Our Ambassadors
Liz Ritchie is currently the General Manager Strategy and Partnerships at the Regional Australia Institute (RAI), which she joined in August 2018. For almost 20 years, Liz has worked with NFP’s and corporates to ensure organisations are preparing themselves for the future. Most recently Liz has held leadership roles with Westpac Commercial Bank (2016-18) and CEDA (2008-16) and during this time Liz has advanced her interest and advocacy in gender equality in Australia.
Helen Badger is currently a senior project manager with Manteena Security Pty Ltd and sees firsthand the challenges faced by women both at the front line and in the executive areas. Helens approach to advocating for women is to embrace everyone in the industry and encourage all levels of government, corporates, contractors and individuals (men and women) to create a workplace that reflects the community that we all live in.
Helen Conway was a founding Director and inaugural Chair of AGEC, and previously CEO of the Workforce Gender Equality Agency. Helen spent 10 years in private legal practice, including 7 years as a partner in a major law firm in Sydney, and then moved into the corporate sector where she worked as a senior executive in the insurance, transport, energy, retail and construction industries for 18 years. Helen is currently the Chair of YWCA Australia and YWCA National Housing and School for Life (an organisation providing education and related services in Uganda). She is a director of Westpac Life Insurance, Westpac General Insurance, Westpac Lenders Mortgage Insurance, Endeavour Energy, Catholic Schools NSW and ReachOut Australia, an online mental health service for youth.
Catherine Fox is a leading commentator on women and the workforce, an award-winning journalist, author and presenter.
Lea is the immediate past President of Women in Aviation Australian chapter and has been an active supporter of AGEC since its launch. Lea is a strong believer that “you can’t be what you can’t see” and a passionate advocate for youth engagement and women in the aviation and aerospace industries. Lea enjoys motivating the next generation of aviation professionals to strive to be innovative, inspiring and to be empowered to make a positive difference in the world through leadership and aviation.
Victoria Weekes is a professional non-executive director with over 30 years’ executive experience in the financial services industry and now on boards in health, housing, financial services, government and cultural institutions. Victoria was a founding director and Chair of AGEC until Nov 2020. A vocal advocate for gender equality in the financial services sector for many years, Victoria led the development of FINSIA’s gender divide campaign. Victoria has worked closely with organisations like the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Women on Boards (WOB), the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Male Champions of Change, the AICD and the Governance Institute on gender equality initiatives and campaigns.
Ann-Maree David was a founding Director of AGEC (2016-2020) and is the immediate past President of Australian Women Lawyers. Ann-Maree is an Executive Director of The College of Law, the largest provider of practice-focused legal education in Australasia. She has worked in the legal profession for over 30 years, in public and corporate sector roles and in private practice as a solicitor.
Sandy Hutchison was a founding Director of AGEC (2016-2020) and is the Founder and CEO of Career Money Life. A disruptive and innovative, award winning marketplace business providing employees and organisations the power of choice in career transition, parental leave programs, transition to retirement, mental health & wellbeing services and financial advice. Sandy’s commitment to gender equality is reflected in the fact that over 65% of her community of suppliers are women owned businesses. She is also pleased to be recognised as part of the Femeconomy. Before founding her own startup, Sandy was a Human Resource Director at a global professional services firm, and previously a Partner in a global human resources consulting firm. Sandy continues to consult with organisations on gender equality issues and works as a mentor to senior women.
Rebecca is in her second term as a Director on the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) board, having joined NAWIC in 2010. NAWIC is a founding member of AGEC and a proud contributor to the continuing fight for gender equality.
Rebecca has almost 10 years of experience advocating for increased opportunities for women in the construction industry, removing gendered pay gaps and changing institutional structures that discriminate against women.
