The ABSA Capital Pioneering Young Women Conference
- Details
- Published on Monday, 06 August 2012 16:54
- Written by Tshimologo Matlhaga
From the 1st to the 4th of July, the ABSA Capital Pioneering Young Women Conference took place at the Raddison Blu Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg.
The conference, which is in its second year of running, was sponsored and organised by ABSA Capital in conjunction with InvestSoc.
As part of ABSA’s graduate recruitment programme, the conference is aimed at empowering exceptional young females from across the country to bridge the gap between university and the corporate world by giving them a platform to engage with and learn from successful women from a number of different industries.
This year, twenty-four young women from various South African universities, including thirteen UCT students, were selected to participate in the four day conference. They were chosen by Raylene Littler, the ABSA Capital Head of the Conference Committee.
The theme of the conference was “A Generation Apart”. Agathe Bukasa, one of the organising committee members and a third year UCT student, explained that this year’s conference was focused on equipping, empowering and engaging the delegates to be the “generation apart”. As such, the participants were challenged to be change agents in their personal and professional lives, as well as in their respective communities.
This was facilitated through various sessions, debates and activities that tested their skills, teamwork abilities and knowledge, while also allowing them to get to know themselves better and interact with each other. The sessions were hosted by different speakers, with Investment Advisor Simon Harry among them.
Bukasa described the conference as life-changing, stating that she learnt a lot from the speakers and the delegates, and it was also a great networking opportunity. She further added, “One of the most profound things that the conference has helped me realise is that there is no such thing as a glass ceiling. I should not be afraid to challenge myself”.