Interview: Marie Louise Ashworth Looks Back on 4 Years at Helm of The NETWORK

Chronicle.lu recently got the opportunity to speak with Marie Louise Ashworth, outgoing President of The NETWORK, Luxembourg’s oldest international professional business women’s association.

Marie Louise Ashworth has served as President of The NETWORK since 2018. Normally, board members serve no more than three years in a specific role within the association (and no more than nine years on the board in total). However, an exception was made at last year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, after four years in the role, Ms Ashworth is passing the torch to The NETWORK’s former Treasurer Mariana Florea.

In an interview with Chronicle.lu, Ms Ashworth reflected on her time at The NETWORK, the challenges and achievements associated with her time as President and what the future holds for this unique professional women’s network in Luxembourg.

Chronicle.lu: Tell us a bit about the origins of The NETWORK.

Marie Louise Ashworth: We are coming to the end of our 30^th year. [The NETWORK] was founded by a group of career women, who had arrived in Luxembourg looking for something that was a bit more stimulating than sitting around drinking coffee all day and knitting. There wasn’t at the time any other organisation in Luxembourg that was dedicated to professional women. 

Originally, it was this group of women who had decided to get together and have events speakers or people that could help them with their career or professional development. And originally, it was called “The Internet”. Around 1991/92, there was a little bit of a contention because the World Wide Web was taking off and started to be called the Internet and so in some respects, they were forced to change the name, so they changed it to “The NETWORK”.

Chronicle.lu: What has been your role in The NETWORK over the years?

Marie Louise Ashworth: I arrived in Luxembourg in May 2015 and was taken to my first [The NETWORK] event by a member in June 2015, and Dot [Bekker] was President. When you’re taken to something very new and you think: “How am I going to fit in?”. I was greeted by this group of women who I now know from the membership team. They were so friendly, so welcoming and I immediately felt like this is probably a good idea. Some of those friendships that I made on that very first day in 2015 I still have today.

At the end of this event, Dot said they were starting to think about their 25^th anniversary and that they were looking for support within the events team. So I joined the team and in 2016, I became head of events. Then in 2018, I was asked to be president, which was a shock at the time.

Chronicle.lu: What have been some of the highlights and challenges during your time at the helm of The NETWORK?

Marie Louise Ashworth: Right at the very beginning, when I was first asked to take it on, Amy [Amann] was head of communication. I knew I needed someone strong to be at my side so I asked Amy if she would take on being vice president. Although we are very opposite in both personalities and leadership styles, we got on like a house on fire. And that’s one of the good things about any association: you need an opposite to be able to bounce ideas off. 

Some of the highlights from when we took over were bringing the website up to date and being part of the “Daddy Help” campaign, where we were bringing more of awareness of the plight of men, as well, and trying to bring men into the mix. Another highlight is actually inviting more men into the conversation so that we can have this mixed discussion and we’re not just seen as being the “women’s only” association. We are also fighting for men’s equality, especially on the parental side. Our great association with Brian Ballantyne [co-founder of the non-profit Men for Inclusion] has opened a lot of doors for us to be able to push forward the topic and be a lot more vocal, not just from a woman’s point of view but from a male point of view, as well. 

We have managed to put together really inspiring events and we are now solidly on our pillars of personal growth, professional development, philanthropy and networking. We’ve really also brought about more that we are supporting other women’s associations, especially in the last couple of years where we’ve been supporting Think Pink, Dress for Success and Femmes en Détresse. And I think that’s a blessing that has come out of COVID; as soon as we went online, non-members were still paying for our events but all that money has now gone into the charity pot. 

Chronicle.lu: How did The NETWORK adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Marie Louise Ashworth: The NETWORK adapted incredibly quickly to the change. We went into lockdown on 16 March 2020. We were due to have our AGM on 22 March and immediately, we all pulled together, got into action and got it online. We then took all the events online. And it was quite fun; it was a challenge.

One of the other advantages of it has been that we’ve still been able to connect with members all over the world, because it’s been online. It’s a lesson for us all that we can’t always be physically there, but, once we come out of this next lockdown, if we can go to more hybrid, then we’re going to keep reaching out to more associations, more people and connecting more women not only in Luxembourg but around the world.

Chronicle.lu: Do you think hybrid is the way forward?

Marie Louise Ashworth: The events programme for 2022 will enable us to either have events online, in-person and / or hybrid. The very first event in January is going to be online, because coming out of Christmas, we weren’t sure either what was going to happen and thankfully we did decide to have it online, because of the current situation.  

We’ve all come to realise that this is the new norm. We don’t want to lose our members and we don’t want to lose continuity either. And I think it’s definitely the way forward for The NETWORK for us to keep the momentum and make sure that are events are stimulating enough and keeping in with our four pillars to be able to attract people to join the events.

Chronicle.lu: What were some of the highlights of The NETWORK’s 30^th anniversary last year?

