Women In Technology initiative launched at Central Park

Ireland’s latest Women in Technology initiative has been launched among the 6,500 commercial employees at Central Park in Leopardstown.

A year in development, the Women in Technology network is part of Central Park’s “Live Work Grow” initiative.

The network aims to be a forum for women at all levels of companies based in Central Park. Live Work Grow plans to hold quarterly networking events and may increase their frequency based on demand.

Many tenants based in the business park already have their own women in technology networks, including AIB, Bank of America, MasterCard, Sage, Salesforce, and Vodafone.

Central Park aims to provide a forum to reach as wide an audience as possible by opening up those companies’ own female-focused events to employees of other tenant companies.

The network also hopes to support tenant companies that don’t currently have a women’s network.

Green REIT Plc, the owner of Central Park, was the first commercial landlord to set up a community programme in Ireland and branded the initiative ‘Live Work Grow’.

“We are delighted to launch the women’s network which is another first for an office campus in Ireland,” said Lisa Geoghegan, Relationship Manager with the Live Work Grow programme.

“The Live Work Grow programme is a departure from the normal landlord-tenant relationship.

“The programme aims to create valuable networks and a sense of community for the tenants and their employees in the Park. The Women’s Network is a key part of that programme.

“It’s also about sharing the workload in organising and running events focused on women in tech.
“By pooling our resources and sharing our knowledge, we can give input to each other’s programmes and reach an even bigger audience.”

The network’s inaugural event had the theme of “inspiring women leaders of Central Park”.

The event was fully subscribed just three days after registration opened, and more than 150 people attended.

It featured a panel discussion that was MC’d by Galadrielle Heinrich, Global VP for the Salesforce Women’s Network in EMEA.

The guest speakers were Avril Crowley, Global Product Marketing Director with Sage; Olivia Leonard, MasterCard’s SVP of Enterprise Architecture; Joanna Gilfoy, Head of the Enterprise Customer Solutions team at Vodafone Ireland, and Terri Moloney, Director of Employee Success at Salesforce.

The wide-ranging discussion touched on many topics relating to women in the workplace, and each of the women speakers shared authentic and personal stories of their experiences in their personal lives and professional careers.

Among the themes discussed were the importance of formal and informal mentors for women in the workplace; encouraging women in their early careers; the self-belief that’s necessary for leading teams; overcoming self-doubt, and achieving a balance between professional and personal life while understanding that this balance changes over time.