Every woman is unique

Kerryn talks with Donna de Zwart, CEO of Fitted For Work

I believe networking is a powerful and influential way to create a ripple effect and make a positive impact on the lives of others. Every person has the capacity to make a difference, inspire change, and even influence the lives of others if you so choose and it all starts from awareness.

With many worthy causes in our community we know that many people are keen to make an impact on the lives of others. Through my business, YTM, I have met and been inspired by the efforts of many organisations and people whom we may otherwise, never have heard of. I make it part of my business to create awareness of organisations that are striving to make an impact, to help them grow, to encourage us to think beyond ourselves and to keep our life in perspective.

One organisation we support in particular are the not-for -profit organisation, Fitted For Work

Fitted for Work

With International Women's Day fast approaching, I would like to share and acknowledge the amazing contribution of Fitted for Work to the lives of so many Australian women.

I spoke with Donna de Zwart last year on my podcast, and now share some of that conversation with you.

I learnt from Donna, that:-

 Fitted for Work's mission is to provide women with practical skills, knowledge, self esteem and know how, so they can move forward with confidence in the workplace. They support women aged from 16 to 65 plus and recognise that every woman is unique. They assist those who may not have finished high school, and women with PhDs. They help refugees, migrants and women who have just come out of a violent relationship, and others. Many women have taken time out of their careers or out of the workforce because they're caring for Children with disabilities or elderly parents.

There are many reasons why a woman might find herself experiencing disadvantage. It can happen to any woman any time. Donna told me " Even if you don't think you are one of those women, chances are you know, someone who's experienced one of these things and disadvantage can be temporary. So FFW is about giving someone a helping hand out of that situation. But it can happen to anybody, and we all know people who are in that situation".

Many people are not fortunate to have a network or  know how to tap into support or a network when seeking employment. This is certainly the case for many of the women at Fitted for Work who often come from other countries, and need help to find work that matches their skills and qualifications.

Through Covid-19, Fitted for Work continued to provide services and was aware that over 320,000 women in Australia since February 2020, (this was recorded in July) stopped looking for work. What it told FFW was that a large number of women in our population had given up hope, who felt overwhelmed and when women don't have access to that economic participation that is diabolical for women moving forward.

 FFW is very concerned that the status of women is going to go backwards as a result of the challenges of 2020. Their mission has always been around economic security for women, and they believe the best way for women to get that is through employment.

I encourage you make the time to watch this video or listen to the podcast, so that you too may be in the position to change a life and contribute to someone’s future success.

Thank you Fitted for Work, the team, the mentors, the supporters... yes, women are unique and International Women's Day on the 8th March helps us to reflect on how we could contribute to community and make a positive impact on lives.

How could you contribute to the success of the women supported by Fitted for Work ? I’d love you to share your thoughts, comments or this insight with someone you know that could be helped or could help make a difference.