Zonta Club of Northern Beaches members at the 50 Years Celebration. Photo: Michael Mannington OAM
NSW Women’s Week 2026 runs from Monday 2 March to Sunday 8 March, and will see a dynamic series of events, focusing on inclusivity and celebrating the achievements of women across NSW.
Although some of the tropes imposed on women persist in Australian society, as can be seen in the circus foisted on one Australian lady Leader in recent days, cooler heads have prevailed than the exhausted patience prompted in those growing up with lots of brothers and no sisters, and set another example.
This example has been garnered from other women, many of them members of the Zonta Club of the Northern Beaches, who have actioned numerous initiatives for over five decades to quietly create change.
The next event on their 2026 calendar is their March 4th International Womens Day Breakfast at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club at Newport, where Pittwater MP Jacqui Scruby will announce who the Pittwater Woman of the Year is.
Tickets here: events.humanitix.com/zonta-club-northern-beaches-inc-international-women-s-day-breakfast
Zonta NB’s 2026 Breakfast Speaker is Shae Ingram, a Class of 2018 graduate of Mater Maria at Warriewood who has gone on to become a Senior Program Engineer working in the Satellite and Space Systems team at Optus. Shae graduated with first-class honours from a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering (Honours) at the University of Sydney, where she was heavily involved in student societies, including serving as Co-President of the Sydney Women in Aerospace Engineering society and Treasurer of the Sydney University Women In Engineering Society.
Shae has been working in the space industry for three years, where she has gained experience working in Satellite Operations, Payload & TCR Engineering, Program Engineering, and Satellite Policy & Industry Engagement. Shae has also co-authored and presented papers about STEM outreach at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan 2024 and Sydney 2025. She recently spent her time volunteering for the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) on the Space Generation Congress 2025 Organising Committee.
Ms Ingram is very passionate about advocating for women in STEM, promoting careers in Space, and participating in outreach programs as a Space Ambassador at Optus, where she spends her time educating young people about space, sharing her career pathway, and creating visibility around what an engineer can look like.
‘’From studying Aeronautical Engineering to working at Optus Satellite and Space Systems, representation and visibility of women in engineering is so important to foster a more diverse workforce, particularly for students who are considering future STEM careers.’’ Shae says
The Speaker is very timely given former South Curl Curl girl Katherine Bennell-Pegg was recently announced as Australian of the Year, and fits with Zonta's own program of getting women 'off the ground'. Former Narrabeen and Mona Vale pilot Nancy Ellis, was, in 1953, the only Australian member of the Ninety-Nines and the winner of their Silver Jubilee Scholarship in the United States of America in 1954. The Ninety-Nines, founded by Amelia Earhart in 1929, is the International Organisation of Women Pilots that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots.
Zonta's own Amelia Earhart Fellowship was established in 1938 in honour of famed pilot and Zontian, Amelia Earhart. The US$10,000 Fellowship is awarded annually to up to 30 women pursuing Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences. It may be used at any university or college offering accredited post-graduate courses and degrees in these fields.
This week a chat with current Zonta Northern Beaches Club President, Dr. Lorna Scott on that and what else is coming up this year.
Dr. Lorna Scott. Photo: Michael Mannington OAM
Zonta Northern Beaches International Women’s Day Breakfast is on March 4th this year at the RPAYC at Newport with local Shae Williams, as Speaker. This is very timely, considering the Australian of the Year, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, is Australia’s first lady astronaut who also has promoted women in STEM?
Dr. Lorna Scott, current President of the Zonta Northern Beaches chapter:
Yes, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, as you would know, is also a local, and Shae Williams, who is Senior Program Engineer working in the Satellite and Space Systems team at Optus, is also local and was the School Captain at Mater Maria in Warriewood.
The Zonta Northern Beaches club also has it’s applications open for its Young Women in Leadership program as well – what is that program about?
This program is for young women, usually school age, from 16 to 19, who write an application outlining their interest in community leadership and school leadership. We get some very interesting applications form young women who do amazing things and figure out programs that will help the community. They may volunteer in the SES, their local surf club or in a bush care group, or they may coach younger children in a local sports club – or organise a clothing drive for Fiji – as Tilly Rose Cooper did, whom you ran a few times last year for that initiative and then for her new book about what an adventure Nippers can be.
The application form, currently available on our website, has four questions which help us gauge not only how well they speak about what they’re doing but how this may benefit them. It’s worth $750.00 and last year it was won by a wonderful young woman from Killarney Heights High.
This then goes to our Zonta District, we are part of Zonta District 24, where they pick a winner from all the Zonta District, and then that goes to the Zonta International organisation. The prize there is $5000.00.
Zonta International has various scholarships and awards. There is Young Women in STEM, which is for 18 to 35 year olds pursuing education in STEM. Although we don’t have applications in that as there isn’t a university in our area, there are some very interesting women who have won those awards.
