AuSAE are proud to champion our new initiative Women in Association Leadership #WIAL. Our new networking series will provide a platform to showcase and celebrate our #WIAL who have led the way.
With no other event like this for our association leaders in the marketplace, we are aiming to bring like-minded women together to build those support networks and develop professional and personal skill sets.
Our first series will welcome three inspiring women in associations who will share their journeys, challenges and advice in a facilitated and interactive discussion.
Speakers:
Cassandra Heilbronn, President, Women Lawyers Association of Queensland and Senior Associate, MinterEllison
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Cassandra has ten years' experience in insurance claims and corporate risk advisory work, predominantly acting for insurers, corporations and boards in the defence of complicated and multi-party litigated claims.
Cassandra is a regular on Australia's speaker circuit, providing comment and chairing panels relating to her areas of practice, particularly in sports law and on gender equality issues. She has developed a strong reputation in the area of sports law, being sought for comment and articles internationally on issues relating to Australian sports.
In terms of her work in relation to gender initiatives, 2016 was a breakout year, with Cassandra spearheading a number of initiatives in Queensland's legal profession in order to address the gender disparity and ensure the practices of the past do not continue. Each initiative implement is to assist varying levels of women in the profession and assist the corporate world in Australia, which will hopefully assist in increasing Australia's position on economic empowerment for women.
She is working to establish herself as a leader in the legal community and was recently appointed by the Attorney-General on the inaugural Judicial Appointments Advisory Panel (and has since served on the panel for all State jurisdictions), was named as the 2016 Emerging Leader in the Legal Sector at the Women's Agenda Awards in October 2016 and is listed in the Who's Who List of Australian Women in 2015 and 2017.
Cassandra holds Presidency of Women Lawyers Association of Queensland and is completing her Masters of Law at the University of Queensland.
Dominique Lamb, CEO and Director, National Retail Association and NRA Legal
Dominique Lamb is the CEO of the National Retail Association and Director of NRA Legal, who has extensive experience providing industrial relations and employment law advice to a range of small, medium and large businesses across a range of industries.
Dominique brings a level passion and motivation to her role which is hard to find. In 2011, she was awarded the Australian Institute of Management’s Young Gun of the Year Award and in 2016 Dominique was a finalist in the Brisbane Women in Business Awards.
In her downtime, Dominique is a strong advocate for victims of domestic violence and has volunteered with the Women’s Legal Service Queensland for over six years. Dominique is currently serving on the WLSQ board as well as being the Chair of their Dancing CEO’s event which raised $260,000 in 2017.
As the CEO of the National Retail Association, Dominique plays an integral role by liaising and advocating on behalf of retailers at a Federal and State Government level on all areas of policy which affect retail businesses both large and small, including but not limited to technical standards, product safety, industrial relations, loss prevention, city planning and infrastructure.
Jane Schmitt, CEO, Australian Medical Association Queensland
Jane Schmitt is a Lawyer by profession, having worked in private and corporate arenas. Jane’s move into executive management has seen her in roles at Australia’s largest medical indemnity insurer and Master Builders Australia, before taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer at AMA Queensland. Her expertise lies in initiating innovative operational and strategic changes to enhance the influence and profile of communities and businesses. Jane is a strategic thinker, a straight talker and contributes vision and enthusiasm, strong leadership skills and business acumen. She is also a graduate of the AICD Company Director’s course.
Facilitator: Mel Kettle
Mel Kettle is a communication and social media expert, with over 20 years’ professional experience, a Master of Business in Marketing and a Master of Public Health. She specialises in developing practical communication solutions for her clients. She also trains, mentors and up-skills CEOs, staff and volunteers to improve their communication and social media skills. Mel has worked with professional and industry associations, community organisations, researchers and academics, charities, government, and businesses of all sizes to help them develop effective and practical communication and social media strategies that lead to an increase in brand awareness, customer satisfaction and business growth.
Grab your colleagues, best friend or boss (male or female) and come along to #WIAL and see what we can achieve when we all come together.
