Learning Works, Vassallo Group’s Education Arm launched a ‘Women in Leadership’ programme on International Women’s Day at the Learning Works Training Hub, The Landmark in Qormi.
Vassallo Group’s long standing tradition to celebrate women’s day by hosting a lunch event for over a 100 women was not possible this year due to the pandemic, however the launch of this programme was a great way to celebrate women. Vassallo Group Chairman Nazzareno Vassallo, Vassallo Group CEO Pio Vassallo and CareMalta CEO Natalie Briffa Farrugia who are all on the Board of Directors of Learning Works were present for this launch.
Claire Agius Ordway led the way acting as a compere for this event by introducing guest speakers who delivered their message through video conferencing to the 20 participants who joined this course.
Ms Sandra Hermitage, an expert in Management and Coaching will be the lecturer for this course. Due to a lockdown in the UK she could not be present therefore she spoke to the participants through a video message and later held the first online lecture live from the UK, delivering a very interesting interactive session.
The session also included video messages by two women who are currently occupying very important positions within the EU.
Dr Helena Dalli, European commissioner for Equality spoke about the aim for reaching a gender equal Europe, quoting ‘Achieving gender balance in leadership is one of the main goals of our Gender Equality Strategy for 2020-2025’. She spoke about the efforts being made for ‘women to thrive and lead in all levels of our economies and society’ as well as reduce the gender pay gap. In light of this topic she also mentioned a proposal she presented for a new EU Directive on Pay Transparency with the aim of detecting gender pay discrimination and claim their right for equal pay.
Dr Roberta Metsola MEP, First Vice President of the European Parliament started off by congratulating all the participants who made a decision to attend this course. She stated that for an individual to be successful and implement ideas it does not depend on the gender but only depends on their capabilities which we should work on developing further. She extended an invitation to all, to get in touch with any ideas which can be discussed and congratulated everyone once again, encouraging all to become leaders with a clear vision, supporting change.
Natalie Briffa Farrugia’s believes we should keep challenges alive and pointed out that after every crisis there are new opportunities to keep developing and changing. She mentioned that Vassallo Group who happens to be celebrating its 75th Anniversary this year started its journey back then post WW2 clearing the roads from debris and building a better future to 2021 following the crisis following the pandemic where the company is contributing to society by investing in individuals who will be able to offer our country and beyond a better tomorrow.
At the end of the sessions Charlo Bonnici, CEO of Learning Works thanked Vassallo Group who true to its belief in people development decided to sponsor a number of its female employees encouraging them to participate. They joined a number of other companies coming from different spheres of life. Mr Bonnici announced a number of new services that are being made available to students including an improved library service as well as new VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) to cater for the present and future need of this growing education institution. Those interested in applying for the Autumn intake can get in touch on 79584200 to book a place.