I have nominated for the Board and I would like to generate some discussion around what members would expect from the Board and what they would like to see happen at the club in the next few years free from the saga of the past. I am a community pharmacist with a great deal of business and board experience but I am also a great listener and networker. 40% of our members are female and that is not represented in our board structure. I am NOT a feminist but I do believe I would bring a new perspective to the board and I am certainly passionate about the club.
welcome Gai!
an easy question to start with - how did you become an Essendon supporter? 
I am NOT a feminist.
Hi Gai,
I am not trying to be a smart ar%se, but I think you will find that you are a feminist, as indeed are 95% of the Essendon membership and indeed the wider Australian community (including 95% of males):
Feminism is a range of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.Feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women’s rights, including the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to earn fair wages or equal pay, to own property, to education, to enter contracts, to have equal rights within marriage, and to have maternity leave. Feminists have also worked to promote bodily autonomy and integrity, and to protect women and girls from rape, sexual harassment, and domestic violence.
A pharmacist?
Oh no…
Welcome Gai. I’m all for another female board member to represent our club and I’m interested in finding out more about you.
Two questions to start with.
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What compelled you to nominate for the EFC board (aside from representing female members).
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How often do you get to games?
Hi Gai,
What are your thoughts on the club’s scattergun media strategy, especially in regards to the direct responses to some slanderous articles while others are totally ignored?
Do you feel that the club’s media strategy has done more harm or good overall?
Given that you are president of the Women's Network, which prices it's functions and activities beyond the reach of most women, and is definitely not inclusive of all EFC female supporters, but is in fact a haven for wealthy, elderly white women, I would like to know if this is the same attitude you would bring to the board?
Hopefully you wil ask a similar question of the wealthy elderly white male candidates.
Will you mandate the tvsc Cafe selling hot chips?
Well Gai, I hate the closed nature of the EFC Board. I accept that decisions are made that not everyone likes, but I would like to see open-ness and Members given explanations on the decisions.
I also understand that Boards work on majority decisions, and that you may have a platform that you cannot get majority support to implement, so please don’t make promises that may be impossible to keep. Last years new Board Members were strong and passionate in their views, and I supported them, but I do feel let down that they did not live up to the hype and that our Coach was not supported more robustly; or so it seems, because no-one tells us what actually happens !!
So good luck
HI Gai,
At the risk of repeating others, I’d like to know the reason(s) you’re running for the board.
Also, I’d be interested to know one area where you believe the EFC could have performed better over the last few years.
And what you personally stand for, in relation to the club.
Also, also, TIPPA!?!
Leading Australian pharmacist Gai Williams is a woman of many firsts.Since qualifying as a B. Pharm in 1973 from Victorian Pharmacy College in Parkville, Gai, international author of the book “No More Tears Colic Relief”, has pioneered many new endeavors and achieved top flight positions and awards in recognition of her accomplishments.
Gai bought her first pharmacy in 1992 in partnership with a friend’s husband whom she credits with teaching her how to be a boss. She went on to complete Peter Spann’s Pharmacy Power! Course, an experience which she says changed the way she thought about the pharmacy business and opened her eyes to her true potential. Gai also completed two years of business coaching with Action Business Coaching.
One of Gai’s pioneering achievements was starting Pharm-A-Temp, Victoria’s first independent fee for service pharmacy locum business. She also twice refitted her pharmacy so that it became the flagship concept store for Guardian Pharmacies Australia, one of the country’s most trusted brands with over 200 stores nationally.
Another ground-breaking strategy was to convince the premier international coffee brand Gloria Jean’s Coffees to locate one of its franchises in her pharmacy. This was the first time that the company had done so in Australia. Gai graduated from Gloria Jean’s Coffee University and became a franchise partner.
Her success in the pharmacy world has been recognized in many ways: first female chairperson of the Board of Guardian Pharmacies Australia; finalist in the Telstra Business Woman of the Year (2000), nominated by the Pharmacy Guild of Victoria; finalist in the Pharmacy of the Year contest and inducted into the Guardian Hall of Fame. She was also made an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management.
Gai’s community work is reflected in a lifetime of service on committees. In earlier years when her children were young she served on committees from kindergarten to school parents clubs. Later she was for many years president of the Boronia Chamber of Commerce and oversaw a special rates scheme to invest in promoting the suburb. She was a member of many Knox Council committees representing the businesses of Boronia and was elected to the Board of Management of the Mt. Evelyn and Montrose Community Banks. She was also elected to the committee of the Essendon Women’s Network, a coterie group of the Essendon Football Club.
During her long successful career she has worked and consulted with such companies, organisations and people as Sigma, Guardia Pharmacies, Bendigo Bank, Peter Spann, Priceline, Action Business Coaching, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Designer Brands, Natio, Maybelline, Blackmore’s, Ego and, of course, thousands of customers of all ages.
On the personal front Gai is an inveterate traveller and has broadened her world view by visiting more than 20 countries on five continents. She has logged tens of thousands of miles by planes, boats, trains, cars, and on foot.
She is a member of many associations including the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. Gai has three sons and lives in Melbourne Australia with her husband.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfeudENJdcg
just a bit of background on Gai
It would be good to have someone with Gai’s background on the board.
It would be good to have someone with Gai's background on the board.
Vote for alex.f.94 then
Well done, good luck.
Kat year the Raptor nominated and then didn’t return to the thread. Whilst it was probably a highlight of this forum at the time, it probably impacted his chances of getting votes.
Stick around, answer some questions.
If she was on the Board a few years ago - she may have prevented Saga(?)
Her expertise could be very helpful…
If she was on the Board a few years ago - she may have prevented Saga(?)Her expertise could be very helpful…
No-one could have prevented the SAGA; it was the SAGA that we had to have.
You’re truly deluded.
Hi Gai
Welcome to Blitz
I am interested in
where in non-football terms you think the club should be heading in the next few years?
what do you think the club needs to do to improve its operations not just football in the future?
your thoughts on communication strategies that have been employed in the past three years and if and how they could have been improved and improved into the future?
What are your thoughts on making the board more accountable to the members in terms of reasons for decision making, and how can this be achieved?
What are your thoughts on having a comprehensive review of the actions of the board in relation to the SAGA over the past three-four years?
BTW I intend asking any of the candidates who come on here the same questions. How they answer will determine my vote.
Hi Gai,
Blitz also doubles as an asylum, be careful ;p
Welcome to Blitz Gai,
What are your thoughts on the clubs handling of the “saga”?
Would you have been for another massive payout after Knights and sacked Hird?