💥 Woman Up: Rising, resisting and owning our strength

This night goes beyond slogans and soundbites. Six women, six decades, each sharing what it really takes to stand tall when the world tells you to shrink. These are stories of courage, resistance and strength found in unexpected places. And here’s the beautiful part: when women rise, we all rise.

If you’ve ever been told you’re ‘not enough’, you’ll feel these stories in your bones. You’ll leave reminded that even when power is denied or stripped away, women’s voices can rise and create change.

This event is proudly supported by the City of Sydney and in partnership with a First Nations led charity (to be announced). Every ticket helps amplify women’s voices and fuel real community impact.

💫 Our Performer Line-up:

Team 20s: Annette Cole is a lawyer, advocate, and community leader committed to advancing the wellbeing, leadership, and visibility of Black women in Australia. She is the Founder and President of Amplify Black Women, a Sydney-based organisation creating spaces for healing, professional growth, and collective empowerment.

Team 30s: Sera Yilmaz is the Strategic Development Manager at Multicultural Disability Advocacy Australia, advancing inclusion for multicultural communities with disability. A former Deputy Mayor of Fairfield City Council, she also works in higher education as a casual academic at Excelsia University College. She holds a PhD in Social Science on skilled migrants’ experiences in Australia and is passionate about community advocacy, cultural diversity, travel and caring for neighbourhood cats - two of whom she has adopted.

Team 40s: Neelima Kadiyala is a digital transformation leader and storyteller with 15 years’ experience across global industries. A migrant woman of colour, she champions inclusion and volunteers to empower women and CALD communities. Her advocacy for gender equality led to her selection as a Superstar of STEM, reflecting her passion.

Team 50s: Gloria Tabi is an author, researcher, TEDx speaker, and transformative Antiracism Specialist. As founder of EVERYDAY INCLUSION, she helps leaders build workplaces where everyone truly belongs. Born in Ghana and shaped by life in Australia, she now leads Enable Women Africa: #InspiringHairFreedom, challenging hair discrimination and celebrating the natural hair Black women and girls are born with.

Team 60s: Donna Ingram is a respected Aboriginal woman from New South Wales, recognised for her longstanding commitment to community leadership, cultural advocacy, and strengthening opportunities for Aboriginal people across NSW.  Grounded in her cultural heritage and community values, Donna has worked across sectors including community development, governance, and social justice. Her work centres on empowering Aboriginal voices, advancing self-determination, and supporting culturally safe pathways in education, employment, and community wellbeing.

Team 70s+: Menaka Iyengar  is a retired HR Director and Educator now working as a Psychotherapist, Coach and Org.Dev. consultant. A strong advocate for women’s and multicultural equity, she is the author of Monsoon Woman. Her national impact has earned major honours, including The International Alliance of Women - World of Difference Award 2022 and an Order of Australia in 2025.

About Generation Women

Generation Women is a global storytelling movement that celebrates women’s voices across the decades.

Founded in New York in 2017, Generation Women launched in Sydney in 2018 and Melbourne in 2020. Every show features six storytellers — one from each decade of life, from her 20s to her 70s+ — sharing original stories on a shared theme.

Why Generation Women Australia?

Generation Women Australia is proudly award-winning and is the only chapter in the world to offer an ongoing membership program, giving our community even more ways to connect, belong and grow between shows.

This event is proudly presented by Generation Women Australia, founded by Donna Logue, and hosted by Mon Schafter. Mon is a Walkley Award-winning journalist and co-host of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade on ABC TV. Mon has reported extensively for programs including 7.30 and the comedic current affairs show Hungry Beast, and is the founding editor of ABCQueer.

Generation Women was originally created by Georgia Clark in New York.

Event Details

📍 The Beresford
354 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW 2016

🕢 Doors at 6:30 PM
🎤 Show at 7:00 PM

Want to feel even more connected?

✨ Membership is Now Open!
If you love our nights, don’t let the stories stop here. Join Generation Women Australia as a member and be part of the movement all year round.

🎁 What You Get as a Member
✔️ 120 brand-new true stories every year (20 live shows, 6 storytellers per show)
✔️ $1,000+ library included — 30+ full shows on video & audio, instantly
✔️ A searchable story library — find what you need by theme, generation, or mood
✔️ An exclusive member hub — reflect, connect, or simply watch quietly
✔️ 1:1 welcome concierge — real human support to help you settle in
✔️ Member-only bonuses — surprise giveaways + perks
✔️ Discounted tickets — save every time on Sydney & Melbourne live shows

💛 Membership is open right now in Sydney, join us today and make sure women’s voices stay seen, heard, and celebrated.

