A conversation with leadership
International Women’s Day honours the achievements of women while advocating for gender equality. The theme of this year’s celebration on 8 March is ‘For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment’. To help explore this theme we speak with four of Save the Children’s senior leaders.
Mel Parks, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer
What is a key challenge you have overcome in your career?
"Haha, so many. One example is when I took on a lot (maybe too much) change all at once – new job, new country, new team, new technical work responsibilities, working across many cultures. The need to draw on personal resilience was huge and there were tears. I re-learned what it felt like to be living an adaptive challenge and to work right at the tipping point of overwhelm (technically the upper zone of the productive zone of disequilibrium) it was hard, but I think it has meant I have greater empathy for others"
How are you driving change to ensure the rights, equality, and empowerment of all women and girls?
"Big question – it requires change in policy, systems, and society in general. I would hope those around me would say I am visible, I speak up and call out behaviours that suggest real or unconscious bias, I take time to mentor, encourage and support women at work, and I actively promote women whenever I can."
Favourite part of her role? “Spending time with our teams who work side by side with children, young people, their families, and communities and working out how we support them to do their best work.”
Photo: JAMES McPHERSON PHOTOGRAPY
What advice would you give to people wanting to support gender equality?
"Show up – which to me means: be curious/do your homework; listen, learn and seek to understand barriers to opportunity; never make assumptions about someone else’s circumstances; speak up when something or someone needs to be better; take action to support others to be their best; find ways to ensure representation; and always work hard to create an environment where everyone feels they can safely speak up and do their best. I don’t always get this right, but I consciously and actively commit to better. I guess the other thing I would say is that actions speak louder than words"
Relvie Matariki, Director of Program Operation
What is a key challenge you have overcome in your career?
"Moving from the corporate sector (after 12.5 years) into the NGO world was a major shift for me. The transition required me to rethink my approach, moving from a fast-paced, profit-driven environment to one where impact, sustainability, and community needs take priority. I had to adapt, learn new systems, and embrace a completely different leadership style. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is the importance of building new networks and truly understanding different people, how they work, what drives them, and how best to collaborate with them. Asking questions has been key to my growth, and I’ve come to realise that being vulnerable as a leader is not a weakness.
Last year alone, I was managing a director role, pursuing a diploma, and raising three children. You can only see your potential if you do the work and go through all the challenges."
How are you driving change to ensure the rights, equality, and empowerment of all women and girls?
"For me, that means showing what hard work looks like and proving that the effort you put in determines what you get out. I know many organizations in Vanuatu have local Ni Vanuatu woman in leadership, but if I can inspire even one woman or girl or even a man or boy in my workplace or community to believe in themselves, take charge of their own growth, and strive for change in their life and career, then that, to me, is a win."
Favourite part of her role? “The learning process-adopting new tools, refining processes, and working collaboratively to find solutions.”
Photo: Supplied herself
What advice would you give to people wanting to support gender equality?
"We are all part of a generational leadership chain. We must walk the talk and demonstrate what fostering mutual understanding, shared responsibility and collaboration for change between women and men looks like. It starts early with our children - not by imposing foreign ideas but by using contextual approaches that resonate with our communities. We need to help them understand, feel and see what gender equality truly means and what it looks like in everyday life."
Anjali Ilsley, Financial Controller
What is a key challenge you have overcome in your career?
"My own self-doubts about my capabilities."
How are you driving change to ensure the rights, equality, and empowerment of all women and girls?
"Progress seems slow and that is disheartening at times. At work I focus on supporting and advocating for my team equally. At home raising my daughter to believe she can achieve anything and my son to realise that currently the world is designed to make things easier for him and he needs to be part of the solution."
Favourite part of her role? “The variety of topics and cross functional projects I get involved with.”
Photo: Supplied herself
What advice would you give to people wanting to support gender equality?
"It is a shared responsibility and certainly women should not be carrying the burden, as achieving gender equality will only benefit everyone. Your discussion and actions should not be focused in one domain only (e.g. workplace) but should be something that you are identifying and talking about in all aspects of your life. Examples are when you speak to your children about career paths, friends, sporting clubs, families. Everyone has preconceived notions and biases, so we should take every opportunity to call them out no matter how small it may seem at the time."
Claudia Lennon, Acting Executive Director, 54 reasons
What is a key challenge you have overcome in your career?
"People often underestimate me and make assumptions about what I can do and bring to the table. I have been curious about why people equate warmth and humour with not being switched on or someone who can deliver. I love proving people wrong."
How are you driving change to ensure the rights, equality, and empowerment of all women and girls?
"I am currently acting in a senior leadership role of Save the Children. This is significant because our frontline teams are predominantly composed of women and there is a trend in NGOs where the proportion of women decreases at higher levels of the organisation. I believe it's crucial that our board and senior management teams reflect the gender diversity seen in our frontline teams to ensure diversity in decision making and opportunities for all genders."
Favourite part of her role? “The people, the programs, the passion.”
Photo: Supplied herself
What advice would you give to people wanting to support gender equality?
"Women often won't apply for roles when they don't fit all the criteria, while men will when they only meet even some of it. So, my advice: put your application in anyway."