There is a Young Women in Leadership and Zonta International also has an Amelia Earhart Fellowship. Globally, women make up around 25 percent of the workforce in the aerospace industry. In an effort to carry out its mission that women have access to all resources and are represented in decision-making positions on an equal basis with men, Zonta International offers the Amelia Earhart Fellowship.
The Amelia Earhart Fellowship was established in 1938 in honour of famed pilot and Zontian, Amelia Earhart. The US$10,000 Fellowship is awarded annually to up to 30 women pursuing Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences. It may be used at any university or college offering accredited post-graduate courses and degrees in these fields.
So Zonta really advocates to empower women and girls in STEM as this is the way of the future, and women have fallen behind in the past.
While on the future, during your speech for the 50th Celebratory Year of the Zonta Northern Beaches chapter you stated ‘Zonta has adopted a new set of core values, of Integrity, Friendship, Respect, Global community. Equality and Inclusion is to be the foundation of our culture and a compass that guides our actions, decisions and relationships.’ Could you elaborate on how you will do that?
We want to encourage clubs to celebrate, encourage and promote diversity of members within our clubs. We want to ensure our actions are guided by the needs of vulnerable people in our community and listen to diverse perspectives.
We want to foster deeper community connections with our existing collaborators and with like-minded organisations. We want to elevate Zonta’s message in our community, to spread goodwill and inclusivity.
It is important for us to include young people and their views. We want to support young people, foster their empowerment through education and social projects. WE need to listen to the concerns of our young people. WE need to listen and act.
Our project “Zonta Says Now” embraces Climate Justice as an issue locally and internationally.
We know that women in developing countries are greatly affected by climate change – they are impacted by longer walks to get water in drought, social structure breakdown, and some are now climate refugees. Drought, or a 10% decrease in rainfall in sub–Saharan Africa leads to an increase in child marriage.
But even in advanced economies like Australia women are more adversely affected by climate disasters.
Women are more likely to have a gender pay gap, and part time or casual employment. They are responsible for child care and elder care. So from flood and fire it is harder for them to recover to square one financially and keep the family together.
So this framework of what we want to address in our own community, and elsewhere, sets clear objectives, actions and areas we can and do support.
Zonta Northern Beaches, through your Z-Clubs for students and older membership, brings together a wide range of generations of women – why is that important?
Our volunteers are getting older, and we don’t have the energy we had when younger, and the new ideas of what is needed for the upcoming generation – but they do. So it’s wonderful to be able to encourage young women to become Z-Club Members – we can mentor them and give them ideas about how to be successful in undertaking community volunteering roles, and how their thinking about issues in the world can be turned into practical actions to address those, as we have experience in that step-by-step approach. This is so enlivening for us, to hear the young women talk about things they want to address – it’s very very good for us. Our club has two Z-Clubs so it’s great to be a part of their meetings and have them as part of our activities.
We would really like to have more women members in the middle generations however, but it’s more difficult for them as they have careers and young families. We would like to have more women who are still in the workforce join us, and we would work around them and their schedules, so their input can be a part of what we do. We can have Zoom for those who cannot get to the Monday meetings. We recognise that it’s hard for younger women but as the current generation has more flexibility and support networks in their work and family schedules, and we have technology at our fingertips, supporting membership inclusion across all generations is attainable.
We really would like to have more of all the generations as members working together, come join us.
Later this year we have the 16 Days of Activism against domestic violence, which is a UN initiative that many organisations take part in, we have a walk along Manly’s promenade in early December. The girls form the Z-clubs and a lot of their friends, and hopefully some of the boys from local schools, tend to come to that.
Warringah MP Zali Steggall, who has recently been calling for a Royal Commission into the high rate of domestic violence deaths in this country, attends this each year.
We have all the local political representatives, at council, at state and at federal level attend this each year. Zali spoke extremely eloquently again this past December, and inspired us with how important it is that we keep walking in activism against domestic violence.
In speaking about membership - how did you first get involved in Zonta Dr. Scott?
I was a GP in the area for 40 years, and had a practice in Avalon for 27 years, and knew I was coming up to retirement and wanted to involve myself in community action, and especially wanted to advocate for women in domestic violence situations, I wanted to support the refuges, and I didn’t know quite how to do that.
About 10 years before I retired, I joined Zonta just to find out about it, and then by the time I retired 3 years ago, I was entrenched and had a lot more time to go into it. I sit on the advocacy committee for our club, I’m the President, and I also sit on the Board of the Northern Beaches Domestic Violence Network.
The Northern Beaches Domestic Violence Network is a whole lot of agencies and we meet regularly – we have activities and conferences and spread information about legislation to address what is needed next.
