For over 10 years, I’ve had the immense privilege of serving women navigating careers in the Australian health and medical research ecosystem. This purpose is close to my heart, as for many years, I too was navigating a career in health research without the support needed to flourish.

I started Franklin Women to address the loss of women from the sector. The philosophy was simple: draw on a strong understanding of women’s unique experiences, needs and challenges, and introduce practical, meaningful support in response. And that is what Franklin Women did for more than a decade.

Building a grassroots social enterprise in this sector was not always easy, but it was always rewarding — because we made a difference to people in their work and in their lives. As I say goodbye to Franklin Women, I leave this legacy website capturing the FW story, the breadth of our work and the impact we created — waves of change that will last long after we have closed our doors.

As I signed off every Franklin Women newsletter…
Happy reading,

Franklin Women began in 2014 as a local grassroots initiative founded by Dr Melina Georgousakis, while navigating her career as a medical research scientist.

Prompted by her personal experiences — and thoughts of leaving a career she loved, Melina had the idea to start Franklin Women — Australia’s first professional community for women in the healthcare and medical research ecosystem.

From day one, Franklin Women’s mission has been to create a health and medical ecosystem where women thrive.

While women make up more than half of the workforce, they hold only a small proportion of senior positions. Things like gender bias, career interruptions, and unequal caring responsibilities were barriers to career participation, recognition, and advancement — the result, a loss of talent, expertise, and leadership across the sector.

We wanted to change this.

Our approach has been to drive change through grassroots action at two levels:

First, providing practical and immediate support to women across the ecosystem, retaining their talent

And second, supporting workplaces to build diverse, inclusive, and equitable environments for all.

Over the past decade we have delivered three pillars of activities:

Built a community of like-minded individuals and organisations, offering support and networking opportunities

Delivered events to strengthen professional networks and provide professional development opportunities in important career skills outside of the technical sciences

Introduced initiatives to address known barriers to the career progression and participation of women.