Women on Boards - Leaders and Directors in Conversation

Rebecca Frizelle is known widely for her strong advocacy for the city of Gold Coast. She is one of the largest employers in the area with more than 900 employees under the Frizelle Sunshine Group, her automotive business, presenting 24 global franchises. Her love of cars was ignited when she took up a part-time job in the motor business to help fund her law degree. While her law degree remains unf...

Zita's story begins in Eastern Europe where she was born to parents of Hungarian heritage who found themselves living in the Serbian part of Yugoslavia. Based on a tip from a colleague that authorities were planning to confiscate the family's passports, they fled to Austria in search of asylum. Following detainment and processing to confirm their refugee status, Zita and her family migrated to nor...

Kerry Gleeson grew up playing cricket on the green with the boys in the northern part of Cotswolds in the UK. Her mantra was and remains: "Shoulders back, remember who you are and go get it." For the past two decades, Kerry has sat on ASX Boards as Director, Senior Executive and Board Advisor, working nationally and internationally across broad and complex industry sectors including mining and res...

It's not often you get the chance to hear directly from Australia's first female airline CEO, OAM and full-time Non-Executive Director, the admirable Andrea Staines . This week Claire Braund digs deep with Andrea on matters of living abroad, solo parenting, becoming NED at age 41 and why it's crucial to understand your transferable skills. Unlike many of her peers from country Queensland, Andrea,...

Kerry Ryan's board career may have been unplanned, but her unorthodox legal career and the time she spent working offshore groomed her for the gig. Today she is an experienced Non-Executive Director for Richmond Football Club, Aligned Leisure, Retail Food Group (ASX listed), Mental Health First Aid International and Kids First Australia. Her comprehensive legal career has seen her as commercial pa...

In this podcast, Margot Foster AM OLY talks to Claire Braund about the very real challenges that face sports boards today from corporate governance, to best practice, to competing state and national interests, to the evolving responsibilities of directors. Margot is the Director of The Lyceum Club, NST Member Selection Advisory Committee member of National Sports Tribunal Australia, Governance and...

If you are on a board or aspiring to serve on one, you would know the name Susan Oliver. As a child, Susan was fascinated with construction sites and loved the smell of raw concrete. Her passion for the traditionally male-centric industry led her to be the first woman to graduate with a Bachelor in Building at the University of Melbourne. Her life has remained an exploration of risk-taking because...

A straight up-and-down journalist is how Marina Go describes herself prior to her foray into the boardroom. From her days as Editor for Dolly, Elle, Australian Good Taste, and Sunday Life, and then General Manager of Bauer/Hearst brand's: Harper's Bazaar, Elle, and Cosmopolitan, her path to the boardroom hasn't been as bizarre as you may think. Journalists ask questions, but what they're particula...

Having worked in the media for 30 years, on boards and with corporates, Tracey Spicer knows a thing or two about boards, culture and standing up for herself. In this podcast, from one journalist to another, Tracey talks to Claire Braund about her journey, including the day she decided it was time to stand up for herself and told the network she was taking them to court.  And how after being sacked...

Sally Macindoe is Executive Counsel and Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Norton Rose Fullbright and Vice President at the MCC. But that's not how she started out. In this podcast Sally talks to Claire Braund about her journey, from how she was appointed partner at Deacons (now Norton Rose Fullbright) while she was pregnant with her second child, to becoming an equity partner; being the fi...

Brynnie Goodwill is an international law graduate from Columbia University who today finds herself growing organic produce in the lower Hunter of NSW and serving on multiple boards. She is deeply passionate about international politics and relations, and has always applauded the good dividends that diversity brings to the culture and dynamics of organisations and government. The game-changer for B...

No stranger to working in disaster zones and supporting health services for areas in crisis, Dr Liz Paslawsky shares the most common problems she's witnessed within governance and business following COVID-19 and the greatest risks that are affecting boards, management and staff worldwide. She makes intriguing observations about board culture, dynamics and how we all need to think more strategicall...

A fourth generation Tasmanian to Chinese parents, in this podcast Lisa Chung AM shares how she has embraced cultural and gender challenges throughout her successful career as a lawyer, Non Executive Director, Managing Partner and Chair.  Moving from Tasmania to Sydney in her early 20s in a bid to leave the law, Lisa ended up taking a job at Blakes (now Ashurst) where she stayed for 20 years, risin...

