International Women’s Day is this Saturday (March 8th 2025), and today Ben is joined by three incredible women from the local business community.
Amanda Marlowe
Amanda Marlowe is Business Development Manager at Safety Centre and Hazard Alley, a charity that provides interactive and immersive safety education.
She is also the former mayor of Milton Keynes. During her time as mayor, Amanda was involved in the process of Milton Keynes becoming a city, events surrounding the Queen passing away and many more significant events for the growing town.
Her other campaigns focused on employment opportunities for the disabled, inspired by her experiences with her own disabled children.
Shazna Muzammil
Ben then turns to Shazna Muzammil, the leader of the Conservatives on Milton Keynes City Council. Shazna was born in Sri Lanka into a civil war, a very patriarchal society and a political family. As the only girl in a family of boys, she was discouraged from pursuing an education and was married at an early age.
After a lengthy and hard fight for a divorce, she was finally able to pursue her education and gained a Master’s degree, as well as fighting for women and girl’s education in Sri Lanka.
Shazna moved to the UK in 2017, and very quickly became involved in local politics and has run as an MP for Birmingham Ladywood, as well as her role as a councillor. She is now involved in the ‘Ask Her to Stand’ initiative, which encourages women to stand for positions at all levels of politics.
Michelle Theuma
Finally, Ben speaks to Michelle Theuma and discusses her career in recruitment and involvement in various initiatives for women in business – including being the Chair of Women in Enterprise, a non-profit networking group.
Michelle and her partners at the MK Community Foundation are organising their biggest International Women’s Day event yet: a full day affair with speakers and networking in the morning and workshops in the afternoon.
With 600 people expected to be in attendance at the Ridgeway Conference Centre, the event is sure to be a huge success.
Find out more about the event via the website here.
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