So, from sitting at work thinking ‘what can I do in this area as an individual?’, the answers was not that much – but as part of a group working together in this, we can help. We can support our local members, as organisations, when they are tabling legislation to address what’s missing – this may take the form of letter writing and those letters, signed by this local network, are a good indication of multiple voices speaking as one.
What’s coming up this year for Zonta Northern Beaches – you have a wide range of activities and events you’re undertaking this year – but we’ve heard a whisper about a new one?
We have our International Women’s Day annual breakfast on March the 4th, and we’re also going to other IWD events, such as the Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter fundraiser.
Around May we’re going to hold a Mother and Daughter High Tea where women can bring their mothers or their daughters or other meaningful women in their lives. We’re inviting the applicants and winners of the Young Women in Leadership award to come and speak to us at that. So that’s the new initiative.
Following those IWD events we have the local Zonta District Conference where we learn skills in those values discussed earlier, as well as in multimedia this year, which we are looking forward to as we’ll learn more. There is also a big International Zonta Conference in July in Vancouver.
Zonta International has three projects which they work in concert with the UN. Zonta International partners with UN agencies (UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women) to fund projects that empower women and girls, primarily focusing on ending gender-based violence, preventing child marriage, improving health, and addressing climate change.
Through our fees from our club we contribute to the foundation that funds these projects. For the 2024-2026 biennium, key initiatives include climate-resilient leadership for women that are being impacted in Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Sudan. I spoke at our 50th year event about the link between climate-change and underage marriage.
Specifically; climate change acts as a "threat multiplier" that exacerbates existing drivers of child marriage, such as poverty, gender inequality, and food insecurity. As environmental crises (droughts, floods, cyclones) destroy livelihoods and assets, particularly in agriculture-dependent communities, families in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are increasingly turning to child marriage as a survival mechanism to reduce household expenses and secure economic stability.
The third project, which we’re very excited about, is called ‘LAAHA’. In this UNICEF has developed a safe-space digital web-based platform to educate women and girls in conflict affected regions, to increase knowledge about sexual and reproductive health, and Gender based Violence.
LAAHA participants have links to access supportive services in a way that is safe, culturally appropriate and accessible, especially to adolescent girls.
Unfortunately, all these programs are at risk because of the US AID stop-work orders and funding cuts to many international aid programs from the UN, so Zonta International, and our local Zonta clubs, are stepping up. This has been rolled out in 7 languages so far.
This free initiative is about getting content women can turn to, and making it accessible and safe.
Zonta has been fundamental in shifting the status of women for over 100 years now. From your perspective, why is women supporting women so powerful, why does that make us so invincible?
I guess the fact that a group of women want to support other women, whether financially or through works, to pursue education or have access to information, speaks for itself. I know men may want to support women pursuing education and autonomy, but I don’t think even then they can fully understand the disadvantage women experience, the tropes they have to deal with on a daily basis. Even when they have reached a high position in leadership or areas of science and STEM, that persists. Even me, when I studied medicine, a very long time ago now, in 1970, only a quarter of the students were women.
What are Zonta initiatives you’re very happy about?
Ok; you know we make breast cushions for the local hospitals – in fact we had a breast-cushion making day last weekend. The Zonta Breast Care cushions are a practical gift that expresses support and provides comfort to women (and men) in the post-operative phase of breast surgery. Zonta Clubs hold sewing bees to make these sought after cushions. We also make Birthing Kits that are sent into countries where they are needed.
February 2026 Breast Care Cushion session
We go into the schools and talk about health disadvantage in some countries and the higher rate of childbirth mortality and get the students to help make them.
So, over the years that we’ve been making Birthing Kits we’ve mad 68,000 kits.
The kits consist of a sheet of plastic, gauze, string, a blade, soap and gloves. The plastic bag the kit is placed in, and the plastic sheet, are treated with an organic compound that helps the plastic breakdown. The sheet of plastic in a Zonta birthing kit is for the mother to lie on during childbirth, providing a clean, hygienic, and sterile surface to prevent infection.
Being a doctor, when I first heard about this I thought it was a very elegant solution to a big problem. At $5 a Kit, we make them for The Birthing Kit Foundation (Australia) which was set up by a Zonta Club in Adelaide. The $5 includes attendant training.
We get a lot of local students who get involved in this and learning what it’s for – they’re very excited about what they can do to help as well.
What else is the Zonta Club of the Northern Beaches aiming to achieve this year?
We’d like to expand our membership and see more younger women join us with their ideas on what needs to be done and how to do that. For instance, the Mother and Daughter High Tea was the idea of a 30-year-old member who works in a corporate position.
How do women become members?
They can go to our website at www.zonta-northernbeaches.org and simply click on the ‘join our club’ button, and that webpage will provide you with more information about us as well. Or send an email to zontanb@gmail.com
Zonta Club - 2026 International Women’s Day Breakfast.
