With International Women’s Day this week, a campaign to promote gender equality on Teesside is launched.

A major new campaign highlighting successful women has been unveiled.

The achievements of women across Teesside are being celebrated in a major new campaign.

This Northern Girl Can is being launched on Teesside to promote gender equality by raising the profiles of the women role models.

It is aiming to raise the aspiration, ambition and influence of women on Teesside by highlighting local talent.

The campaign is inspired by the Northern Power Women strategy founded by Simone Roche in 2015.

It comes 100 years since the Representation of the People Act 1918 – the act which allowed some women in the UK the right to vote.

Nine Tees Valley ambassadors have been appointed to support the campaign and promote gender equality in their own organisations, and we’re very proud that our Chief Executive Angela Lockwood is one of the nine inspirational women heading up the campaign.

Angela Lockwood has been group chief executive of North Star since 2009. North Star is a group of Housing Associations that operate across Teesvalley, South West Durham and North Yorkshire. A not for profit organisation, North Star sees itself as more than a landlord and as well as providing high quality homes for more than 8,000 people, it also provides 600 units of supported housing, including five women’s refuges, schemes for people with learning difficulties, mental health issues etc. North Star also delivers extensive community investment including employment and training initiatives for their tenants. North Star is a three times Sunday Times Best Company with a three star rating that describes the company as extraordinary. They also hold IiP Platinum, a sector first and one of only a small number in the North East to have achieved this.

Read more on the Gazette website here.