About the event:

Go Circular is excited to present our upcoming online event called: Empowering Women in the Circular Economy. This event will have a direct and immediate impact by giving back to our community. All ticket proceeds will be donated to Got Your Back Sista a Newcastle based charity with a mission to empower women who have escaped domestic violence.

We are proud to support their programs with this event and thank you for your generosity in purchasing tickets.

Empowering women in the Circular Economy

The rise of women in leadership and entrepreneurial roles demonstrates that business success can go hand-in-hand with sustainability. It requires a rebalancing between financial and other forms of capital (e.g. social, natural, knowledge) and a wider framing of what constitutes success.

Studies have shown that women are more willing to alter their behaviour for the sake of the environment and the well-being of their families and wider communities and they are taking these views into the boardroom.

With global momentum driving a transition to a Circular Economy, the empowerment of women will be a critical factor in the evolution to a low-carbon, inclusive and equitable economy.

Empowering women in the Circular Economy will be presented by Debbie O'Byrne, Circular Economy Lead at the Lake Macquarie Council and Chair of Go Circular, then it will be followed by a Q & A session.

Speaker: Debbie O'Byrne

Debbie has been involved in the Circular Economy space for many years, having made it the focus of her MBA Master’s thesis. Over the past few years, she has been working with a range of government organizations, Research Institutes, Iwi and large corporates to integrate Circular Economy principles into the redesign of their business strategy. She was involved in hosting the first international Pacific Circular Economy Summit in NZ.

She has recently taken up a Circular Economy Lead role at Lake Macquarie Council where she is working on projects related to policy, material flows and low-carbon business opportunities, incorporating an indigenous perspective into the council’s Circular Economy Framework.

She has a previous background in social and youth work with marginalized groups and those affected by domestic violence and family breakdown.

Been a keynote speaker on the Circular Economy across a range of sectors including the Built Environment, Low Carbon transition pathways, Sustainable Supply Chains, Regenerative/Circular Agriculture
Chair of Go Circular, a not-for-profit based in Newcastle accelerating the Circular Economy in the region
Member of the Sustainable Business Network Advisory Panel as a Circular Economy domain expert
Worked with Maori communities to incorporate indigenous perspectives into economic development planning
Member of Community Wealth Building Australia
Worked with the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development on a Circular Bioeconomy Hub project

Host: Annie Jiang

Annie is a leader who is passionate about bringing positive impact.

As the eldest daughter of busy, restaurant-owning parents, Annie’s life was upended when she was twelve years old and lost her mother in a sudden accident.

Giving up her dreams of education, and inspired by her mother’s work ethic, Annie left school at fifteen and threw herself into the business world. By her twenties, she was managing workplaces of up to one hundred staff and by thirty she was travelling the world for international organisations.

But throughout her professional life, two nagging thoughts stayed with her:“I need to make a difference and do something sustainable.”

After travelling the world to try to find the answers she sought and ending up alone and locked down in Peru, she kept herself sane by reading vociferously. There she read a book called ‘Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist’ by Kate Raworth. Back home and met Debbie, she began to better understand the Circular Economy in practice. A new way of working based on sustainability, togetherness, and a belief that the world could be better, Annie thought someone had to do something to make this shift happen.

And so, with the help of her partner, Go Circular was born, An NFP inspired by Annie’s mother, built on Annie’s own lifetime of hard work, and powered by the idea of bringing people together to build an economy that is low-carbon, regenerative and helps our people and our environment to thrive together.

Co-host: Melissa Histon

Melissa Histon is a woman on a mission to give women a voice.

After experiencing a number of life-altering events, Mel created The Sista Code events and community of wonderful women that supports and empowers other women in May 2014.

In January 2016, Melissa founded the charity, ‘Got Your Back Sista’, which empowers women to thrive after leaving domestic violence. Melissa was named, ‘Newcastle Woman of the Year’ and was a finalist in the ‘Newcastle University Alumni Awards’ during 2017.

In a further bid to lift and give women a voice, Melissa launched the ‘Hey Soul Sista’ podcast in September 2019.

Whether it's building a house for the homeless in Nepal, interviewing inspiring women from around the globe, or creating domestic violence community campaigns, Mel knows that true change can only happen when we all stand together and boost each other.

About Got Your back Sista: https://www.gotyourbacksista.c...