At Auckland Council we’re committed to gender equality, diversity and inclusiveness. To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, Cecilia Tse, Head of Risk, and Italia Toelei'u, from the Corporate Property team, shared with OurAuckland their thoughts on the role and contribution of women in the workplace.

What do you think is the biggest challenge women face in the workplace?

 Italia: I think it’s too hard to put it down to just one challenge when you’ve got the big ones that that face women universally, such as gender equality, pay parity etc.

Cecilia: Biases – conscious, unconscious or subconscious – against women, particularly in senior roles where women seem to have to prove themselves as capable for a role whereas men don’t suffer the same bias.

How is female leadership supported at Auckland Council?

Cecilia: Our Chief Executive has spoken openly about the importance of and desire to have gender equality at the top table. We have just under 50 per cent of the Executive Leadership Team who are women.

At one point in my previous role where I led a team of lawyers, I did end up with a team that was 90 per cent female. Each one of the women competed for the senior roles with their male counterparts, and the best candidates succeeded at the end of the day! Some of the staff worked part time whilst others were able to work off site to meet home and children demands. It suited the staff members and the council and worked well all round.

Italia: ‘O le ala i le pule o le tautua’ – is a well-known Samoan proverb which translates as ‘The pathway to leadership is through service’.  So, it’s within this cultural lens that Pasifika view the concept of leadership. Council has been instrumental in supporting the Moana Pasifika Mentoring Programme which integrates our diverse Pacific cultural beliefs regarding leadership and mentoring.

We had great feedback from the programme, the majority of whom were female. The programme increased their knowledge and understanding around leadership concepts and gave them confidence and awareness as to how council’s values and culture, and their own personal values and culture overlapped in the work place.

We had a few of the female participants being successful in applying for new roles within council, and they attributed part of their success to the mentoring programme!​

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

Italia: It puts the spot light on some of universal issues that face women in the workplace, but it’s also a time to pause, reflect and celebrate all that’s been achieved.

Cecilia: To me it is a day of celebration for all women – those in paid workforce or not. It is also the recognition and awareness of the many challenges that women all over the world share in common with each other, regardless of race, culture, social or financial standing. It is an opportunity to come together and stand in solidarity with our fellow sisters and embrace all that is good and difficult about being a woman and providing hope for our future daughters, nieces, granddaughters.

Ideas to celebrate International Women’s Day

1. Wear the official colours: green, white and purple.
2. Got any unwanted shoes, bags, jewellery, make-up or clothes in new or near-new condition? Donate these to Dress for Success Auckland, a not-for-profit organisation empowering women to achieve economic independence.
3. Head along to this weekend’s heritage walk and hear about notable women who made a contribution to the development of Papatoetoe.