Ciara Mageean, Olympian and Ireland’s first ever 1500m European Championship Gold Medalist, is set to headline LEAD Network Ireland Chapter’s final event of the year. As one of the best athletes Ireland has ever produced, Mageean will join a stellar panel of inspirational speakers exploring the theme of “The Power of Connections” at the event which is run by volunteers across the retail and consumer goods sector working to attract, retain and advance women in the industry through education, leadership and male allyship.
The event, which marks one year since the launch of LEAD Network Ireland Chapter, will also celebrate winning the prestigious Leadership Award at LEAD Network’s European Conference held in Budapest in early October. Originally established in 2011, LEAD has grown astronomically to more than 22,000 members, 10 country chapters, with 200+ manufacturers and 100+ retailers all working to bring about gender equality at all levels of the industry. LEAD’s Ireland Chapter committee involves representatives from across the industry working together including Kellanova, Musgrave, Lidl, Unilever, P&G, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, Kraft Heinz, Bank of Ireland, Haleon, Valeo Foods, Irish Distillers, IBM and Danone.
Speaking about the launch of the Irish chapter, LEAD Ireland Co-Chair and Marketing Manager, Musgraves, Jane McEvoy added: "Reaching our one-year anniversary as the fastest growing LEAD Network Chapter in Europe is a fantastic milestone for the LEAD Network Ireland Chapter.
It’s been inspiring to work with such a wonderful Ireland Chapter committee. We are laser focused on the core priorities expressed by our members; tackling personal and structural barriers to gender equity, bringing the industry together to share practical solutions and challenge each other to drive change at pace.
I am excited about the plan already in train for 2025 which will make a real impact on ensuring that our industry continues to attract the best talent."
LEAD Ireland Co-Chair and Head of High Growth Markets, Kellanova, Sarah Ferguson commented: “I am so proud of what we have achieved in just one year. This is group of volunteers, coming together across the industry, working on top of their day jobs, to drive gender equity forwards.
We have held four events this year for our members, a mixture of in person and virtual, we have hosted HR round tables to understand where the challenges are and what we will tackle as a collective, and launched a cross company mentoring pilot that is unique within the FMCG/Retail industry.
LEAD Network Ireland Chapter is in its infancy, but already we have heard the impact that it has made on people, both within their roles and as individuals.”
The LEAD Ireland Chapter event will take place on November 14th from 12pm – 2pm in Lidl Ireland’s Head Office and tickets are extremely limited. For more information about LEAD Network and tickets to the event visit: Home - LEAD Network (lead-eu.net)
Membership to LEAD is free and members are invited to join a host of events, networking opportunities and best practise sharing designed to support peer to peer learning as well as ultimately achieve gender balance in the sector.
