Webinar celebrates local women in leadership

THREE of Northern Ireland’s leading organisations came together on Saturday, March 6, to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day.

The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and Soroptimist International Northern Ireland (SINI) took part in a webinar to coincide with International Women’s Day, this year held on Monday, March 8.

The event was a celebration of renowned female scientist and business leaders from the local agri-food, biosciences and environmental sectors in Northern Ireland responsible for the delivery of world class projects with truly global impact.

The webinar, entitled “Celebrating Local Women in Leadership,” attracted over 100 attendees who listened to speakers including:

n Melanie Douglas-Kerrin (President, Soroptimist International NI);

n Dr Elizabeth Magowan (Director of Sustainable Agri-Food Sciences, AFBI);

n Professor Louise Cosby (Head of Virology, AFBI);

n Dr Lisa Black (Head of AFBI Crossnacreevy);

n Professor Sharon Huws (Institute for Global Food Security, QUB);

n Professor Niamh O‘Connell (Institute for Global Food Security, QUB);

n Josephine Kelly (Acting Chief Executive, AFBI);

n Joan Houston (AFBI board member and member of the SINI Regional Executive).

The purpose of the virtual event was to give an overview of the important work that local women are involved in and how this aligns with delivery of the UN Sustainability Goals. All the speakers are leaders within their respective organisations and society at large.

Soroptimist International NI is an organisation dedicated to helping women and girls achieve their individual and collective potential and the event also brought together AFBI and QUB, which have a strategic alliance, with those presenting actively engaged in enabling the delivery of state-of-the-art science to address the crucial challenges faced by agri-food at a local and global level.

n To view a recording of the event please visit the AFBI YouTube Channel.