Women on Boards - Leaders and Directors in Conversation

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 you get the chance to stick with it," Gaye tells...

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 Inspirational Women in Mining. Bobbie now leads a team of ove...

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 and men are equally represented, valued and rewarde...

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 serving her apprenticeship on the State Chapter.  Sh...

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 on Board's inaugural WOBSX Syndicate. Claudia is...

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 regularly checking in on old mates - as well as a touc...

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 with her values and purpose is very important to Mic...

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 up on the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia...

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 translated into a meaningful career on rugby boards. Lib...

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 graduate role with Bain & Co when she didn't really kno...

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 to joining the Australian Paralympic Committee,...

This week Claire talks with Jon Brett, highly esteemed NED and Chair to WOBSX's Rosalind Dubbs and Helen Lynch Syndicates. Born in Johannesburg, Jon grew up in apartheid South Africa. His career began when he became a partner of Grant Thornton, and then the Deputy CEO of a large industrial conglomerate called Unidev Limited. Jon discusses managing more than 1,000 employees, nine hospitals, 32 supe...

Mary Sue Rogers graduated from university in the US in the 1970s at a time of the women's rights movement. She landed her first job as a foreman solely because she was female where she was responsible for managing 30 men, all of which were strong union members. This wasn't the only "first" for Mary Sue. She was the first female partner in IBM's consulting business, the most senior consulting partn...

This week, Claire talks to the ever-talented Ian Pollard, Director, well-known Chair, Executive Coach, actuary, statistician and author of six publications. With multiple degrees ranging from corporate finance to French and philosophy, Ian also played professional tennis, which took him to the USA at 18 in the Davis Cup squad. Injuries to both legs halted his tennis career and saw him return to hi...

Carmel Macmillan has more than 40 years' experience in the marketing sector and more than 15 years as a Non-Executive Director (NED), but it is her transparency about her personal life and lived experience that has contributed to her successful career. She was one of the first women in Brisbane to be appointed manager of a large company. Unbeknownst to many of her colleagues, while juggling her co...

This week, Claire talks to Robert Pradolin, founder of Housing for All Australians. Robert has lived and breathed property development for the past 30 years. An engineer by trade, Robert is a loud and independent influencer on housing affordability and accessibility. His earliest memories take him back to being three or four and constructing cubby houses under his parents' home. Throughout his car...

In this episode, Claire speaks with Arabella Douglas, a Yugambeh/Bundjalung woman with traditional ties to far North NSW and South East QLD. Aboriginality wasn't something Arabella found within her growing up — it was a process of relating and reflecting to the world around her. At school, she always excelled, but it wasn't until she moved to Sydney in year eight that teachers took the time to enc...

We hope you enjoy this WOBChat with retired Brigadier Alison Creagh AM. Command Senior Chief. Fittingly released on Anzac Day, this podcast is from a fascinating WOBChat we held on 11 November 2020 (WOBChats are our fortnightly online member learning and networking events). Alison Creagh is a retired brigadier in the Australian Defence Force and was recently made a Member of the Order of Australia...

"Don't take every knock back as a personal failure," shares Leanne Heywood, accomplished full time NED for multiple ASX listed boards in this episode of In Conversation with Claire Braund. From her 1600-acre farm in Peak Hill in Western NSW, Leanne's career wasn't always home grown. When she was the General Manager for Rio Tinto's Global Copper Concentrate, Leanne would travel to Mongolia one week...

Hacia Atherton has defeated all odds. In this episode of In Conversation with Claire Braund, Hacia tells how she was crushed by her 600kg horse in 2017 when training to qualify for the World Equestrian Games. Doctors said she'd never walk, let alone ride again, but four years and 14 operations on, Hacia is more than walking — she's inspiring others with her story of turning trauma into triumph as...

In this episode, Claire has the great privilege of speaking with former MP and OAM, Ros Kelly. She shares her personal and professional life story that was fuelled by a desire to escape a cycle of poverty and disempowerment by throwing herself into her education. With the support of her mother, she received a scholarship at St. Ursula's College, Ashbury, and later obtained a BA DipEd from the Univ...

In this episode, Claire speaks with Maryanne Puli Vogels, the Chair of Timboon and District Healthcare Services about Australia's leading online solution for building governance performance. The service is known as the Governance Evaluator and organisations across sectors and disciplines are innovating the way that they function, predict risks, identify gaps, create reports and generate insights t...

Julie Green has been a member of WOB for more than 11 years, and during this time, has served on a range of significant boards. She grew up in the UK, went to The Frances Bardsley Academy for Girls in Romford in Essex, and continued her education right through to A level, which opened the doors to chartered accounting. Her years in London exposed her to audit, small and large companies, estates an...

Our workplaces are constantly changing, but there hasn't been quite a year like 2020. We have seen the integration of technological tools across all sectors, employees working from home or at least more flexibly, increased demographic of up to five generations in a workplace, and very new and different expectations of digital competency. In this episode, Claire Braund speaks with Fiona McLean abou...

Former Danish investment banker, Charlotte Valeur, is an internationally renowned and highly experienced Non-Executive Director and Chair who is committed to increasing levels of good governance globally through value-based leadership. Always destined to live and work abroad she admits, at the age of 22, Charlotte transferred from Denmark, her home, to London with the bank she was employed with at...