the industry and government, which would promote ethical production, reduce waste, and ensure a more sustainable future. UAWB members presented their solutions and received some feedback from Sarah. As an added bonus, the students were then rewarded with delicious food and drinks (supplied by EY) during the networking session that followed.

This workshop presented an invaluable opportunity for our members to gain practical exposure to consulting, become educated on how sustainability is influencing the current business landscape, and network with EY representatives. We are immensely grateful to EY for facilitating this opportunity, and allowing us to engage with experts in the field!

​On a crisp Monday morning at 8:30 am, 40 of our UAWB members attended an invigorating Hot Pilates class at SWEAT Yoga in Newmarket. Our instructor, Abby, led us through a HIIT session that provided a fantastic start to the fourth week of the semester.

The heat was undoubtedly challenging, but the endorphins kicked in quickly and left everyone feeling energised after a tricky 1 hour workout. Buzzing after the HIIT Pilates session, our members each received free passes to return for another class hosted at SWEAT Yoga!

Following the success of our SALA HIIT Pilates session last semester, the UAWB Exec were very excited to bring this community event to our members, and we are thrilled that it proved to be such a huge success.

A special thank you to SWEAT for making this event happen!

On Friday 18th August, UAWB hosted our Exploring Business Launch in the Velocity Unleash Space.  We started the evening off by introducing our our amazing lineup of businesses participating in Exploring Business, which included; KPMG, Microsoft, ZURU, Icehouse Ventures, Previously Unavailable, and Blackbird Ventures.

Exploring Business pairs female students with an organisation in a male-dominated industry to give them insights, confidence, and an opportunity to learn how to pursue a career path of interest. This year, the programme has evolved to allow members to discover potential career pathways while assisting first years in identifying their ideal majors.

And after networking with business representatives over delicious drinks and pizzas, our members got to hear from our inspiring panel of speakers who shared their experiences around the topics of: (1) Navigating the Journey, (2) The Art of Balance, and (3) Advice for Aspiring Women in Business.

Finally, after receiving insight into each of the partnered firms, our members were able to select their top three company preferences. This provides each of our members with the invaluable opportunity to spend a day exploring an organisation, and its industry, later in September.

Our UAWB Connect members have expressed their great excitement at this invaluable opportunity, and cannot wait to receive exclusive insight into the realities of the business world!

We would like to thank the partnered firms who have agreed to partake in this invaluable initiative, and the inspiring panel of speakers who attended the Exploring Business Launch!

During week seven, we had the pleasure of visiting PwC to explore the future of technology. The event was structured with four stations, each with a different focus. Three of these stations saw our members delve into engaging conversation with representatives, where they learnt about the different service lines at PwC (including Audit (CIT), Risk Services and Consulting) and heard about each rep's journey at the firm. The final station saw our members explore the possibilities of the digital future through VR headsets; which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.

The PwC representatives also provided us with valuable insight into graduate and internship recruitment at PwC, which proved immensely beneficial for our members.

The valuable conversations continued as we finished off the event with some delicious catering and refreshments, provided by PwC. The conversations left our members feeling excited to enter the workforce, due to learning about the bright future that technology has in store for them.

A special thank you to Dominique Herewini (Senior Attraction and Engagement Consultant) for her commitment to this event, and to the PwC representatives who facilitated these insightful conversations!

On Monday, 18th September, 40 UAWB members had the invaluable opportunity to visit Foodstuffs North Island.

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We all journeyed on a bus together from the University of Auckland (with some delicious food to fuel us for the exciting trip ahead) to Foodstuffs Head Office in Māngere. The event commenced with an engaging panel discussion, where three Foodstuffs representatives (Cindy To, Sandy Botterill and Willa Hand) delved into the topics of Ethics and Social Responsibility in leadership. Here, the panel endowed our members with valuable learnings about the importance of ethical behaviour, strategies to promote it and how successful initiatives in this space can drive positive change.

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This was followed up with an office tour, where our members gained exclusive insight into the company’s culture, operations, and innovative approach to leadership.

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Our members thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and we are grateful that this event could serve as a platform for Foodstuffs to showcase its commitment to supporting future female leaders. We are immensely grateful that Foodstuffs facilitated this unique (never seen before) opportunity for our community. Our UAWB members learnt from some of the brightest minds in the industry while seeing their industry-leading Head Office - where all the magic happens!

