The Aunties and friends celebrate 1st Birthday

Friday night saw over 320 Aunties, mentees and friends of the program gather together to celebrate an epic 12 months.

Held at Encore in St Kilda, the event was a fabulous red and pink styled ‘House Party’.

As the sun set over the bay and the Four Pillars G&Ts flowed, Aunties founders Phoebe Sloane and Sive Buckley recapped the year that was, highlighting milestones like the inaugural Junior Program that attracted 166 mentees and mentors, and the Senior Program that brought together 240 industry and future leaders with a ‘Speed Auntie-ing’ event at the State Library.

Throughout the year, The Aunties have launched a podcast for parents, ‘Mums on Call’,  and partnered with industry groups like Youngbloods and Advertising Council Australia’s This Way Up festival to host and inspire countless people, rounding out the year with 94 Aunties being honoured collectively at the B&T Women in Media Awards in the Mentor and Champion of Change categories.

The evening was a buzzing celebration of a mentoring and meet-up program that has become a movement, made possible by the generous support of sponsors Pinterest, Eric, Tom + Bruce, Spotify, Finch and Four Pillars Gin.

Says Edwina Gilbert, MADC Committee Member and founding Auntie: “It was wonderful to come together and celebrate everyone who has been involved or friends of The Aunties since the beginning. The vibe was electric. The turnout was huge. Thank you everyone who came along to celebrate.”

Says Sarah McGregor, founding Auntie: “It was a fantastic crowd, filled with past participants and supporters, and we were really happy to see our male allies, attired in their finest pink and red outfits, out in full force too.”

The Aunties are organising all the photos from the event, please keep your eyes peeled on @theaunties_gram for all the details in the coming days.

Photos taken by Linda Oliveri.