The breakfast will be held at the Bomaderry Bowling Club on Saturday, March 7 from 7.30am to 11am.

The focus of Zonta service is working together to advance the status of women worldwide through service and advocacy.

The annual International Women's Day Breakfast is Berry Zonta's biggest fundraising event of the year, raising funds to help women in need.

Joining Captain Phillips as a presenter will be Rita Sullivan, a passionate supporter of empowering women.

Captain Phillips joined the Royal Australian Navy as a Seaman Officer in 1990 and graduated from the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1992.

After consolidating her bridge watch-keeping certificate in the guided missile frigate HMAS Darwin, she specialised in meteorology and oceanography in 1998.

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During her career as a maritime geospatial officer, she worked as a forecaster supporting maritime and aviation operations, and has been the officer in charge of both the Naval Air Station Weather and Oceanography Centre at HMAS Albatross and the Operational Meteorology and Oceanography Centre at HMAS Kuttabul.

In 2008 Captain Phillips attended the Australian Command and Staff College and was awarded the Chief of Navy prize for the navy single service component of the course.

After working as the personal staff officer for Deputy Chief of Navy in 2009, she completed a one-year secondment to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as a defence liaison officer.

Following postings as commanding officer at HMAS Waterhen and as the Deputy Director for Sailors Career Management at the Navy People Career Management Agency in Canberra, Captain Phillips is now CO at Albatross.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree with first class honours (computer science) from the University of NSW (ADFA) and a Master of Science with distinction (physical oceanography) from the United States Navy's Naval Postgraduate School.

Capt Phillips is a keen musician and "a gadget geek", and is married to Al, a recently retired navy aviation warfare officer.

Zonta International was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1919. Its early members among the first generation of college-educated women, the first generation of North American women to vote, and a part of the growing, though still comparatively small, legion of women entering the workforce.

Today, Zonta International has some 30,000 members in more than 1200 clubs in 67 countries, and has general consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and consultative status with UNESCO, UNICEF, UN Women, ILO, Council of Europe and the International Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs.

The Zonta Club of Berry was chartered in 2001 and has been a flourishing and active club since. Members meet monthly for a dinner meeting on the fourth Tuesday of each month (except December) in various restaurants in Berry. 6.30pm for 7pm.

Guests are welcome especially on the nights with a guest speaker.

Along with the guest speakers the International Women's Day Breakfast event includes a delicious breakfast and raffle prizes. Tickets are $45 and are available through www.trybooking.com/BIGBZ.

For further information contact Barbara Davis on 0402 394211.