A big shout out to my friend and former colleague Nikki White for her winning tip in the Suncorp Bank Helping Hand competition.  Nikki is the founder of The Heart Of and is a process guru - so it's no surprise thather top - and winning - tip for running a small business was all about how to streamline processes and procedures to give business owners more freedom and better outcomes. Read More

In her capacity as Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates has seen first hand the challenges women around the world face in owning their health, happiness and opportunity.  She is committed to helping women overcome their obstacles to choose a better existence.  And so - despite being a practicing Catholic - she recently spoke out about why she thinks we need to rethink access to contraception, particularly in the developing world. Read More

Have you faced gender discrimination at work? Know someone who has? Did they speak out? And if so, how did that work for them? A storm has erupted over comments on this very issue by Isobel Redmond, Leader of the Opposition in my home State of South Australia, earlier this week.  At a women’s event in Adelaide, Ms Redmond fielded a question from the audience asking her advice on the issue.  Her response – to the effect that a lawsuit might not be the best response – has been construed by certain commentators as Ms Redmond condoning gender discrimination, which I’m certain is not how it was intended. Read More

There’s a lot of talk about social media and how we all need to be “connected” for business as well as pleasure, but when I’m asked what I recommend in terms of social media strategy my response is always the same: what is your expected return on investment?  That will then drive the level of activity and the platform(s) you choose.  For me, my goal is to make $10,000 per month in consulting and speaking business via social networking sites, and I usually achieve it (primarily via LinkedIn).  In case you’re thinking about ramping up your social media efforts, here’s a few thought starters on what has worked for me: Read More

I've been asked in the past whether single-sex schooling is appropriate in a gender balanced world, and being a co-ed kind of girl myself, I wasn't really sure.  So I was interested to read the results of this new study which  found robust differences between the competitive choices of girls from single-sex and coed schools. The study showed that adolescent girls were 16 percentage points more likely to enter a maze-solving tournament if they were in an all-female group, according to an experiment by Alison Booth and Patrick Nolen of the University of Essex in the UK and Australian National University.  Read More

At last week's National Assembly on Gender Equity & Inclusion in Melbourne I was reminded by Dr Anne Summers of the role Government can and should play in gender equity.  As a former adviser to the Prime Minister, Anne Summers knows how to make a point about policy and productivity - and she didn't pull any punches on where she thinks the Government can improve its policies for women and workforce participation. Her reminder that gender equity is a productivity issue was timely, and she suggested we all go away and watch the speech by Hilary Clinton, US Secretary of State, at the APEC Summit last year for an eloquent demonstration on the role of women in strengthening any economy. Read More

I'm planning to attend this year's Macquarie University Women, Management & Work Conference on 12-13 July 2012 - will I see you there? This event event will empower women to take control of their career by building on, and embracing, their full potential to become influential leaders in their field. The theme this year is Inspiration and Empowerment – Creating your future, encouraging women to achieve higher leadership roles throughout Australia.  Read More

I am humbled and honoured to be included in the list of 40 Young Business Leaders announced last week by CPA Australia's premier magazine, INTHEBLACK.  This recognition is a validation of the need for greater gender balance in our workplaces and communities - work that is clearly needed and that I'm only too happy to chip away with :-) Read More