'We need a world where women can feel valued, respected, empowered'

Nadine Hughes Campbell

Like so many women, there are multiple titles I use to describe myself such as daughter, sister, caregiver, children’s author, wife and mother.

Raised by a strong single woman, I was taught early on that as a female, there might not always be a seat for me at the table, but to persevere and be prepared to bring my own chair.

Inspiring inclusion to me means amplifying female voices and creating an inclusive environment where women feel valued, respected and empowered without judgement. It means fostering sisterhoods where women can come together to lift each other up, feel a sense of belonging, support and encourage one another.

Inspiring inclusion is supporting and promoting female businesses, supporting and cheering on women in sport. Increasing female representation in politics, and positions of power.

It means challenging the gender stereotypes that limit a woman’s capacity and opportunities. After all is said and done, authentic inclusion can not be inspired if one does not lead by example.

I will raise my son to be an ally, a cheerleader, to never fear speaking up against injustice.

I will continue to champion for inclusion so my daughter won’t have to bear the load of having to carry a chair, as one will be there for her at the table, and if for whatever reason there isn’t, to know that she is capable and strong enough to create her own table.

Soumya Anane

I’m Soumya, an asylum seeker. I’ve been living in Cork with my family for ten months. During this time, I wanted to participate in various activities, including volunteering and studying, to learn and be part of the society.

To me, embracing ‘Inspire Inclusion’ signifies creating a welcoming space where every individual feels appreciated, respected, and part of the whole.

It involves celebrating diversity, acknowledging the richness that arises from various viewpoints, and appreciating the unique backgrounds each person brings.

Essentially, it’s about building a community that thrives on understanding, unity, and the collective strength found in our differences.

Sarah Leahy, Cork Senior Ladies Footballer

For me, ‘Inspire Inclusion’ means supporting, celebrating and empowering all sportspeople regardless of gender. I am honoured to be at this level of sport to hopefully inspire some younger female athletes to reach their full potential.

Angela Smiddy, founder of Insightful Works Coaching Solutions

I run a consultancy company specialising in supporting Female Career & Leadership Development. For me, Inspire inclusion means providing opportunities for women from all backgrounds to participate and succeed in the world of work. Too often, women find themselves at a career disadvantage because women most typically are the ones who make compromises when the needs of children and other family members collide with work.

Research has shown that mothers are much more likely than fathers to report experiencing significant career interruptions in order to attend to their families’ needs, with these family-related career interruptions undermining women’s economic prospects in a variety of ways.

At Insightful Works Coaching Solutions, we provide practical and emotional support for women to become more adept at managing their careers. That support may be coaching for the career returner who has taken that time out to raise her family, or care for ageing parents who want to return to a rewarding and stimulating career, or it may be about partnering with high potential women who want to step up and overcome the unique challenges that female leaders face that often hinder their professional growth and advancement.

But individual supports to women are only part of the solution - if we want to ‘Inspire Inclusion’ there need to be changes in social policy, organisational practices and most importantly, a change in perspective of leadership and leadership theories which are often male-normed/male-defined concepts.

Farahnaz Haidary from Afghanistan

I am a passionate advocate for human rights and women’s empowerment. With more than eight years of extensive experience in senior positions within the Republic Government of Afghanistan, I have dedicated myself to advancing the rights and wellbeing of marginalised communities.

Currently, I am working as a conference director with UCC Fáilte Refugees Society, in addition to being a student at UCC focusing on Academic English.

I am committed to continuing my efforts to contribute positively to social change and progress.

To me, ‘Inspire Inclusion’ means actively fostering an environment where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered, regardless of their background, identity, or differences.

It involves promoting diversity, equity, and belonging by celebrating unique perspectives and experiences, embracing diversity in all its forms, and ensuring equal opportunities for participation and advancement.

Ultimately, ‘Inspire Inclusion’ means cultivating a culture of openness, empathy, and understanding where everyone feels welcomed and encouraged to contribute to their fullest potential.

Grainne O'Connor Crayon Creative

My aim is to Empower and enable people from all walks of life to come together, in a shared place or with a common purpose, while recognising and validating their skills, knowledge and experiences and providing opportunities to learn about and from each other… all while having fun.

I am from Fermoy and run my Design & Project Management business, Crayon Creative, from there. Through volunteering, I have led a group of multi-cultural volunteers to establish Fermoy International Garden (FIG) which has great connections with our DP centre, Ukrainian residents, COPE foundation, pre and national school students and Fermoy Tidy Towns.

I was involved in the setting up of Fermoy International Choir, over 60 members from 22 countries, and I am a local advocate for Street Feast where I encourage local communities to come together to share a communal lunch with their neighbours.