Growing up to Mediterranean parents, Jennifer Grech had to fight to finish high school and go to university.  Breaking family tradition, she graduated as a school teacher.  From there, Jennifer says she accidentally fell into a learning and development role in the pharmaceutical industry, where she worked internationally, ascending to director level at major pharmaceutical AstraZeneca. After many...

Growing up in far north Queensland, Anne Pleash was a water baby from a young age, forming a love of swimming that would lead her to be just the 207th Australian to swim the English Channel (more Australians have climbed Everest).  In this podcast Anne talks to Claire about public life, working with Bob Katter, her long built understanding of remote indigenous communities and how she was instrumen...

Kerryn is the Managing Director of Directors Australia, a national board consulting and non-executive director recruitment firm. In this podcast Kerryn shares her diverse background, what she's seeing in the recruitment space and offers advice for candidates. With her early career aspirations to fly jets not possible, Kerryn wanted to work in the control tower, but on the guidance of her father en...

In this podcast Megan Motto, CEO of the Governance Institute of Australia, gives us a glimpse into her background, which had an unconventional start as a teacher in film and television and a professional dancer. Megan gives us her (easy to understand) interpretation of what governance really is – with a few comparisons to scaffolding! She also talks about how she came to lead the Governance Instit...

Christine Hawkins AM FAICD has had an illustrious executive and board career. In 2019 she was awarded  Member of the Order of Australia (AM)  in recognition of her long-standing service to business, commerce and primary industry. Among her many roles, Christine was the co-founder of the Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council, serving as the inaugural chair 2005-2009, and is currently the Managing Di...

A portfolio director currently sitting on six boards (see notes), Cheryl Hayman mentored Gina McClement in 2018-19 as part of Gina's three step plan to gain a board role.  While not the usual path, they met at a WOB event, and the rest they say, is history.  In this podcast Claire Braund explores the history of mentoring and talks to Gina and Cheryl to uncover why Gina wanted a mentor, how the jou...

Georgie Somerset has built an impressive board portfolio, currently sitting on the board of the ABC, AgForce Queensland, the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Red Earth Community Foundation. In this conversation, Georgie takes us back to her boarding school days, which she says laid a solid foundation of resilience and taught her how to problem solve – starting with catching a bus from Brisbane to M...

Claire Braund talks to Kerrie Akkermans about how her journey has taken her full circle, from a young Girl Guide where her mother was Girl Guide Commissioner, to CEO of Girl Guide's SA.   A Willundera girl from South Australia's wine region, Kerrie completed a BA, started a job and then returned to uni to complete a communications degree. Founding her own consulting business at just 32 after her f...

Professor Shirley Randell AO - PhD, Hon. DLitt, FACE, FIMLANZ, FAICD, FIPAA, AIE, MEd, BEd, DipDiv, DipREd A true trailblazer, inspiration and exemplar of gratitude, service and living a rich life. World renowned for her work with women in Rwanda after the genocide, Professor Shirley Randell AO has had a fascinating and eminent career as an educator, CEO  and board director across the globe. Dr Ra...

Growing up in country Victoria and shadowing her father at work as a teenager, Kelly developed an interest in business that became etched within. After leaving school she went straight to work in insurance, starting as a fresh-faced junior in a corporate organisation. A move she says, in hindsight, was fundamental to her boardroom success today. Claire talks to Kelly about how she returned to univ...

Born in France and migrating in the 1990s, Helen Moore learned English as a second language as she grew up Yeppoon in central Queensland.  By her mid-twenties she had met her husband, had two children and had enrolled to study accounting as a mature aged student -  which she blitzed with distinctions. From there Helen moved into government roles, rising to senior executive roles.  She talks about...

A highly experienced corporate finance partner with Grant Thornton, Holly made the leap to look for her first board role once her children started school and she had some more time. Claire Braund talks to Holly about the steps she undertook to achieve her first board role with Kids Giving Back (a great NFP that teaches kids about reciprocity), including how she set herself a timeframe, the courses...