Welcome back to the Henley Female Network where every fourth Friday of the month we provide a warm, supportive and welcoming space for conversation, inspiration and connection to flourish. Take time for yourself and come along to expand your personal and professional network as you connect with like-minded women. All women are welcome – whether you’re self employed, employed, currently taking a break or anything in between. Come for joy, for friendship, for business or for life. Our focus is on connection first and we find that when we start there business and friendship follow naturally. 

We are beyond excited to have regular HFN attendee Holly Hughson joining us to share her extraordinary story – Unarmed – A Female Aid Worker’s Journey on the Frontlines of 21^st Century Conflict. 

Come with Holly on a humanitarian mission and adventure that explores her motivation and the ways she learned to stay safe, or at least stack the odds in her favour! Over the course of Holly’s career, she held assignments ranging from refugee reintegration in South Sudan to advising International Security Forces in Afghanistan on stabilisation and governance.

Operating unarmed in highly insecure locations is only possible through consent by the local population. Like the military, humanitarian aid workers go into harm’s way. Unlike the military, they do not wear protective armour or have weapons to enforce and secure their presence. Operating unarmed elevates the importance of relationships and trust. Security comes from building relationships and working with the consent of the local community. 

For nearly two decades, Holly was either operating in or training to respond to some of the most complex humanitarian emergencies on the planet. This journey took her to Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, the Russian Federation, Afghanistan, and Macedonia. Most of the locations were fragile or failing states. Over and over, she had to adapt to new locations, new rules, cultural differences, and quickly grasp what was needed to stay safe.

This is a unique opportunity to get a first hand insight into places and conflicts that we have heard on the news cycle for much of our adult lives, and to understand what it takes to be an unarmed female operating in these environments. 

If you are interested in speaking at or sponsoring our Breakfast Conversation events, we would love to hear from you! Please fill out the form and we will be in touch.

*please note tickets are non refundable but you are welcome to resell at face value if you are no longer able to attend. 

** £5 from the sale of each ticket will be donated to the Chiltern Centre to support their work empowering young people with disabilities to live life to the full.**