I have been described as the energetic bus driver… I bring people with me on a journey, the craic on board is always great and the destination is a better place than where we started from.

Marie Toft, Emotionise AI

“For me, ‘Inspire Inclusion’ means everyone feels valued and heard. I’m passionate about emotional intelligence. But we’re all so busy that sometimes, kindness and empathy and realising how your message lands can pass us by. And it turns out, only 36% of us are emotionally intelligent. At Emotionise AI, we put the EI into AI - we’ve trained AI to be emotionally intelligent. Because if we don’t start making Generative AI human more, rather than human less, we’re going to have a problem.

Marie Toft is the CEO & Founder of Emotionise AI, a Cork-based Generative AI company. A former TV executive, she has combined her communication skills along with her psychotherapy training to train AI to be emotionally intelligent. Emotionise AI offers Gen AI solutions for Employee Engagement & Customer Support.

Dr Shree Krishnamoorthy, Tyndall National Institute

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher with BioPhotonics@Tyndall National Institute in Cork.

I am building my career towards researching and developing Biophotonics devices that use light to diagnose and monitor women’s and children’s health.

Currently, I am building a Biophotonics based sensor device that will sense the onset of hypoxia in babies in their nascency.

A human basic need is to be accepted as we are. Colour, race, culture, religion, gender are secondary attributes to our basic human nature.

Inspire inclusion is an opportunity to bring to life such a world, where you and I are accepted just as we are, as we see ourselves. This acceptance and equal opportunity to grow into our full potential is the only way to have a truly inclusive world.

Laura Crowley

I’m an autistic autism consultant and additional needs sleep consultant. Inspired inclusion, for me, brings to mind the powerful invitation for autistic women and girls to shine their light, break barriers, and rewrite the narrative, reminding the world that diversity is a beautiful tapestry where every thread is essential and every voice is a masterpiece.

Siobhan Devlin, Personal Trainer

Stronger With Siobhan is a small but full of energy studio gym which offers personal training, small group training and strength training classes in Kinsale.

76% of women between the ages of 45 and 54, do not do enough strength training , and unfortunately this will limit our functionality as we age.

Muscle strength and balance is pivotal in enabling us to do everyday tasks, and plays an integral role in our independent living and healthy aging.

I want everybody to enjoy the benefits of strength training. However, some women find the gym environment, intimidating. I try and remove this barrier for everyone by starting off with one-to-one sessions, building people’s confidence in their own ability, proving their mobility and strength so they feel stronger with more energy.

Then, I encourage people to progress to classes, where we have fun and empower each other to lift heavy! We have a lovely community of mixed ages, mixed nationalities and backgrounds, but we all are connected by the love of developing a strong, healthy and active lifestyle that will see us through midlife menopause, and beyond - with muscle as the currency of longevity! My enthusiasm is infectious!

Samantha Lancashire, Creating Lightbulb Moments

I run a People Development consultancy in areas of sales, leadership and performance through impactful training and coaching.

To Inspire Inclusion means we can all show self-leadership and set the right example when being inclusive towards women, taking action that moves towards more equitable treatment of women. 

Inspiring empowerment and a sense of belonging and purpose, to positively impact relationships, teams and organisations for the greater good.

We can demonstrate how to do this at home, in education, in sport and at work, through STEM, supporting women’s health, promoting and championing women to get that all important ‘seat at the table’, and challenging the status quo.

Mary Hayden, Business and Operations Specialist and author of “From the Ground Up - 10 Basic Building Blocks for Business”.

I work closely with non-finance CEOs and senior managers to enhance their systems to allow them to make better decisions.

For me, Inspire Inclusion means ensuring that all stakeholders, regardless of their background or expertise, have a voice in decision-making processes.

It involves fostering an environment where diverse perspectives are valued and integrated into strategic planning, financial analysis, marketing strategies, customer relations, budgeting, and KPI interpretation.

Embracing inclusion can lead to more innovative solutions, better understanding of business dynamics, and ultimately, improved organisational performance.

It involves actively seeking out and incorporating input from individuals with varied experiences and expertise to drive holistic and effective business outcomes.

Valda Binding of takeNplace

I am the founder of a digital business named takeNplace. I help people who attend weddings and events collect their guests’ photo content through the simple scan of a QR code!

This collaboration of everyone’s point of view gets shared into a digital album and onto a big screen in real time for all to enjoy!

My business is all about inspired inclusion! We can be inspired by things we see and love to share and include people in our experiences.

The simple sharing of a special moment can inspire someone to go and find their happy moment or new experience.