Marie Louise Ashworth: The fact that we have highlighted this last year the three charities, had events that have been dedicated to the topic and where they actually had a presence, so they could explain about their associations in more detail. One of the highlights as well for actual physical events was the fact that we had so many people join us for the Think Pink [Race for the Cure®] run. At the end of the year, one of the other great things that we managed to do was the Thanksgiving dinner in association with AMCHAM, which highlighted us. It was the first event that we as a board had managed to attend. It was great for the fact that we were were present and we were seen actually supporting another association.

One of the things that was my mission when I took on the presidency was to join The NETWORK with other organisations. Some of the topics that we do talk about, like diversity and inclusion, are the major focus of The NETWORK. And yet, it was good to be able to join with other associations and talk about this, bring them to The NETWORK events and for us to also join other events, where we could discuss and talk about and take action on this problem of diversity and inclusion in Luxembourg. I think that’s been really important over the last few years.

Chronicle.lu: Tell us more about your vision for The NETWORK as President and the board’s greatest achievements over these past few years.

Marie Louise Ashworth: One of the things I was insistent on was to make us more visible - thanks to working alongside with and developing more the communications team. Also making sure that all the events are structured, either online or offline. Over the past four or five years, we are now also digital. Social media is a lifeline for everyone and it wasn’t quite as strong and prolific right at the very beginning, so we weren’t using social media to its maximum. Because we’re moving with the times, we do have women in the committees and on the board who know their topic.

Because we are professional, I’m very proud of the fact that our board is run professionally. We are running a company. From a board perspective, whatever we do has repercussions on the members and if we want to keep our members, increase our membership, then we need to be seen to be actually doing something on behalf of the members. We have more governance. Along the way, we’ve brought together people who have taken responsibility, they’ve been committed. 

Chronicle.lu: When will you officially be stepping down? What is next for you?

Marie Louise Ashworth: I officially step down at the AGM, which is on 23 March 2022. At the last board meeting, I nominated Mariana Florea, who’s been with The NETWORK for many years – she was also part of our board as treasurer – and I totally believe and trust that she will take this to the next level. I have every confidence in her. At the last board meeting, we ratified her nomination. She’s now president-elect and, unless there’s any other nominations, she will be put forward at the AGM to take on the presidency.

Mariana has asked me to hang around because there’s lots of transfer of knowledge and just for support. And I’m sure that I’ll still have a few fingers in the events and suchlike. Apart from that, I’m open to offers from other associations. I’m keeping my options open. I would like to join another board, because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and feel that I have got plenty to give and that I could add value, not only from these experiences but also from a professional point of view. 

Chronicle.lu: What makes The NETWORK unique in Luxembourg?

Marie Louise Ashworth: What makes it special is women supporting each other, this feeling that we belong to a family. We all need a tribe and for many of us, the tribe is The NETWORK. And whether or not you leave it, go away from it and come back to it, you still have that sense of belonging. In May last year, we brought together many of the past presidents. That was so lovely that past presidents still wanted to be part of an event and were still willing to offer their time, especially Sharon March who was one of the founding members of The NETWORK.

I also wanted to say about women supporting women from a personal point of view, because I had an accident at the British Ladies Club's anniversary where I was swept off to hospital because I ruptured my knee whilst dancing. One of the most amazing things is so many women from The NETWORK and the BLC became my meals on wheels. I always had someone coming to visit and taking me to hospital, picking up prescriptions. And I think it’s one of the most amazing things that we have at The NETWORK is that we support each other. 

Not only do we support women outside of The NETWORK, like the charities, we also support women within the organisation and it’s not just for careers. It’s also for our personal lives. That’s what makes us different, it makes us more like a family. And I think it’s rare. Also because we all come from different backgrounds, not only from our countries but also because of our jobs, but you leave your job at the office. You come to an event as you. And nobody judges you.

Chronicle.lu: Tell us about you last event as President of The NETWORK - the upcoming gala.

Marie Louise Ashworth: The gala is on 5 March 2022. It’s going to be at the DoubleTree Hilton. Originally, we were going to have it on 26 February, but that’s the opening of Esch2022 [European Capital of Culture], so we moved it. And also, you can’t have big events until 28 February due to COVID-19 restrictions. It’s going to be black tie. A time to celebrate, a time to really come together. There will be a price but it’s not going to be exorbitant. We’re going to have Tombola to help raise even more funds for the charities. We’re looking for sponsors and companies who either have something to donate or to pay for various activities, like the band or the DJ. So it brings the cost down for the members.

We don’t have an actual event in February because of the gala, because everybody is going to be so involved in the organisation of it. And then two weeks afterwards, it’s the AGM and that’s it. So yes, it is my last event.

Chronicle.lu: But hopefully not the last we’ll see of you at The NETWORK?

Marie Louise Ashworth: What I’m really looking forward to is actually participating in events without actually having to be part of the organising team. Since I joined The NETWORK, I don’t think I have ever participated in an event without being part of either the events committee or the board.