WoM | WCP

Woman
of the Month

Zoe RYAN

Zoe Ryan is the Enterprise Analytics Team Manager at Bloomberg LP. Having studied law and business with a focus on Economics, Zoe is now an experienced Sales Account Manager with vast experiences in the financial services industry expanding in both London and Sydney.

She is an inspiration to women intending to leave a mark in any occupation. Today, we got the opportunity to talk to her and gain some insight on her journey.

Suvi LOKUGE

Suvi has an amazing insight in working in government and the public service. Currently a senior economist at the Department of Treasury and Finance and has been working in the Victorian department for over a year. She also has experience working in the Productivity Commission and the Essential Services Commission. Some notable projects include the National Water Reform Inquiry as well as focusing on the Schools’ Policy Group more recently.

Mandy DANTE

Mandy Dante is the Founder and CEO of Flourish Girl, Australia’s leading rites of passage programs that work with teenage girls & gender diverse students between 13-17 years old to build their self-awareness, self-confidence and social connectedness within their school community and other trusted relationships. Also an ex-speech pathologist, TEDx Speaker and an Australian Accredited Facilitator, Mandy is the first-senior female facilitator at The Rites of Passage Institute.

Kate GATFIELD-JEFFRIES

Kate Gatfield-Jeffries is an entrepreneur and diversity champion for young women. She has founded and been involved in leading several large-scale mentoring programmes to improve intersectional diversity and provide women with career opportunities in male-dominated pathways.

After finishing Law and Commerce degrees last year, Kate launched Moodi, a women-centric mental wellness brand. She is also the Director of Wave Seven, Australasia’s first TikTok-exclusive digital marketing agency. Kate won EY Global Corporate Finance Woman of the Year, was recognised as the New Zealand Young Woman of Influence Winner and listed in IFSA’s global 25 under 25.

Annika REYNOLDS

Annika Reynolds is a young leader in the Australian climate justice movement and a non-binary advocate. They are the CEO and Founder of GreenLaw, a youth-led research institute leveraging the vision of the next generation of legal researchers and lawyers to tackle the climate crisis. Annika is also an inaugural Youth Chair of Environment and Human Rights at Australian Lawyers for Human Rights. Annika is a recognised international speaker and writer with words in New Mandala, International Law Association Reporter, Women's Agenda, The Canberra Times and Pro Bono News. They are also a published academic on environmental law reform, human rights and climate change topics.

Geraldine JOHNS-PUTRA

Geraldine Johns-Putra is the Principal Lawyer at her own Law Practice, Geraldine Grace. Here, she works almost exclusively in impact investing, ESG, corporate governance and modern slavery. As a result of her work, in 2021 and 2020, she was awarded the title of Recognised Individual for Mergers and Acquisitions Law.

In her spare time, Geraldine hosts the New Earth Law podcast to inspire members of the industry to build a better world.

Stacey PETTIT

Stacey Pettit is currently a General Counsel at GeelongPort, a company on Wadawarrung country. In this role, she is primarily responsible for the legal, governance and corporate affairs of the company. Prior to taking on this role, Stacey has spent the majority of her career working in senior legal roles across government organisations, and private and publicly listed companies.

Stacey is passionate about getting involved, building relationships and supporting lawyers new to in-house practice.

Monique HURLEY

Monique Hurley is a Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre where she works in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organizations to identify opportunities to eliminate racial injustice. Prior to this, Monique studied overseas at Columbia Law School where she was a Fullbright Scholar and had the opportunity to work at the UN.

Amity MARA

Amity Mara is the Director of Campaigns and Strategy at the Foundation for Young Australians. In this role, she has had the opportunity to inspire young people and help organise their communities to campaign for a better future. Prior to this, Amity has worked extensively in advocacy with organizations like Democracy in Colour, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and Get Up.

Ashlee CHAPMAN

Ashlee Chapman comes from the world of law and management consulting, but she has recently shifted gears into the creative, innovative start-up space. These days, Ashlee is the Chief of Staff at the EdTech start-up Vygo. When she isn’t working on projects at Vygo, you can find her at Startmate where she coaches young people and helps turn their start-up dreams into a reality.

Bessie ZHANG

Bessie Zhang, currently volunteering at Moral Fairground, has dedicated herself to being a business woman with a social conscience. Having worked at multiple social business enterprises, she has had a hand in running social programs with asylum seekers, raising funds for girls’ education in Cambodia and promoting fair trade on the world stage.

