International Women’s Day: An interview with Amanda Oldridge
Marked by millions of people globally on March 8, International Women’s Day (IWD) is an important day to honour the achievements of women across all aspects of life while also advocating for gender equality.
This year’s IWD theme, "Accelerate Action," highlights the urgent need to take swift and decisive steps toward achieving gender equality.
To mark International Women’s Day, we decided to chat to one of our female leaders, Amanda Oldridge, MePACS Workforce Development Manager.
Mandy supports MePACS team members throughout the employee lifecycle. In her own words, she looks after employee “hiring, their development, and also their engagement and happiness.” Her role is crucial in ensuring MePACS maintains a consistent approach to quality service delivery and a skilled workforce.
Mandy is a highly motivated leader and a seasoned HR executive with global experience. She brings a wealth of knowledge from her work with industry leaders such as Novartis, Linfox and Verifone. Her extensive expertise includes organisation change, company culture, leadership development, diversity and inclusion and workplace communication.
A dedicated lifelong learner, Mandy holds a Bachelor of Business (Logistics), an MBA, a Graduate Diploma in Counselling, and a Master of Science in Psychology, among other academic achievements.
Mandy took time out to share some valuable insights from her career and reflect on the inspiring leaders and impactful experiences that have helped shape her journey.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
“I think it's very important to take time out, to take a pause, and to recognise where we've come from and what needs to be done to address the gaps that exist from a woman's perspective in the workplace."
“I've been lucky to enjoy an incredibly successful, happy and joyous career. I was given wonderful opportunities and sponsorship from people who are men and women, and I look at ways that I can try and do that with women that I know.”
How can we encourage future women leaders generally, but also within the public health sector / assistive technology space?
“There has been, from an educational perspective, a growing effort in recent years to encourage young women to pursue STEM careers. I’ve studied neuroscience and it’s recognised that women often are more attracted to the social sciences. There is room to encourage more young women to recognise what pursuing a career in technology means from a social perspective as an avenue to attract more women leaders in the assistive technology space.”
“I’m also rethinking mentoring. Instead of mentoring, I’m going to start seeking and encouraging sponsorship. To me, to be sponsored is to be supported.”
“I would also encourage women to network more and to be more strategic in their networking… and to take a chance. Women need to be gutsier in their careers. Just go for it.”
What is a highlight of your career?
“I've had wonderful highlights throughout my career, and I think every job that I've ever had in my career has been wonderful. Some top highlights include meeting the king of Thailand, listening to people's challenges around cancer and how the company I worked for was trying to solve the problem of cancer and speaking to more than 100 HR professionals in Asia.”
“I’ve also presented to more than a thousand people on how to follow your dream in a career… These are some of the most uplifting experiences I've enjoyed.”
Which women inspire you the most?
“When I think about women who inspire me, I immediately think of Michelle McDade [MePACS General Manager]. Michelle is great. One skill she has that I appreciate is her ability to say ‘Let's take a pause. Let's get our brains to think on it, to sleep on it.’ I admire that skill.”
“I’ve had some wonderful female leaders in my lifetime. When I worked in Boston, in America, I worked with a very inspirational woman who, through stories and being very direct to me, helped me recognise what being a leader meant and to show up and that the buck stopped with me. She made me realise that if I wanted that leadership role, that I couldn't run and hide. I had to step up and do the work. She also emphasised the importance of being powerful enough to have a point of view.”
The IWD 2025 campaign theme is 'Accelerate Action'. What does this mean to you?
“I think that it's all very well to have grand plans about helping girls and moving women into more leadership areas. But we need to be faster at it. We need to really think about what needs to happen now. We’ve got the dream, we've got the vision, but let's think about what needs to happen immediately to move us forward.”
