In celebration of women in the month of August, the Executive at the University of the Western Cape organised a day to celebrate and encourage women in leadership positions and those aspiring to be leaders.

The Transformational Leadership Talk took place in the Auditorium of the Library at the University of the Western Cape, focusing not on male bashing but on the opportunities and challenges of women leaders in higher education.

The Keynote speaker, Professor Vivienne Lawack, who is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at UWC, touched on being competent as a women leader, on finding purpose and passion in one’s life, and on leading differently and on women embracing their femininity.

Prof. Lawack encouraged the ladies in attendance to do away with what she described as the Pull her Down Syndrome (PHD), highlighting the importance of empowering other women and also excelling in their own respective fields.

The Transformational Leadership talk ended with an interactive question and answer session during which women in the audience shared their highlights of the talk with the help of Amanda Glaeser, Executive Director at the Human Resources department at UWC.

Professor Lawack recited a poem by Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman” dedicating it to all the phenomenal women at UWC. The women got to enjoy lunch after the hour long discussion.