Sarah MANYOK

Sarah Manyok is the current CEO and Director of Millennium Disability Care, a Disability services provider. In this role, not only has she made a huge impact within the disability service realm, but she has also been able to advocate for differently-abled people. Outside of work, Sarah volunteers a lot of her time as a youth worker, empowering vulnerable youth.

Kristy MASELLA

Kristy Masella has spent the majority of her life advocating for and working within Aboriginal communities in Australia. Since 2014, this has led Kristy to step up as the CEO of Aboriginal Employment Strategy (AES), the largest and most successful Indigenous recruitment and group training company. Her impactful work has seen Kristy nominated for many awards including her recognition as one of Australia’s Top 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review.

Today, she reflects on her goals for AES, and her hopes for the future of Aboriginal Australia.

Maree EDWARDS

Maree Edwards is the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in Victoria and has served in Parliament for the past 10 years. Maree is a passionate advocate for marginalized communities across Victoria and has led many inquiries, specifically into disability services.

Catriona BOYD

Catriona Boyd is the Deputy Consul-General at the British Consulate-General in Melbourne. She works to build and promote the UK-Australia relationship across Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. She identifies opportunities for collaboration across a range of UK priorities and passionately nurtures diversity. Prior to this role, Catriona led a team working on citizens’ rights policy in the Department for Exiting the European Union leading consultations with UK and EU citizens about their rights.

Justine Nolan

Justine Nolan has recently become the Director at the Australian Human Rights Institute following an extensive career in law and policy. This includes working as an international human rights lawyer and as a corporate lawyer. In 2019, she co-authored the book, Addressing Modern Slavery, which investigates modern human rights abuses occurring across the world, and has contributed her research and knowledge to many other publications. In addition, she lectures law at the University of NSW.

Alyssa Leng

Alyssa is an economist working as a Research Associate at the Lowy Institute. After stints at the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia, Alyssa produces important research that has shaped the understanding of Australia’s region using data. As a result, she has been recognised as one of 2021’s Young Women to Watch in International Affairs.

Rochelle Courtenay

Rochelle Courtenay is the Founder and Managing Director of Share the Dignity, a Charity Organization that aims to provide sanitary items to women in need all across Australia. Today, they work alongside over 3000 Charities with the help of over 5500 Volunteers.

In this interview, Rochelle reflects on the journey that led to founding Share the Dignity, and her hopes for women’s rights in Australia.

Melissa Harrison

Melissa, a proud Gunai woman from East Gippsland, has long been a passionate advocate for Aboriginal affairs in Victoria and was recognized as an Emerging Indigenous Leader by the Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership. Since then, Melissa has continued her work in the Victorian Court Services as the Director of the Dhumba Murmuk Djerring for the Koori Unit.

Today, she shares more about her career journey and her hopes for a more just future for Aboriginal Australia.

Bonnie Cavanagh

Bonnie Cavanagh has spent the last 12 years working in the public sector, and in particular, the Victorian Police. Here, she is currently the Aboriginal Portfolio Manager. In her spare time, Bonnie is an avid sports fan and works to promote inclusion as the first female President of the Broadford Football Netball Club.

Kate Duncan

Kate Duncan is the CEO of The Push Inc, an Australian youth music organisation. Her previous professional achievements include positions within youth and music services at various levels of government. Today, she shares her insights on women reshaping the music industry and reflects upon her career.

Natalie Kyriacou

Natalie is currently a consultant at PwC and has founded her own conservation organisation, My Green World. In all of the actions she takes, she aims to promote sustainability and an environmentally conscious agenda. Today, she shares the highlights of her projects, and how we can all help to make a change in the world.

Senator Jane Hume

Senator Jane Hume is the Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy. She is also the first Minister for Women’s Economic Security, where she is working to secure the economic future of women in Australia. She has worked in the financial services industry prior to being elected to Parliament, including her most recent role as Senior Policy Adviser at Australian Super.

Beth Eggleston

Beth Eggleston is a co-founder of the Humanitarian Advisory Group, was 2019’s Fulbright Scholar and has authored a number of publications on military-civilian relations. In her free time, she volunteers with NGO’s including the Red Cross and NATO. Today, she shares her experiences as a woman throughout her international career and the lessons that she has learned along the way.

Khadija M-Williams

Khadija currently works as an Analyst in the Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Risk team at NAB. Passionate about sustainability, Khadija studied a Bachelor of Engineering and a Masters of Environment and Sustainability at Monash University. She shared with us her career journey and experiences as well as the importance of sustainability risk in a top tier financial institution.

Woman of the Month

Woman
of the Month