Public speaking
Jen is an engaging and thought provoking public speaker who ensures that she connects with and encourages participation from her audience. She delights in working towards the ‘aha’ moment and takes great care to customise her presentation to your event and context.
Public Speaking
Jen is an engaging and thought provoking public speaker, who ensures that she connects with and encourages participation from her audience. She has been invited to speak at conferences and universities all around the world and regularly speaks on a range of topics.

New presentations
Sponsorship 101: A primer for mentors and mentees
Mentoring and sponsorship are critical to career success. Understanding the difference between mentoring and sponsorship brings new clarity to mentoring relationships and mentoring programs. This presentation draws on research and practice to illuminate the role of sponsorship in careers and to boost sponsorship practices within mentoring programs. This is a perfect starting point for organisations wishing to strengthen sponsorship practices within their institutions and to build more robust practices for inclusive sponsorship practices.
Partners for Change
Is your organisation ready to engage with men and women equally in creating gender equality in the workplace? This taster presentation (with Tim Muirhead) introduces the ideas behind Partners for Change and gets the courageous conversations started. This optimistic approach allows men and women from all career stages to work in same gender groups and have the all important cross gender dialogue. Partnership builds a powerful foundation for change.
From ‘missing ingredient’ to career accelerator: Everything you should know about sponsorship but never thought to ask
What is the difference between mentoring and sponsorship? How can early and mid-career researchers maximise sponsorship in their careers? And how do research institutions and individuals build sponsorship practices that aid career development and success? This highly interactive presentation uses live polling to engage with the audience. It is guaranteed to build sponsorship savvy for individuals and organisations, and results in many ‘aha moments’. Each individual leaves, knowing how to implement their new knowledge in both receiving and giving sponsorship.
Sponsorship: The missing ingredient for women?
This presentation draws on the soon to be launched (Nov 2018) Universities Australia Executive Women (UAEW) publication Sponsorship: Creating Career Opportunities for Women in Higher Education. The presentation is tailored towards leaders; those who have the capacity to sponsor. It examines ways in which improved sponsorship practices can play a part in improving the retention and progression of women, and in creating more enabling and productive cultures. This will be particularly pertinent to Universities and Research Institutes engaged in Athena SWAN.
Services
Contact Jen
jen.devries@me.com
+61 (0) 412 806 377
Related Blog
Key Speaking Engagements
A full list of Dr Jen de Vries's speaking engagements can be found here.
Keynote addresses
Melbourne, Australia - 2018
From ‘missing ingredient’ to career accelerator: Everything you should know about sponsorship but never thought to ask Biosciences Early Career Researchers (BECR) Summit, University of Melbourne,
Melbourne, Australia - 2016
Looking back, looking forward: Reflections on two decades of mentoring research and practice in higher education.
Keynote address Old time accomplices: Mentors and mentees conference, University of Melbourne.
Vienna, Austria - 2015
Advances in Mentoring: Strategic approaches to mentoring and sponsorship for diverse target groups
Mentoring – An Instrument to Promote Equality at Universities: Status Quo, New Developments, and Challenges, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna
Speaking invitations
Örebro, Sweden 2018
Sponsorship as a problematic practice: Possibilities for gender change interventions Gender Studies Departmental Seminar, Örebro University
Lund, Sweden - 2018
The bifocal approach: Mentoring for development and change Mentoring Program Launch, Lund University
Auckland, NZ - 2018 (with Tim Muirhead)
Leadership Conversations: Partners in Change Professional Staff Leaders, Auckland University
Melbourne, Australia - 2018
Navigating Gender Equality Medical Research Institutes HR Managers Conference
Perth, Australia - 2017
Sponsorship practices in higher education Universities Australia Executive Women (UAEW) Forum, Murdoch University.
Conference presentations
Dublin, Ireland - 2018
Engaging men in the work of gender equity. No ‘male champions’ please. Examining partnership as a model for transformative change 10th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education
Sponsorship: Duty or discretion? Developing leaders’ sponsorship practices beyond advantaging the favoured few. 10th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education
Sydney, Australia - 2018
Champions or Partners? Engaging men in the work of gender equity, Gender, Work and Organization Conference
Brisbane, Australia - 2015
Sponsorship exposed: Everyday gendered practices in building careers. So, what does gender and diversity at work look like? A one day symposium.
Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Griffith University.