Day One | Tuesday 25 November 2025

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8:00

Registration and Morning Refreshments

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8:30

Welcome to Country

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8:40

Women Leaders Institute Welcome Address

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8:50

Chairperson's Opening Address

Carmel Mortell, Board Member, UN Women Australia

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN AN AI-DRIVEN ENVIRONMENT


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9:00

Leading Through AI and Complexity

• What AI means for leadership today and how to stay ahead of the curve

• Navigating tough calls to lead with conviction and clarity in complex environments

• Turning disruption into strategic advantage through clear decision-making

Christelle Young, Managing Director, T2 Tea; AFR Women in Leadership 2025 Category Winner

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9:30

C-Suite Panel: The Leadership Balancing Act

How are c-suite leaders 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

• Turning AI anxiety into advantage across your organisation through mindset, clarity and upskilling

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

Moderator: Brigid Monagle, Commissioner, Victorian Public Sector Commission

Lisa Chiba, Managing Director, Momentum Energy

Caroline Rawlinson, Chief Financial and Operational Officer, Culture Amp

Giles Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, VicRoads

Ryan Baker, Chief Operating Officer, Bunnings

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10:15

Lightning Address: Enough Is a Full Sentence

In this session Christine Khor, CEO and Founder of Peeplcoach will discuss the power of the word ENOUGH. For self and for others. In life and in work. What does the word Enough really mean? When should it be used? When should it not been used? and Why don't we use it? Come prepared to think about the world Enough and reclaim it for yourself.

Christine Khor, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Peeplcoach

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10:30

Networking Activity: Get to know your fellow attendees

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10:45

Morning Tea

LEADING THROUGH ADVERSITY & DISRUPTION

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11:15

CEO Panel: Making the Call When There’s No Playbook

Join CEO leaders as they share their lessons from navigating major crises, restructures, or controversies, and what grounded their leadership during these difficult moments.

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

• Balancing stakeholder demands, values, and performance under fire

• Reflections on what they’d do differently and what they stand by

Moderator: Micaela Drieberg, Chief Executive Officer, Gender Equity Victoria

Angela Nolan, Group Chief Executive Officer, Mercy Health

Professor Muriel Bamblett AM, Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency Cooperative

Jill Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO)

BUILDING GENERATIONAL RESILIENCE


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12:00

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.

Teeshal Bal, General Manager Planning and Integration, Metro Trains Melbourne

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12:15

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.

STRENGTHENING LEADERSHIP CAPABILITY

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1:15

Leading with Purpose, Resilience and Strength

With a career spanning media, hospitality, and storytelling, Melissa Leong knows what it takes to thrive under pressure. Melissa will unpack how adaptability, courage, and staying grounded in your values are key to resilient leadership.

Melissa Leong, TV Week Gold Logie-nominated Television Personality, Freelance Writer, and Food Critic

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1:55

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

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2:00

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

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2:50

Afternoon Tea

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3:20

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.

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3:25

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.

Fiona Schutt, Executive General Manager, Corporate Services, Melbourne Water

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.

Fleur Katsmartin, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Lab C: Building Strategic Influence
Whether you are managing upwards, across or diagonally, influence is the currency of leadership. Learn how to frame ideas persuasively, shift thinking and gain buy-in from decision-makers across your organisation.

Skills Learned: Stakeholder engagement, persuasive communication, shaping strategic decisions, and driving organisational alignment.

Ally Nitschke, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Made for More

Lab D: Leading High-Performing, Inclusive Teams
What separates good teams from great ones? This lab explores the leadership practices that create accountability, trust and sustained performance. You will learn how to lead effectively through conflict, address underperformance and bring out the best in diverse teams.

Skills Learned: Building trust, fostering accountability, leading inclusively, and resolving conflict to sustain performance.

Elizabeth Kim, Head of Customer Experience, Product and Marketing, Transurban

SUCCESSION PLANNING

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4:10

Keynote 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

• Strategies for making succession a leadership priority, not a background process

Jacqui Walters, Non Executive Director, Port of Brisbane; Chair, UNIQ You

Fiona Notley, Chief Operating Officer and Vice-President, RMIT University

Meaghan Telford, Group Executive - Policy, Advocacy and Reputation | Co-Chair, Diversity & Inclusion Council, Medibank

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4:50

Chairperson's Closing Address

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4:55

Networking Drinks and End of Summit Day One