Dr Jan Tennent: Making the leap from the lab bench to the boardroom In this Women of Honour podcast Claire Braund talks to Dr Jan Tennent OAM - an internationally recognised researcher with specialist knowledge of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and the discovery and commercialisation of vaccines. Jan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Austr…

‘If the door is closed, climb through the window’. That’s the message from board recruitment specialist and director, Bernadette Uzelac, who has been made a member of the Order of Australia (AM), for significant service to the community of the Barwon Southwest region in Victoria. Growing up in Geelong, Bernadette was married with a baby and selling…

Warning: This podcast discusses suicide A curious child who grew up with an older brother, Julie Adams OAM started challenging gender stereotypes at an early age. “I felt empowered to speak up if I thought I was being treated differently because I was a girl,” said Julie. It was this curiosity, she says, that led to her success as an entrepreneur a…

Avril Henry in her own words, is a perfect example of what you can do when you’re willing to work hard and have someone who believes in you. Growing up in social housing in a low income family in a mining town in South Africa, at the height of apartheid, Avril was an “English speaking girl who was not expected to amount to anything”. In 2024 Avril …

Make every day count. That’s the advice from architect and urbanist Professor Helen Lochhead, who was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for distinguished service to architecture and urban design, to building regulation reform, to tertiary education, and to professional organisations. A graduate of…

In this Women on Boards Honours series, WOB Executive Director Claire Braund talks to the 12 WOB members who were recognised in the 2024 Australia Day Honours. In this episode Claire speaks to Warrnambool cattle and sheep producer and founding member and chair of Food and Fibre Great South Coast, Georgina Gubbins, who was awarded an OAM for service…

Associate Professor Ngaire Elwood AM is driven by a strong sense of purpose that grew out of a life-changing experience that inspired her, as an inquisitive science-loving teenager, to dedicate her life to improving therapies for kids with cancer. As a teenager, she was treated for osteosarcoma, a common form of bone cancer that had a survival rate…

In this first episode of the new Women on Boards Honours Podcast Series - featuring the 12 WOB members recognised in the 2024 Australia Day Honours - WOB co-founder and Executive Director, Claire Braund, chats with Emerita Professor Lesley Hitchens. Lesley was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to tertiary educatio…

Growing up in South Africa Lisa Carlin experienced apartheid in its truest form. “I just felt this complete sense of unfairness of it all, and that's really carried with me today” she says. Through this she has become extremely passionate about transformation to give a voice to those who don’t have one. Lisa is the cofounder and CEO of global advis…

Claire Braund spoke to 3AW Drive Host, Tom Elliot on 23 Sept 2023 about a decision by HESTA that they will vote against select director re-elections of ASX300 companies where the board has less than 30 per cent of female representation. Claire says HESTA and other investment firms are taking a stance on “merit”, “We like to think of merit as someth…

You may well think Dr Amber Tan has the world at her feet and job offers flowing in. A former Malaysian national who was born and raised in Ipoh (the gateway to the Cameron Highlands hill station), Amber migrated to Melbourne in 2011 with her partner and received an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship in 2013 to complete her PhD at Monash Uni…

Dr Monique Beedles was not your average teenager. At 15, as well as having posters of Murph Hughes and the Adelaide Oval on her bedroom wall, it was her dream to be CEO of Swiss multinational healthcare company Roche. To this end, she went on to study German and chemistry at school. “I was always interested in medical research from a very young age…

When it comes to getting the most out of your LinkedIn page, content is great but it’s no match for connection. That’s the message from LinkedIn expert Karen Tisdell, who talks to Claire Braund about how LinkedIn has changed over the years and the importance of content AND connection when it comes to directors putting themselves out there”. As she …

Bosnian-born Gorana Saula speaks three languages, has three passports, four drivers’ licenses and loves to travel. And with her passion for gadgets and all things tech it’s no wonder friends of the former CEO and electronics engineer call her James Bond. The Non Executive Director has had a wide range of executive leadership roles in defense, telec…

Dr Catherine Ordway is an academic in sports management, and a sports lawyer, who specialises in anti corruption and integrity.She's a sought after tribunal member, media commentator and consultant who's assisted sports including AFL, archery athletics, basketball, combat sports cricket, cycling, football, golf, handball, rowing, rugby, softball, s…

Karen Loon is a Non-Executive Director, and a former senior Big 4 partner. She has worked with the world’s leading banks and is a recognised thought leader and speaker on workplace diversity and inclusion - inspired partly by her own experiences in Australia. “What really struck me was that I was sitting in boardrooms or sitting in meetings, where …

Wendy Teasdale Smith is a woman full of surprises. As well as being the owner of possibly one of the largest collections of hairclips for anyone over 40, WOB’s quirky and energetic South Australian representative also recently won a Toastmasters humorous speaking award with her speech on having an RBF (resting bitch face), which she presented over …

