Feeling thankful that a fortnight of torrential rain in Sydney appeared to be on hold* as I, along with tens of thousands of others around the country, got out of bed while it was still dark on Mother’s Day to head off to the Mother’s Day Classic. It fills me with immense pride each year that Women in Super are founders of what literally started as a walk in the park and that we continue to be one of its greatest supporters. A 5km walk around the city provided me with opportunity to be part of a movement, built on solidarity – and love - with a clear purpose to create change, and what change the $44million +  raised for cancer research since its inception has enabled!

The walk also provided me with the time to reflect on the reasons that Mavis Robertson and Louise Davidson established the Mother’s Day Classic in 1998 and indeed, why Mavis sought to hold a breakfast for women who were at the Conference for Major Superannuation funds in 1994 thus creating Women in Super. The desire to support women, to provide them with opportunities to develop, to network and to have access to other women within the industry as mentors and colleagues to share the unique journeys they have as women, to be an organisation that was run by and for women, that advocated for women in their careers and in their retirement, and in the case of the Mother’s Day Classic, to ensure they lived long enough to enjoy what they had worked so hard for.

Those initial drivers remain as relevant as ever as we celebrate our 30^th birthday year. Women continue to be underrepresented in senior roles in the industry and overrepresented in junior roles, the gender pay gap in the financial services industry the second worst, and women continue to retire with on average 25% than men – increasingly into poverty and homelessness. But, through consistent, persistent, and collective advocacy from Women in Super, its member funds, and allies we have effected change. Our successes have been achieved by ensuring our objectives align with the values that have underpinned our work since the beginning – equality, collectivity, solidarity, dignity, community, security, and love. Our discipline to our purpose, our acknowledgment of our history and our heritage, and commitment and determination to build on its solid foundations has us ready for what the next 30 years will bring us as we continue to advocate for an Australia where all women are able to retire into safety and security.

* On hold until about the last 800m of the walk when the skies opened. But it didn’t matter. Nothing could dampen the spirits of the thousands who marched with and for those they were supporting and those they have lost, and as survivors themselves. This was a day of joy and resilience, mixed with grief and pain, but an underlying understanding that working together there is hope that we can make a difference.