Four inspirational women from Urban Village areas were chosen to speak at a major TEDxStormontWomen 2019 event.
The local women have been selected from Urban Village areas in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry to speak at the TEDxStormontWomen event in Parliament Buildings on 12 December.
Annette Burke, Maire Thompson and Arlene Megaw from Belfast, and Shauna Quigley from Derry/Londonderry were chosen following The Executive Office’s Urban Villages Initiative Open Mic events.
The initiative was part of the TEDxStormontWomen Masterclass programme, which was led by Bespoke Communications Sarah Travers and Camilla Long, to deliver a cross-community, intergenerational, capacity-building initiative with the core aim of making girls and women more confident in public speaking.
This initiative follows on from the successful “Talk like TED” programme that ran in the lead in to TEDxStormont earlier this year, when 12 young people from Urban Village areas competed for a spot on stage, at the Great Hall.
The four women will join other high-profile speakers in the Great Hall, at Parliament Buildings Stormont to share ideas on the theme: Bold and Brilliant.
Speakers already selected for TEDxStormontWomen include Britain’s Got Talent finalist Ursula Burns, and former PSNI Deputy Chief Constable and child safety champion Jim Gamble.
TEDxStormontWomen 2019 is sponsored by The Executive Office Urban Villages Initiative, Allstate NI and Herbert Smith Freehills.
Mark Browne, Director of Strategic Policy, Equality and Good Relations, The Executive Office, said:
The joint TEDxStormontWomen and Urban Villages Initiative programme has been an incredible scheme that has enriched so many of those who live in our Urban Village areas in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry. The number of women who have put themselves forward to take part in the masterclasses shows the real appetite in communities for the chance to tell their own stories and share ideas.
The Urban Villages Initiative is a good relations programme under the Together Building a United Community Strategy (T:BUC) Strategy. One of its aims is to give the community a voice and through this opportunity we have been able to offer women and girls from different backgrounds and cultures the chance to tell their stories and ideas, while pushing the boundaries of confidence and learning a lifelong skill of public speaking.
I would like to extend my congratulations to Maire, Annette, Arlene and Shauna for securing places in the final TEDxStormontWomen line up on 12 December.”
Eva Grosman, curator of TEDxStormontWomen, said:
The four women chosen through the Open Mic events all have truly inspiring stories and ideas to share. It is truly rewarding to give them and the communities they represent voice. This is what makes this year’s TEDxStormontWomen so exciting.”
The success of the whole programme has been phenomenal. To be able to engage so many women and girls in helping them to develop their confidence is a key theme of this year’s TEDxStormontWomen.”