Beginning in March 2014, the Melbourne Development Circle is publishing a member review of our events. This review has both a profile of the member and a little information about the event for us to look back on. Our first member review is from Wendy Poussard, co-founder of the International Women’s Development Agency.

What is your name?  Wendy Poussard

Who do you work for?  Myself

What do you do?  I am a writer, of all sorts of things. Currently poetry, journalism and some short stories.

Why do you do it?  Because it is an important part of life. It’s really interesting and involves other people and ideas. I just like it.

What is your best community development moment?  When we announced the beginning of the IWDA at the UN Women’s Meeting in Nairobi in 1985 [the third World Conference on Women].

What is your saddest community development moment?  Visiting families who lost young people after typhoons in Vietnam. That was hard.

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What attracted you to this event?  Because Jo Hayter [CEO of IWDA] was speaking. She’s a friend and I wanted to support her. She didn’t know I was coming and I had no idea that she’d get me up to speak as well when she saw me!

Who did you meet? [A mix of] Young women who impressed me with their enthusiasm and clarity and experienced people.

What was the most important thing you learned? There’s a whole new generation of people excited and smart about development. They have motivation, good plans and strong analysis.