by Adriana Brusi

The Australian Women’s Network (AWN) Business Summit explored what it meant to be truly inclusive and diverse in the workplace and acknowledge the value of every human being.

The AWN Summit was held at the Pullman Hotel in Albert Park which brought together 16 incredible female speakers including Dr Susan Alberti AC, Holly Kramer, Sadhana Smiles and Dr Janine Kirk AM.

But it’s more than the big names that made this event unique.

“There are over 300 women’s groups that exist in Australia, in a time when we are talking more than ever about diversity and inclusion we are excluding men from the conversation,” Adriana Brusi, CEO of Event Negotiators and AWN’s Board of Directors noted.

“Our vision is to open the conversation of what it really means to be inclusive and diverse,” adds Fran Thorne, AWN Founder and Owner.

The AWN Summit was a game-changer, challenging how industries think about true collaboration. The incredible room of over 450 women exuding an exceptional energy which most had shared they had never experienced at any business event.

Bringing together the best brains across diverse industries and the most dynamic and visionary thinkers, it provided an unprecedented opportunity for exceptional networking.

Francesca Thorne founded the network, with the mission to help women harness and develop their leadership abilities to accelerate the empowerment, through a 360-degree leadership development.

The event concluded with an exceptional “blue carpet event” – The Blue Frost Gala Ball (A philanthropic event) raising funds for Safe Futures Foundation and featuring exceptional talent. The amazing Harrison Craig, the exceptionally talented recent Grammy Performer Matteo Charles alongside Patrick Roberts; the incredible international dance sensation Steps and Sounds, finishing with an auction by the wonderful Marshall Rushford.

The highly anticipated Men’s Business Summit is scheduled for late October 2016 – and has already got a waiting list of over 420 and expressions of interest to speak from around the world. Tickets will be going on sale soon. To register your interest in the event please contact info@australianwomensnetwork.com.

澳大利亚各领域杰出商业妇女聚集在墨尔本，积极为国家商业景观带来深远变化。澳大利亚女性网络商务峰会(Australian Women’s Network Business Summit-简称AWN )探讨真正的包容性和多元化工作场合，确认每个人的价值。

AWN峰会是在阿尔伯特公园的铂尔曼酒店举行，并聚集16名出色女性演讲者包括DrSusanAlberti AC、Holly Kramer，Sadhana Smiles与Dr Janine Kirk AM等。

不过，比起显赫名声，最具独特性的是这个峰会的意义。“逾300名澳大利亚女性同时集中在一起，比起以往我们更着重谈论与倡导多样性和包容点，而我们的会谈也排除男性。”活动的谈判者兼AWN董事会首席执行员Adriana Brusi表示。

AWN创始人与负责人FrancescaThorne认为，她们的目标是展开更具前瞻性、包容与多元化的对话讨论。

AWN峰会是一个改变游戏规则，挑战行业思索如何进行真正的合作。凝聚超过450名女性所散发的特殊强大能量共享，这也是她们在任何商业活动未曾有过的经历。

而汇集了不同行业、最具活力和有远见的思想家，这也为特殊的交流提供了一个前所未有的机会。

Francesca Thorne创办的交流网络，其使命是帮助女性群体利用和发展她们的领导能力，加速赋予女性权力，以 360度的方式拓展领导力。

另外，峰会也进行有意义的“蓝地毯活动”-TheBlue Frost GalaBall (一个慈善活动) 作为闭幕，为非盈利组织 Safe FuturesFoundation和优秀人才筹集基金。而表演嘉宾包括神奇的歌手 HarrisonCraig，才华横溢的 Matteo Charles 与小提琴家 PatrickRoberts；呈现国际级舞蹈的Steps and Sounds，最后是精彩的 MarshallRushford拍卖会。

备受瞩目的男性商务峰会则在2016年10月底召开，已累积了逾420等待参加者和来自世界各地的意愿者。而门票将会公开发售，有意参与者请联系info@australianwomensnetwork.com。

Image(s) courtesy of Jim Lee, Samantha Sagona & Christina Williams