Women’s networking groups are excellent forums for connecting like-minded, industry types. But they can also be productive breeding grounds for remarkable ideas.
Not-for-profit Women in Super is a group that brings women in superannuation and financial services together for events and networking opportunities, and aims to help improve women’s retirement prospects.
It also happens to be the largest donor to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, contributing around 20% of all proceeds the fund has received in recent years.
Back in 1998, a small number of women within the group came up with a bright idea of starting a charity run. They were thrilled to see 2,000 people show up for the event in Melbourne and another few thousand in Sydney for the first Mother’s Day Classic.
In 2013, that figure was closer to 135,000, raising a collective $5 million for the NBCF. Even more walkers and runners are expected to show up for the 2014 event on the second Sunday of May at one of 96 locations across Australia.
Women in Super chair Cate Wood remembers the 1998 event fondly. Her primary responsibilities on the day involved collecting jumpers and running the cloakroom, a bit of a different experience to her usual tasks as a then director of a major super fund, but she loved it.
“It was amazing. I remember the morning very clearly,” she says. “We arrived, had our little tent set up and wondered just how many people would actually turn up. We were wildly excited by the crowd of 2000 that arrived. To think that now in Melbourne alone that figures is more like 35,000.”
Back in the nineties, a Women in Super organising committee led by Mavis Robertson and Louise Davidson decided to establish a fundraising event that could assist women’s health in actually reaching and enjoying retirement. The pair had personally seen the devastating effects of breast cancer on their own workplaces and Davidson had lost her mother to the disease at the age of just 52. Supporting breast cancer research became the obvious choice for focusing their fundraising efforts.
Since then the group’s raised almost $20 million through the Mother’s Day Classic, a figure they can expect to far surpass in 2014, especially with the growth of the the Boardroom Challenge which is encouraging CEOs of major organisations to get involved. Cornwall Stodart CEO Michelle Mclean is currently leading the CEO race, followed by David Jones’ Paul Zahra and ME BANK’s Jamie McPhee.
The event happens largely with the help of Women in Super volunteers, creating what Wood believes is a bit of a ‘bond’ across the industry. It sees members get involved in everything from PR, to technical support and managing jumpers on the days.
“I’m godsmacked by how big it’s now,” Wood says. “It’s always hilarious. There are, of course, the serious runners, then there are the multi-generations of women who come along. Lots of group dress up and plenty of men show up in tutus.”
It’s big, and it’s helped make a difference. Research advancements since that first Mother’s Day Classic have led to an almost doubling of the five year survival rates for women with breast cancer.
Enter the Mother’s Day Classic and support breast cancer research. Sydney runners can search for the ‘Women’s Agenda’ team while going through the registration process if you’d like some company on the day.