On Friday 29 May, the School's Finance Manager Mary Hervir delivered a presentation at the closing ceremony of the Professional Women in Leadership Program (PWIL).

Mary was invited to join UNSW's inaugural PWIL program in mid 2014, along with 18 other women across the University. PWIL supports the University’s strategic objective of improving core leadership and operational capabilities, and UNSW’s Women’s Employment Strategy which seeks to develop strong female role models. PWIL is designed along the lines of the well-established Academic Women in Leadership program. The Program aims to identify, grow and retain a pool of high potential talented women to take up both formal and informal leadership roles within the University.

Mary, who has worked in the School for 15 years, embarked on PWIL with the support and encouragement of Head of School Bruce Henry, School Manager Flory Alviola, and Professor John Roberts. Mary's PWIL peers included women in senior positions at UNSW such as School Managers, Centre Managers, Project Officers, and Research Managers. They were selected from over 300 eligible candidates for nomination for the program.

During Mary's presentation at the ceremony she described how her involvement in the PWIL program had helped to faciliate her work on the recently published School Report. She describes her time in PWIL as a "privilege" and a "fabulous opportunity" which had been a valuable space for learning about herself, her leadership style and values.

She said it has also "been a gateway to meeting leaders at different levels from various departments and opened doors for collaboration and making a bigger difference!".

Congratulations to Mary for her achievement.