Sia Partners proudly sponsored the very successful Irish Sailing Sia Partners Women at the Helm for the second time this weekend. The event was a huge success with over 200 competitors partaking and a crowd of spectators that showed up to watch and support. The event began with Irish Sailing and our team from Sia Partners welcoming the participants, with female crews and skippers representing many clubs from around the country. The energy and excitement was palpable but was no doubt mixed with nerves and apprehension. The competitors took to the water mid-morning and began their journey to the racecourse where they began competing, with several helming for the first time. They returned after several hours of tight racing, enthused, confident and deserving of well-earned R&R. After an energetic evening, the next day saw more racing and a wonderfully hosted prize giving by Irish Sailing President and Paralympian John Twomey, organizer Gail MacAllister,  and Cathaoirleach Dun Laoghaire Mary Hanafin, a past Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport with a keen interest in women's participation in sport.

"At Sia Partners we are committed to the development of women in leadership roles. We believe parallels can be drawn between women in business and women in sailing. Women are strongly represented in both up to a point in time, followed by a reduction in participation possibly due to an increase or imbalance in demands on our time.  Women can experience long periods away from our careers and other areas such as sports and activities, in this case competitive sailing. The long gaps can often hinder our confidence and ambition to take on leadership roles on our return. Through our sponsorship of Women at the Helm we hope to encourage women to set goals for taking the next step, whether it be a move from land to the water or dealing with the challenge of going back to work; where self-confidence, impact on home life and return on effort are all factors."

At Sia Partners, our female leaders are now engaged in designing the working environment to address conflicting priorities in both our lives and our work, and the relationship between the two. We are determined to succeed and improve the imbalance and increase participation whether in business or in our lives. Watch our space, https://www.linkedin.com/company/sia-partners/  and www.sia-partners.com.

Sia Partners is a next generation consulting firm focused on delivering superior value and tangible results to our clients as they navigate the digital revolution. Located in 40 offices worldwide including Dublin, our global footprint, and our expertise in more than 30 sectors and services allows us to enhance our clients’ businesses worldwide. We guide their projects and initiatives in Strategy, Growth & Innovation, Sustainability, Business Transformation, ICT, Digital Transformation and AI & Data Science. We work on the leading edge of new technologies and working models, whether it is in the area of EV Mobility, Web 3.0, New Ventures, Artificial Intelligence or Leadership, Sia Partners is a strong alternative to the norm. 

Sia Partners will grow its team by 1,000 new talents in 2023 to over 4000, having grown consistently over an extended period. Women make up c.42% of our organisation, we continue to work to address the imbalance in our leadership team, where currently 25% of our Partners are women. We are committed to diversity and inclusion, and the continued challenges around what will make us and our clients great.