From Italy to South Africa and the Yugambeh region of South-East Queensland, we have women with a mix of cultural backgrounds and experiences who will be sharing their stories of being on boards, including their experiences of cultural diversity at board level.
Starting off in Canberra on November 16 Carina Zeccola, who comes from an extended Italian migrant family, will be talking to WOB Executive Director Claire Braund about her role as President of YWCA Canberra and what is was like being named a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 National Awards and being made a partner before the age of 30.
In Melbourne on 23 November, South African-born Div Pillay will talk about how she is driving the inclusion agenda in Australia. In her own words Div has been, and is, an ‘inclusionist’ before it became a buzzword. She says as a South African Indian, now Australian, she thrived despite and because of the segregation based on race during apartheid. This led her to become active and entrepreneurial in the community while working in corporate HR driving affirmative action.
While Div’s speciality is in cultural inclusion, she says her behavioural sciences and economics background allows her to drive for change for all diversities in an intersectional way, and she has lived it – experiencing micro biases daily for being a women of colour, and often perceived as ‘too young’, despite being 40+!
In Adelaide on 23 November WOB’s SA rep Wendy Teasdale Smith will be hosting WOBMeet with guest speaker Fiona Dorman, a member of the Asian Women’s Consultative Council SA, National Vice President of the National Council of Women Australia and Chair of the Premier’s Council for Women. Fiona was also recently appointed Governor of St Peter’s College - an Anglican boys school in Adelaide.
In Sydney on 23 November we welcome internationally experienced board and executive contributor Shirley Chowdhary, a passionate advocate for Indigenous empowerment who has built a diverse set of credentials and expertise across the legal sector, financial services, funds management, Indigenous education and the NFP sector.
Selected as a 2019 AFR 100 Women of Influence, Shirley's portfolio now includes board and advisory work, consulting and speaking. Recently appointed to the Advisory Board of Mentor Walks, connecting female mentees with inspiring female CEOs, directors, executive and founders, Shirley is also a NED with the Australian Institute of Architects, Australian Associated Press and is on the Advisory Board of medical start-up Octadoc.
On 24 November, WOB members in Brisbane will be joined by Yugambeh woman Jody Currie.
With an extensive career in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and human service delivery, Jody is an advocate for improving service accessibility for First Nations communities and has worked nationally and internationally in relation to traditional birthing practices.
Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry, Jody is a Yugambeh person with traditional ties to the country between the Logan and Tweed Rivers. She is skilled in NFP organisations, strategic planning, organisational and leadership development and public speaking.
WOBMeet dates
Women on Boards WOBMeet networking events are for Full, Premium and Corporate members only.
READ MORE:
Not a bumper sticker: How to get diversity and inclusion right with Claire Beattie and Shirley Chowdhary