Sandra Buckley was appointed to the AGEC Board in July 2019 and Deputy Chair in November 2020-November 2021. Sandra is CEO of Women in Super, a national networking and advocacy organisation for women employed in superannuation and the aligned financial services industry. Founded in 1994, WIS has a long history of advocating for better retirement outcomes for women. Since joining WIS in 2014 Sandra has led the strategy, advocacy, policy, research and campaign work that WIS undertakes to improve retirement outcomes for women. WIS led the campaign to ‘Save the LISC’ (LISTO) as its repeal would have impacted the superannuation balances of 1 in 2 working women. WIS’ vision is a superannuation system without gender bias and WIS works with industry, government, employers and universities to affect policy change and raise awareness of the issues facing women in gaining access to super.
Miriam is a projects and infrastructure lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright, based in Perth. Throughout her career, Miriam has advocated for gender equality and policies that aid the retention of senior women in both law and the construction industry, with a particular focus on flexible working and mentoring.
With more than 17 years’ experience in the construction industry Miriam’s focus is on the mining, social infrastructure, waste and water sectors.
Pascale has over 20 years financial services marketing and brand-building experience and is a passionate advocate for gender equality and women’s economic security. A seasoned entrepreneur and startup advisor, her latest venture is Super Rewards. Super Rewards is cash rewards for women for super, in a bid to help women close their super gap.
Pascale played a pivotal role in the launch of AGEC in 2018 and AGEC’s #ItsTime campaign. Prior to Super rewards, Pascale was the Head of Marketing for the Investment Trusts and WealthManager+ businesses of JPMorgan Asset Management in London, and has also held senior marketing roles at BT Financial Group and BNP Paribas. Pascale was appointed to the AGEC Board in 27 April 2018 and retired from the Board in November 2021. During her time on the AGEC Board, Pascale was the Director of Communications and established a strong media profile for AGEC.
Jacquelene Brotherton, the current Chair of Transport Women Australia Limited, was a member of the AGEC Board from November 2020 to May 2021. Jacquelene has just celebrated her fifty years in the trucking industry, a career that has taken her from outback Australia to Washington DC, starting as a teenager in her parents’ business. Jacquelene has long advocated for women in non-traditional careers in transport and logistics, through various mediums including speaking, writing, implementing training forums, bringing together successful career women to provide mentors, and winning sponsorships for learning initiative breakfasts and scholarships for higher learning opportunities, through industry associations, and supporters.
Rechelle Leahy
A former AGEC Board member Rechelle is a strong leader and advocate for gender equality. Rechelle is a principal sector specialist on social policy issues, her passion lies with gender equality, equity and improving policy outcomes focussed on the specialised needs of rural, regional and remote (RRR) women and girls.
Kim Amos
Kim was CEO of AGEC from February 2022 until October 2023 leading the It’s Time. For a gender equal Australia campaign, and building stronger connections with key decision makers and member organisations. Kim has over 20 years’ experience as a corporate affairs, advocacy and government relations executive successfully delivering on brand and reputation projects in the social services, health, research, aged care, family and child welfare and not for profit sectors heavily working on gender equality, women’s safety and economic security within these sectors.
Vy Pham
Vy joined the AGEC Board in 2020 and led AGEC’s communications and social media strategy until 2024, including the creative and communications lead for the 2022 election campaign. Vy is a financial services professional with over 18 years’ experience in solving complex problems in wealth and banking with a unique breadth and depth of experience across multiple disciplines including program management, strategy, risk, marketing, communication and investment reporting. She is currently the Head of Market Delivery and Distribution – Health at Zurich Financial Services and is responsible for the take to market strategy for Zurich’s WellCare strategy in Malaysia.
Jilinda Lee
Jilinda served on the AGEC Board from 2021 until 2024, playing a lead role in our membership engagement and as the representative of our member Elevate Her. Jilinda is a lifelong advocate for gender equality, continuously speaking up for equal choices, chances, and opportunities for women in their careers, and equal partnerships in their homes.
Jilinda is Founder and Chair of Elevate HER Australia, a national member-based social enterprise focused on enabling women across all sectors to rise up and revolutionise leadership roles, through providing peer circle support, networking opportunities, educational programs, and advocacy initiatives.