When it comes to barriers to progression and inclusion, women face the glass ceiling. For women of colour, it is a concrete ceiling, invisible barriers that hold us back even when we work twice as hard than others, and take all the ‘right’ steps. We have heard many women of colour tell us that they are the only, the first or one of few women of colour in their school, university or workplace. Role models that they can look up to for inspiration and advice are even fewer. Building on the momentum of last year's inagural conference, this year the conference theme is RISING TIDE, DRIVING CHANGE.

This conference is part of breaking this cycle for young women of colour across Aotearoa New Zealand - connecting a community of women of colour, highlighting trailblazing role models, disrupting isolation and providing us with the tools to progress and ultimately smash the concrete ceiling across all sectors and communities.

The conference day will consist of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and workshops. There will be three workshop streams as outlined below. You will be required to select the stream best suited to you when purchasing tickets.

There are 3x streams tailored for different audiences, with each stream having a morning and an afternoon session. Stream 1 & 2 are open for all women of colour attendees, while Stream 3 is specifically for attendees who do not identify as women of colour and are actively working to support and champion women of colour.

Stream 1: Emerging (for WOC starting on their journey of learning how to embrace their multiple identities)
Stream 2: Rising (for WOC who want to build communities together and enhance their work and learning)
Stream 3: Interconnecting (for non-WOC who want to learn how to effectively support WOC & create organisations that can enable WOC to thrive)

*note that as we want to keep this a safe space, we reserve the right to refund your ticket if you may not be the right fit for the conference

Morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea will be provided. Dietary requirements can be provided when purchasing tickets.

We are also inviting you to Buy 1, Gift 1 or donate so that we can provide scholarships and subsidies for young women of colour who may not be able to attend otherwise.

Should you have any questions, please drop us a note on wocc@authenticity.org.nz.

Contact the host of Women of Colour Conference 2023 by Authenticity Aotearoa (WOCCAA)