THE North East's most influential women are backing the second North East Women Leaders (NEW Leaders) conference aiming to raise the aspirations of young women from our region's schools.
The conference will see some of the region’s high-flying women and emerging talent coming together to both inspire and offer guidance to students from across the North East on how to make it to the top.
The event will be held in Newcastle Business School’s state-of-the-art facilities on Northumbria University’s prestigious City Campus East today. More than 500 16 to 18-year-old female students from North East schools will attend to listen to words of wisdom from high-profile speakers from business, the arts and public life.
The New Leaders Conference programme has been developed by Central Newcastle High School GDST, the leading all-girls school based in Jesmond, Newcastle, as part of the school’s commitment to developing and preparing girls for courageous leadership in whatever career they choose to pursue.
Hilary French, headteacher at Central Newcastle High School, said: “We want to champion young women in the region and provide them with the tools they need to grow into strong inspirational leaders.
“It still remains true that women are poorly represented in top jobs across the country and across all sectors. We want to play our part in helping to change these statistics in the future by educating a generation of women who have the self-belief, confidence and, indeed, the aspiration to make it to the top of their fields.
‘The outstanding examination results achieved by girls at Central Newcastle High School is a vital piece of the jigsaw as they prepare for their future careers but we also aim to empower girls by teaching a broad range of skills that will help them to succeed.
“We want to help shape their future and make a real difference to their lives.
“Our very first NEW Leaders conference in April 2009 proved an outstanding success and the response from those who attended was phenomenal.
“These young women will no doubt be reaching the final stages of their higher education courses and I expect will be drawing on the advice given at the conference as they begin to make their own mark in the workplace.
“The 2011 NEW Leaders conference is set to be equally inspiring for the 500 young women from the North East who will be attending in September. The young conference delegates will be able to hear from, and meet, women who have already achieved, or are on their way to achieving, success in their careers.
“At the end of the day they will have a clear understanding of what makes an outstanding leader and what it takes to reach the top. The speakers at the conference have so much advice to offer and I am delighted that they have generously given their time to help nurture the many talented young women we have in the region.
“Central Newcastle High School has received enormous support for this project and I am incredibly grateful to our partners ncjMedia, Entrepreneurs’ Forum, Schools NorthEast and Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University, and to the speakers at the conference, for helping us to deliver a second inspirational NEW Leaders conference.”
Beccy Earnshaw, director of conference partner Schools NorthEast, added: “We are delighted to support this fantastic event. The young women attending are the future leaders of our region and we should do all that we can to raise aspirations and inform them of the opportunities available to them.
“This event celebrates the many talented and trailblazing women in our region and recognises that ensuring that future generations of young women have the skills, confidence and ambition to succeed is vital for the North East’s prosperity.
“By enabling those students to meet strong, realistic role models they can learn more about what the route to success can look like and how they may realise their own potential.”