Marching forward on International Women’s Day

On 8 March every year, women across the globe take the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of female pioneers while still calling for change as we continue to strive towards gender equality.

The 2025 theme - March Forward encourages everyone to turn promises into progress so we can all strive for a gender equal future. 

In honour of RACQ’s postponed event, we sat down with panellists Liezel Carreon and Sonia Haegens to have a conversation about what the day means to them.

Liezel Carreon – Project Lead, Risk (pictured left above)

What is your role at RACQ, and how has your career journey led you to this position?

I completed a Diploma in Financial Planning and a bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management before beginning a career as a bank teller and working my way through the ranks to become a Branch Manager.

I started with RACQ in 2016 as a part time Sales Consultant, and in 2018 I worked as an Analyst for Insurance Distribution and Support before taking on the role of Remediation Lead for the Pricing Promises Review Project.

I now have more than 20 years’ experience in financial services and am currently the Project Lead in the Risk Transformation Program (RTP), where I have designed and implemented the new Incident Management and Root Cause Analysis Standards. 

To me it is all about reflecting on how far gender equality has come. 

Significant progress has been made in the past 30 years towards women's empowerment. There are now 52 Fortune 500 women CEOs, we now have the first Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in women’s soccer has driven significant growth in participation and generated substantial economic benefits around the world especially in Australia.

There are more women leaders in politics but the fight for gender equality is an ongoing journey.  It can only be achieved if all of humanity, especially governments work to recognise what women bring to the table.  Celebrating IWD once a year is a great way to show how important gender equality is I’m honoured to be a part of IWD this year.

I think workplaces can create a safe and inclusive environment to support women’s growth and success by implementing strict policies against harassment and discrimination, offering flexible work arrangements, establishing mentorship programs where experienced professionals guide and support women in their career growth and enforcing robust anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies.

Jacinta Ardern is a woman who inspires me because of her career and life achievements and the way she successfully ruled New Zealand in her tenure as Prime Minister. She believes in promoting equality of women and is also a mum just like me who is balancing her role as a leader and a mother. This has inspired me by showing that it is possible to pursue a demanding career while raising a family.

Sonia Haegens – Executive Officer to Managing Director and Group CEO (pictured right above)

What is your role at RACQ, and how has your career journey led you to this position?

After initially being a university drop out (Interior Design was not for me), I eventually obtained bachelor’s degrees in both mathematics and business – majoring in Banking and Finance.

My background is in business performance insights and reporting and leading data analytics projects, mostly in commercial insurance and claims.

I joined RACQ in late 2018 leading the Claims Performance and Insights team, but after about 15 years in data and reporting I was looking for a change to bring a fresh challenge, then I had the opportunity to work on two major advocacy projects related to the Queensland CTP Scheme and the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool.

This then gave me an opportunity to move into the role of Manager Government Relations before joining the Risk Transformation Program in July 2023 - and now taking on my current role in RACQ’s Accountability Controls and Enablement team alongside my role as Executive Officer to the Managing Director and Group CEO.

This year’s IWD theme is March Forward – what does this mean to you in the context of gender equality?

For me this means that women should feel able to declare what they want and need from their roles and careers more broadly.

I believe you need to make yourself hard to ignore, decide what you want and share that goal with those who can help you work towards taking it or creating it.

Sometimes impostor syndrome and doubt creeps in and you may keep your dreams hidden, keep yourself safe and small, or undermine your progress.

Be brave to dream big, recognise your potential and give yourself permission to set that ambitious goal (or if you’re not the goal-setting type, to define the set of conditions/criteria that makes for a positive and rewarding work experience) and put it out there into the world. Then take one step towards that end, then another, and keep marching forward to what you want.

How can workplaces and communities support women’s growth and success?

Encourage women to own and celebrate their successes and growth. Also, as you step up and march forward in your personal and/or career goals, find a way to elevate those who are following you.

Who inspires you, and why?

Jacinda Ardern – she was the youngest female Prime Minister of our neighbour New Zealand – she brought a leadership style involving kindness, empathy and authenticity. She considered the three Ps of Profits, People and Planet when balancing policy decisions and sparked action against climate change and for recognition of human rights. At times, she did all of this with her baby in her arms in parliament – this is a true example of bringing your whole self to work.

Learn more about RACQ's commitment to diversity and inclusion, here.