👉 Become a Member Today

Already a member? Don’t forget to enter your discount code at checkout for $10 off your ticket.

💥 Woman Up: Rising, resisting and owning our strength

This night goes beyond slogans and soundbites. Six women, six decades, each sharing what it really takes to stand tall when the world tells you to shrink. These are stories of courage, resistance and strength found in unexpected places. And here’s the beautiful part: when women rise, we all rise.

If you’ve ever been told you’re ‘not enough’, you’ll feel these stories in your bones. You’ll leave reminded that even when power is denied or stripped away, women’s voices can rise and create change..

💫 Our Performer Line-up:

Team 20s: Bianca Stern is Head of Impact and a founding member of All Things Equal, a Melbourne social enterprise creating award-wage employment pathways for people with disability. A Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, Bianca works across inclusive employment, disability advocacy, and systems change, focused on building scalable, community-led social impact. She is also very passionate about eating scrambled eggs with vegemite.

Team 30s: Nakita Irvin is an award-winning entrepreneur, pacific leader, sustainable food expert, community builder and artist. She has spent 7 years founding, growing and developing a for-profit-women’s social enterprise and not-for-profit co-share commercial kitchen in Suva, Fiji. She moved to Naarm from Suva in 2024 and has pivoted in a new career direction. She is now a full-time aged carer and disability support worker.

Team 40s: Som Puri is a TEDx speaker specialising in creativity and authentic self-expression as drivers of performance. With 15+ years shaping brand voice for leading retail brands, she helps organisations reduce self-censorship, strengthen collaboration and produce more commercially effective ideas.

Team 50s: Sonia Murr is a queer writer and teacher who is wrangling with a frustratingly shapeshifting book project, developed as a part of the 2025 Faber Creative Non-Fiction Writing program. When she is not writing for teachers and students, she is pitching and developing essays on gender, grief and midlife identities.

Team 60s: Virginia Haussegger AM is an award-winning journalist, author, gender equity advocate and social justice warrior. A former ABC News anchor, she’s reported from global hotspots for Channel Seven and Nine networks. Her latest book Unfinished Revolution: The Feminist Fightback (2025) is a clarion call for collective action.

Team 70s+: Bea Toews was born and trained as a teacher in Canada before emigrating to Australia in 1971. She has taught internationally in Thailand, Malaysia and Russia. In 2011, she remarried and retired. She now lives between Thailand and Melbourne and has built a house, become a widow, learned Thai and embraced powerlifting — proving that it’s never too late for new adventures. 

About Generation Women

Generation Women is a global storytelling movement that celebrates women’s voices across the decades.

Founded in New York in 2017, Generation Women launched in Sydney in 2018 and Melbourne in 2020. Every show features six storytellers — one from each decade of life, from her 20s to her 70s+ — sharing original stories on a shared theme.

Why Generation Women Australia?

Generation Women Australia is proudly award-winning and is the only chapter in the world to offer an ongoing membership program, giving our community even more ways to connect, belong and grow between shows.

This event is presented by Generation Women Australia, founded by Donna Logue. The show will be hosted by Rebecca Lister.

Generation Women was originally created by Georgia Clark in New York.

Event Details

📍 Howler
7–11 Dawson St, Brunswick VIC 3056

🕢 Doors at 6:30 PM
🎤 Show at 7:00 PM

Want to feel even more connected?

✨ Membership is Now Open!
If you love our nights, don’t let the stories stop here. Join Generation Women Australia as a member and be part of the movement all year round.

🎁 What You Get as a Member
✔️ 120 brand-new true stories every year (20 live shows, 6 storytellers per show)
✔️ $1,000+ library included — 30+ full shows on video & audio, instantly
✔️ A searchable story library — find what you need by theme, generation, or mood
✔️ An exclusive member hub — reflect, connect, or simply watch quietly
✔️ 1:1 welcome concierge — real human support to help you settle in
✔️ Member-only bonuses — surprise giveaways + perks
✔️ Discounted tickets — save every time on Sydney & Melbourne live shows

💛 Membership is open right now in Melbourne — join us today and make sure women’s voices stay seen, heard, and celebrated.

👉 Become a Member Today

Already a member? Don’t forget to enter your discount code at checkout for $10 off your ticket.