Chief Executive Women’s Annual Dinner is one of the most prestigious events in Australia’s corporate calendar. It is attended by CEW Members, Sponsors, CEOs and their management teams from across the country. The dinner is CEW’s most important fundraising event and these funds are used to support CEW Scholarship Program and programs run by CEW to enable more women leaders in Australia.
CEW has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 environment. With the lockdown continuing in Sydney, and outbreaks in Melbourne, Brisbane and other locations, the CEW Annual Dinner cannot responsibly proceed in-person in October 2021.
Whilst 2020 saw CEW produce a successful virtual event, the decision has been made to gather in-person and celebrate women in leadership. By March 2022 we hope and expect that coming together in-person will be safer, with lockdowns behind us and higher vaccination rates across the community.
Sam Mostyn AO, CEW President and keynote speaker Robyn Denholm, Chair Tesla Inc. are confirmed as speakers and will headline the CEW Annual Dinner in March 2022.
Thursday, 17 March, 2022
International Convention Centre, Sydney
Ritz Carlton, Perth
Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne
For enquiries and sponosrship contact the CEW team:
P: 02 9392 4604 E: cew@cew.org.au
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Robyn Denholm
Chair of the Board, Tesla Inc.
Tesla’s Board of Directors appointed Robyn Denholm to serve as the independent Chair of the Board, in November 2018, having considered her strong leadership, independent presence, financial and business expertise. Robyn joined the Tesla Board in 2014 as an independent director & Chair of the Audit Committee.
Her global experience encompasses leadership roles across a range of technology companies, including Telstra, Juniper Networks, and Sun Microsystems. Most recently, Ms. Denholm served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy of Telstra, a telecommunications company, where she also served as its Chief Operations Officer. During her 9 years at Juniper Networks Inc. she was both the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Financial & Operations Officer, and was part of the team that saw significant growth in both size and impact of the company. Her experience also includes numerous finance management roles in the automotive industry while at Toyota Motor Corporation Australia for seven years. Her past public board of director service has included ABB Limited. & Echelon Corporation.
She is a current member of the UNSW Business School Advisory Council. Robyn was awarded a Doctor of Business (Honoris Causa) from the UNSW in 2019. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Sydney and a Master's degree in commerce from the University of New South Wales, and is a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Robyn is a member of CEW.
2020 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Shemara Wikramanayake
Managing Director and CEO, Macquarie Group
Shemara joined Macquarie in 1987 in Macquarie Capital in Sydney. In her time at Macquarie, Shemara has worked in six countries across several business lines. She established and led Macquarie’s corporate advisory offices in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Malaysia, and the infrastructure funds management business in the US and Canada. Shemara has also served as Chair of the Macquarie Group Foundation.
As Head of Macquarie Asset Management for 10 years before her appointment as CEO in 2018, Shemara led a team of 1,600 staff in 24 markets. Macquarie Asset Management grew to become a world-leading manager of infrastructure and real assets and a top 50 global public securities manager.
In 2018, Shemara was appointed a Commissioner of the Global Commission on Adaptation, a World Bank-led initiative which seeks to accelerate climate adaptation action and create concrete solutions which enhance resilience. In 2019 she was appointed by the UN’s Special Envoy for Climate Action, Michael Bloomberg, to the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative which seeks a six-fold increase in climate mitigation investment from the private sector.
Shemara holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws degrees from UNSW and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1996.
Shemara is a member of CEW.