Powerhouse women
"I've lost friends, people have refused to work for Mamamia, my daughter was doxxed," says Mia Freedman.
Sharri Markson, Mia Freedman, Ronni Kahn and Rabbi Jacquline Ninio headlined an inspirational morning at Emanuel Synagogue to mark International Women’s Day.
Over 350 guests attended the event, which was held in conjunction with WIZO and supported by the National Council of Jewish Women Australia.
Freedman, who founded Australia’s largest independent women’s media company Mamamia, shared the “guilt” she has felt as a Jewish woman not being able to speak out more post-October 7, “because of the safety of my family and the safety of my employees”.
“I’ve lost friends, people have refused to work for Mamamia, my daughter was doxxed,” she said.
“All these communities that we thought we were part of – the queer community, the arts world – where many of us felt that we’d marched side by side with these people and fought for their rights, suddenly it’s felt like a lot of them have turned on us and it’s felt very shocking to be cast out of these communities.”
Sky News journalist Markson shared stories from early in her career, particularly when she had to juggle interviewing then-prime minister Scott Morrison while her four-month-old baby sat restlessly on her lap.
“As you develop through the years you realise that, through your work and your journalism, you can make a difference,” she said.
“I feel like I have a strong voice and, using my skills to be able to investigate and expose stories, I can do that to make a positive difference in this world.”
Rabbi Ninio detailed her rabbinical journey, while Kahn – founder of food rescue organisation OzHarvest – spoke about how hand delivering leftover food from functions to homeless shelters changed her life’s purpose.
“I had the laws changed in NSW, South Australia, Queensland and the rest followed suit, and that enabled OzHarvest to grow,” she said.
“OzHarvest is 20 years old, we deliver 500,000 meals a week and we have 848 charities on a wait list.”
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