In the wake of the Optus cyber-attack, in this special update we talk to Matt Fehon AM, partner at McGrathNicol. Matt has led some of the largest and highest profile fraud, corruption, and regulatory investigations in Australia. He is one of the key presenters in our new 5-part program Security Risks and Risk Management for boards. The program star…

Helen Conway has, by her own admission, always been an agitator. As the experienced lawyer, senior executive, NED and workplace gender equality expert tells Claire Braund in this podcast, it was her “contrary nature” which compelled her to get involved when she saw something that was not right. “I may have made a few enemies along the way, but you …

To be good at cyber security you need to be able to think like a threat actor. That’s according to state-based cyber warfare expert Dr Sarah Morrison, who has herself embedded herself for the last 20 years in the technology and cybersecurity industry. No surprise then that Sarah is always the one at dinner parties reminding people to use secure pas…

Miriam Silva is an experienced board member and senior corporate roles across multiple industries including pharmaceuticals, banking and agriculture. Her influence extends across business, Government, media, Muslim and broader Australian communities. Educated at The Wilderness School, a non-denominational school for girls in Adelaide, Miriam went o…

From avoiding fisticuffs on the trading floor to conquering Wall Street and running her own financial market regulation consultancy, Sydneysider Amanda Mark is known for her fearless determination and big picture thinking. It was always Amanda’s dream to work in financial services overseas, so after landing a job in Sydney for a money market broker…

Dr Kath Hall is an internationally recognised expert on transnational corporate corruption and foreign bribery regulation. Her career as a legal academic and writer has led to her advising a number of leading international organisations including the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit and Safra Centre for Ethics at Harvard University. Dr Hall has…

As Australia celebrates NAIDOC week - an historically important celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and connection to Country - WOB Cultural Diversity Member and proud Yorta Yorta woman Claire Beattie discusses what steps First Nations allies can take towards reconciliation - from helping more Indigenous women into leadersh…

Women on Boards marks UN World Day for Cultural Diversity with a panel discussion about cultural diversity and inclusion in board and leadership roles, with guests Shirley Chowdhary, AAP Board Member; and Women on Boards' Cultural Diversity Committee member and proud Yorta Yorta woman, Claire Beattie. Tune in to listen to this insightful and real c…

Turning diversity into a superpower Born in Tamil-speaking southern India, Anita Kumar was the first girl in her family to leave home at 17 to go to university. Today Anita lives in Sydney and is an experienced CEO, social entrepreneur and passionate advocate for the rights of children and families, especially those dealing with complex life issues…

Growing up in Tropical North Queensland, clarinet-playing, science-loving Marguerite Evans-Galea felt like a “square peg in a round hole”. But thanks to her supportive family and a lifelong mentor - who also happened to be a university professor - Marguerite was inspired to pursue a career in STEM. As she tells Claire in this podcast: “He really di…

Building a franchising empire, family business and cultural diversity Sara Pantaleo is a businesswoman who has always loved working and mentoring people. Migrating to Melbourne from Italy with her family as a teenager, Sara went on to work with mainframe systems in IT operations at NAB. In 1996 she joined La Porchetta as Distribution and Administra…

Growing up in 1980s Britain, it's no surprise Sarah Fairhurst’s biggest role model was Margaret Thatcher. “I was at school when she was in power and she made me realise women could do anything,” says Sarah, a WOB member with significant expertise in the energy sector, including advising governments and industry on commercialization and issues relat…

As a special episode we have reproduced a webinar that Women on Boards co-hosted with the Governance Institute of Australia titled Diversity is half the circle. Culture, equity and inclusion are the other half. Moderated by Catherine Fox, Journalist and Author Panel Members: Megan Motto FGIA, Chief Executive, Governance Institute of Australia Dr Ma…

When independent Non-Executive Director Cheryl Dixon is asked what Board she is on, her answer is often met with raised eyebrows. With just under three decades of sales leadership and operational experience with NAB, and now a senior executive heading up PEXA - an Australian online property exchange network which supports the property industry as i…

As a law student at ANU, Women on Boards member Fiona David was already tipped as “destined to work on social justice issues.” This was later confirmed when Perth-born Fiona spent a short stint in corporate law which set her instead on an international path to social justice issues. As she tells Claire in this podcast, it was then she realised she …

Victoria Weekes has had a long, impressive, and principled board career. She is an accomplished non-executive director with experience across a diverse range of business sectors in listed and major private and public sector organizations. Migrating to Australia at the age of two, she spent much of her teenage years on the family’s rural property wh…

