2019 She Leads College– 5 Quick Questions with Georgia Maq

28 February 2019

The annual She Leads College Conference is a one-day leadership event for young women, including female and non-binary people, in years 11 and 12. The event will take place at the University of Canberra’s Ann Harding Conference Centre on 20 March 2019.

In this interview, we talk to Georgia Maq, one of our panellists at the upcoming She Leads College Conference.

Georgia is a Naarm (Melbourne) based singer, songwriter, guitarist and activist who fronts the award-winning alternative indie band, Camp Cope. Georgia has spoken and mentored at events such as Jen Cloher’s ‘I Manage My Music’ Workshop and the Girls Rock! Camp. Georgia aims to help carve the path for independent female, trans and non-binary musicians in today’s climate by being vocal about the issues that we face.

Describe your leadership journey in 30 words or less

I’ve learned leadership by watching and being inspired by other women in leadership positions. I saw them and realised that that could be me.

What has been (or is) the biggest challenge you have encountered in your leadership journey?

My biggest challenge was learning to not to listen to criticism that wasn’t constructive, and to stop caring about what the ‘haters’ thought.

Why is it important that we increase the number of girls and women in leadership positions? How does this impact upon gender equality?

It’s important to decrease the power men have because we all want an inclusive and diverse world, and that can’t happen if all the leadership roles are by people who are all cis/male/white, because these people don’t have the same lived experience as women, queer people, people of colour and Indigenous people. Diverse people in leadership positions will help drive gender quality.

If there was one resource that you recommend every future girl/woman leader would read or view what would it be?

Go and visit a record store.

If you could give one piece of advice to yourself in College (years 11 and 12), what would it be?

Do your taxes and keep your receipts!

If you would like to hear Georgia speak, come along to the She Leads College Conference! Visit the event page for more details. 

Tags: 2019, camp cope, Conference, event, georgia maq, panellist, she leads college conference, sheleads, Speaker