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Registration and Morning Refreshments

Welcome to Country

Women Leaders Institute Welcome Address

Chairperson’s Opening Address

Fiona Dorman, President, NCWA; Chair, SA Premier's Council for Women

Kelly Jamieson, Founder and Managing Director, The Edible Blooms Group; Premier’s Council for Women, Co-Chair, Fearless Females; Facilitator, Behind Closed Doors

Opening Keynote: Leading with Purpose and Overcoming Challenges to Drive Gender Equity

• Navigating the complexities of political leadership while driving meaningful social change

• How resilience plays a crucial role in advocating for gender equity policies

• How leaders in the public sector can influence long-term systemic change, especially in times of economic and social disruptions

The Hon. Katrine Hildyard MP, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Government of South Australia

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CEO Panel: The Leadership Balancing Act

How are CEOs adapting their leadership to meet the moment? This panel brings together senior executives to discuss the top trends keeping them up at night – from AI integration and workforce transformation to global instability and cost constraints.

• What trends are keeping leaders up at night, and where are they placing their boldest bets?

• How AI is reshaping productivity expectations and leadership priorities – and how to turn AI anxiety into advantage

• Strategies for managing fatigue, maintaining trust, and building resilience in high-pressure environments to ensure long-term business performance and adaptability

Jodie Hatherly, Chief Executive Officer of the Santos Foundation, Santos Ltd

Emma McCahon, Chief Executive Officer, Central Adelaide Local Health Network

Jane Pickering, Chief Executive, Eldercare Australia Ltd

Allison Nikula, Chief Executive Office & Founder, CareAPP

David Hill, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Asia Pacific

Networking Activity: Get to know your fellow attendees

Morning Tea   

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Keynote: How to Lead with Integrity When the Stakes Are High

In this keynote, Erin Phillips OAM explores the leadership discipline required to navigate high-stakes environments with integrity. Drawing from her experience as a dual-sport elite athlete and AFLW captain, she shares strategies for building trust, leading under pressure, and staying values-aligned in moments of visibility, risk, and complexity.

Erin Phillips OAM, Dual Olympian and 3 x AFLW Premiership Player

CEO Fireside Chat: Making the Call When There’s No Playbook

• How to lead decisively when visibility is low and pressure is high

• Balancing stakeholder demands, values, and performance under fire

• What grounded their leadership during the most difficult moments

• What they’d do differently and what they stand by

Heather Edwards, Chief Executive Officer, Harcourts Real Estate

Andrew Kay, Chief Executive Officer, South Australian Business Chamber; Member, South Australian Gender Pay Gap Taskforce

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Women Growing in Circles: Developing Leadership Through Mentorship 

Discover how mentoring circles create powerful spaces for connection, shared learning and leadership growth. This interactive session explores how to design and lead your own circle to foster confidence, capability and continuous development while supporting the next generation of leaders.

Leesa Chesser, Mentor and Non-Executive Director, Adelaide Festival

Networking Lunch

Join a live mentoring circle over lunch. Connect with like-minded women for a meaningful discussion on a relevant leadership challenge, and exchange real-time insights, ideas, and support in a relaxed setting.

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Conversation Starter: What’s one leadership strategy that’s helped you stay focused during periods of uncertainty?

UN Women in Conversation Keynote

Session will be live streamed from Sydney 🎥

Leadership and influence take many forms – from the boardroom to the ballot box. In this candid conversation, Simon Holmes à Court shares how he came to recognise the lack of women in political leadership, why representation matters for national progress, and how he’s using his platform to back female candidates and shift the culture of influence and funding in Australia

Moderated by Georgina Williams, this discussion explores what genuine allyship looks like in action, and what lessons corporate and government leaders can draw from movements that are changing who holds power, who funds it, and how progress is made.

Moderator: Georgina Williams, Board Chair, UN Women Australia

Simon Holmes à Court, Founder, Climate 200

Keynote: Leading with Strength and Purpose

• Redefining resilience in leadership

• What it takes to reset, refocus, and rise after setbacks

• What’s worth fighting for and what you must let go of

Melissa Librandi, Managing Director, News Corp Australia SA | NT | WA

Afternoon Tea

Introduction to Mini Leadership Labs

These interactive 45-minute sessions cut straight to the skills leaders need most today. Each lab zeroes in on a specific challenge, giving you tools, frameworks, and peer insights you can immediately apply in your role.

Mini Leadership Labs

Lab A: Resilience in High-Pressure Environments

How do you keep people motivated when the pace is relentless? This session helps you sharpen the ability to make clear decisions in uncertain conditions, sustain your team’s energy, and remain composed when pressure builds.

Skills Learned: Decisive decision-making, stress management, sustaining team motivation, and role-modelling resilience.

Maree Wauchope, Chief Executive Officer, District Council of Barunga West

Lab B: Building Executive Presence and Self-Belief

Executive presence is critical for leaders who want to influence decisions and advance their careers. This lab will help you strengthen self-belief, communicate with confidence and authority, and position yourself effectively for progression opportunities while staying authentic to your leadership style.

Skills Learned: Strengthening executive presence, communicating with authority, building self-belief, and strategic self-advocacy.

Lyndal Denny, Chief Executive Officer, Women in Trucking Australia

Lab C: Leading Through AI

Being AI-ready is not just about technology, it is about leadership. This lab will help you understand how to introduce AI responsibly, support employees in leveraging it for their work, and lead with clarity as organisations adapt to the opportunities and risks of AI.

Skills Learned: Strategic decision-making, change leadership, communicating vision, and empowering teams through transformation.

Kirsty Mundy, Worldwide Sales Enablement Director, Microsoft; SA’s Premier’s Council for Women Member 

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Panel: From Pipeline to Performance

• How boards and executive teams are building sustainable leadership continuity and future-ready leadership pipelines in a volatile landscape

• Where the biggest risks and gaps lie – and what’s being done to address them

• Rethinking succession: from names on a list to building capability, adaptability and leadership depth

• Making succession a leadership priority, not a background process

Fiona Hall, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Commercial, Beach Energy

Debbie Kirby, General Manager - People and Safety, SA Water

Samantha Killington, Director People & Culture, Local Government Association South Australia

Leah Cassidy, Chief Executive Officer, Sports SA

Chairperson's Closing Address

Networking Drinks & End of Summit Day One