We would like to thank Foodstuffs for facilitating this unique (never seen before) opportunity for our community. We would especially like to express our gratitude to Natacha Fairfield for her instrumental role in coordinating this event, alongside the inspiring panellists.

On Thursday 21st September, we hosted UAWB’s very first charity fundraiser event, UAWB x COOC: Pasta for a Purpose!

Leading up to the event, UAWB engaged in an activation campaign (via EDM and social media) to help raise awareness for Cure our Ovarian Cancer (COOC). We also asked that each of our attendees donated $5 to Cure Our Ovarian Cancer, to contribute to this incredible cause. Donations were also provided from other members of the UAWB community who wanted to show their support.

The event started with a short introduction from UAWB, before passing over to Grace Roddick, a member of the Women in Business community who was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer at 16. Grace’s personal journey provided all of our members with some context about the significance of this disease, and how it is essential to be an advocate for your own health.

Following this emotional and inspirational story, Harrison (from Main Course) led us to through the pasta making class, where we learnt how to make our own fresh pasta and pasta sauce. After watching the demonstration, our UAWB members put their own pasta making skills to the test. The evening concluded with a shared dinner, where the UAWB community bonded over the delicious food.

This was an immensely valuable opportunity to band together as a club, advocating for such an important cause that exclusively affects women. We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Cure Our Ovarian Cancer and help raise awareness for this incredible charity, given that this disease receives insufficient attention. 

We cannot express our gratitude enough to Grace Roddick, for sharing some insight into her journey. It was also a privilege to work alongside the team at COOC, and this event would not have been possible without the support of Holly Townsend, Whitney Smith and Jade Ludemann. We would also like to thank Main Course for facilitating the pasta making, and for equipping our members with this practical skill!

During September, 75 UAWB members had the privilege of engaging in “Exploring Business”, through our UAWB Connect Programme.

This year, the partnered firms for our Exploring Business initiative included KPMG, ZURU, Microsoft, Icehouse Ventures, Previously Unavailable and Blackbird. 

Following our successful Exploring Business Launch in August, these firms generously opened their office doors to our UAWB members. This provided our students with a glimpse into what it is like to work at these leading companies, each of which are pioneering change in their industries.

The welcoming environment that each of these companies fostered created the perfect atmosphere for engaging in open conversations with representatives, gaining insight into personal growth journeys of female leaders, and participating in office tours.

The initiative elicited resoundingly positive feedback, with our members commenting on how they were immensely impressed with the structure of the events and the in-depth exposure they received, which opened their minds to new potential career pathways.

We would like to thank KPMG, ZURU, Microsoft, Icehouse Venture, Previously Unavailable and Blackbird Ventures for agreeing to take part in Exploring Business for 2023. We are deeply grateful to have collaborated with each of these firms, and we are confident that our UAWB Connect members will reap long-term benefits from participating in Exploring Business, due to the exceptional commitment these companies displayed.

On Thursday 5th October, 22 lucky UAWB members had the opportunity to explore the world of finance at our annual UAWB x UBS Breakfast, held at UBS Offices.

This was UAWB’s final event for 2023, and we were privileged enough to spend it extracting insights from UBS experts, while making inspiring connections and sharing a delicious breakfast.

The event commenced with a welcome from UBS, followed by a deep dive into some of the key services that they offer, in particular, exploring areas such as Global Banking (M&A Advisory and Capital Raisings), Research and Sales & Trading.

Located on Auckland’s waterfront, our members had the pleasure of enjoying the panoramic view of the harbour as they reflected on their insights, networked with representatives and continued to graze over the food that UBS so generously provided.

The event concluded with a panel, where students had the opportunity to raise any questions and hear some more fascinating details about what it is like to work at this global firm.

We would like to extend our gratitude to the UBS representatives who facilitated this invaluable conversation with our members. In particular, Chaturika Jayasinghe was absolutely vital in ensuring that the event came together so smoothly, and we feel so privileged to have received such incredible insights from this event, accompanied by delicious food and long-lasting connections.

The UBS Breakfast proved to be the perfect conclusion to UAWB’s events for 2023. The UBS representatives offered such a wealth of knowledge, endowing our members with some invaluable insights to keep top of mind as they embark on their career pathways!