Trish Egan is a born and bred Sydney girl, but she has had a lifelong love of horses from a young age, further fuelled when Dad would take her to the races as a child. Looking back, 12-year-old Trish - who secretly penned a letter to the Chairman of the Australian Jockey Club asking how she could secure her “dream job” of being a strapper - would n…

It’s no surprise Dr Bronwyn Evans AM sticks by the mantra ‘everyone’s an engineer’. As CEO of Australia’s peak engineering body Engineers Australia and recognised as one of the country’s 100 most influential engineers, she can’t understand why everyone doesn’t want to work in her chosen field. A passionate advocate for getting more women into STEM,…

Lil Bianchi is not your box-ticking director. As a highly-experienced Non-Executive Director, Chair Audit & Risk Committee, former CEO and tech entrepreneur working across data analytics, fintech, risk and customer value Lil thrives on innovation and change and loves being around curious people. As she tells Claire in this podcast, she believes the…

Fashion designer, newsreader, banker, lecturer: Mahjabeen Zaman has had all these careers in her sights since growing up in Singapore in the 80s with her parents who moved there from Pakistan. Now Mahjabeen, who has called Australia home since 2017, can add three of those four jobs to her resume. Currently working as a senior investments specialist…

If anything can prepare you for battle in the boardroom, it’s being a politician in the middle of a crisis. Former-South Australian Mental Health Minister and Women on Boards member, Leesa Chesser (nee Leesa Vlahos) was thrust into the spotlight when allegations of elder abuse of dementia patients at the state-run Oakden nursing home were exposed l…

Resilient and tenacious - no two words could better describe long-term Women on Boards member Roberta Wright. Despite being left totally blind after an operation to remove a brain tumour then having to fight for the right to keep her adopted baby - on the back of losing her brother to a drug overdose and father to cancer - Roberta is always looking…

She’s spent years working with children and animals (a combination many of us would steer clear of) and yet Gaye Hamilton says the transferable skills gained in secondary science education and zoo management paved the way for her varied and fascinating career and board journey. “Children and animals are equally unpredictable but also rewarding when…

What impact can I have, and how can I make the world a better place? It’s these questions which have driven Bobbie Foot; from growing up in a large rural Queensland farming family and qualifying as an occupational therapist to becoming head of Health, Safety and Environment at BMA Coal and being named one of the 2020 Global Top 100 Most Inspiration…

Mary Wooldridge is a woman who believes that if you want change on the big social issues then you get engaged in purposeful action to get policy change and action taken. As Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, the issues currently in her sights are gender inequality, including closing the 14.2% gender pay gap, and ensuring that women a…

With a career spanning 25 years in local government where she rose from a Coordinator through to a Director, Helen Croxford emerges from a very solid background to now reside over Sport Inclusion Australia as its President and Chair of the board. In this podcast Helen talks to Claire about how she rose through the ranks to become President after se…

With a background in law, finance, risk management Claudia Bels doesn’t seem like your typical risk-taking rev head. But this rally car fan admits she loves racing around in her sports coupe as much as scrutinizing spreadsheets for her various audit committees. The daughter of German migrants Claudia Bels was one of 12 women who took part in Women …

It is testament to experienced company director Gina Anderson’s adaptability and genial nature that she has been able to turn her hand to every opportunity afforded to her. Born in country NSW and sent off to boarding school at 12, Gina Anderson attributes her boardroom success to maintaining those strong friendships forged at an early age and regu…

Michele Adair is a long-time WOB member with great passion for housing all Australians. As Chair of Community Housing Industry Association NSW and CEO of affordable housing provide Housing Trust on the NSW South Coast, Michelle’s goal is to ensure all Australians have access to the basic human right to somewhere to live. Aligning her board roles wi…

Dr Wendy Craik AM is often described as a woman of many firsts - the first female head of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the first woman to lead the National Farmers' Federation and the first woman Chief Executive of the Murray Darling Basin Commission. So how does someone who started out with a science degree and PhD in zoology wind…

Elizabeth ‘Libby’’ Nankivell made history earlier this year when she was appointed Vice President of Queensland Rugby Union, becoming the first woman to hold the position in 139 years of the state’s governing rugby body. In this podcast, the ‘self-confessed rugby tragic’ talks to Claire Braund about her passion for the game, and how that has transl…

This week Claire talks to Suzie Riddell, the CEO of Social Ventures Australia (SVA). Leading from the heart, Suzie Riddell is a unique combination of social and self-awareness and intelligence. Graduating from accounting with the University Medal, Suzie talks to Claire about why she decided not to pursue a career in accounting, how she took a gradu…

Tanya Cox has built an impressive board portfolio, which started through Women on Boards in 2001, where she says she did all of the obvious things, like looking on the Vacancy board. The trend of one board leading to another started with her inaugural board appointment to Disability Sport Australia, which led to Wheelchair Sports Australia and then…