Rosy van der Vlies has recently joined Graduate Women Victoria, carrying on a membership of Graduate Women International which she joined through the Dutch Graduate Women’s association. Here is her story:
I have recently returned to Australia after working in the Netherlands for the past 24 years. I was educated in Melbourne, graduating from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) majoring in History. Upon leaving Monash I took on a variety of commercial roles with several organisations and completed a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration at Swinburne University.
Having developed a background in Sales and Marketing I joined Alexander Proudfoot in 1989. Proudfoot is an international consultancy specialising in developing and installing Change Management programmes designed to increase organisational effectiveness both operationally and financially. In 1993 the opportunity arose to further my career with Proudfoot in Europe. I was based in Amsterdam, and for the next 15 years worked as an Employee Skills Development Manager, Project Manager and People Solutions Manager on numerous Client projects throughout Europe, South Africa, Canada, Asia, Australia and the United States.
In 2008 after almost 20 years of continuous travel, projects and hotel life, Proudfoot and I decided to part company. My departure from Proudfoot became the catalyst for a substantial change in my lifestyle and career direction. I became actively involved in various women’s networks including the IFUW (now GWI) on a national and international level. Worked as a Business Development Manager with a prominent Amsterdam based theatre company. Assisting them to increase their commercial awareness, develop partnerships and raise funds to support their cultural and artistic projects.
I served on several boards and committees. Including chairing the Amsterdam Executive of the VVAO (Vereniging Vrouwen met een Academische Opleiding)* from 2013 to 2017. Member of the Board of the local community centre in Buitenveldert a suburb in Amsterdam. Plus, Marketing and Strategic advisor to The Web Foundation. An organisation which develops training tools and materials to support the communication around HIV/AIDS with the view to preventing their spread.
*The VVAO is the Dutch equivalent of the AFGW