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Lisa Annese

CEO, Chief Executive Women

Lisa Annese commenced her role as the Chief Executive Officer of Chief Executive Women in January 2025 and is committed to the empowerment of women and girls across the economy.

Prior to this, Lisa spent 10 years as the CEO of the Diversity Council Australia, where she led a broad array of groundbreaking, evidence-based research, including Australia’s first national index on workplace diversity and inclusion, seminal research on the economics of the gender pay gap, and original work on Counting Culture and building Asian Leadership Capability, as well as research supporting individuals being ‘Out at Work’, mainstreaming flexible work, and myth-busting workplace responses to sexual harassment and domestic and family violence. 

In 2024, Lisa was appointed to the NSW Women’s Advisory Council and reappointed to the Respect at Work Council by the Attorney-General, implementing the legislative reforms from the Respect@Work Act. In 2018, Lisa was named one of the AFR’s 100 Women of Influence. In 2019 she was elected to the Board of Amnesty International Australia and, in 2021, to the Board of the non-partisan organisation Women for Election. As well as being their CEO, Lisa is also a member of Chief Executive Women.

Lisa has had a long career progressing positive change across the corporate, government, and not-for-profit sectors. Earlier in her career, at the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (formerly the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA)), she developed the first-ever census of Australian Women in Leadership, the first-ever Business Achievement Awards, the creation of the Employer of Choice for Women citation, and the development and implementation of the policy framework for the EOWA Act 1999 with Australian businesses. For her contribution at EOWA, she was awarded a Medal for Significant Contribution to the Australian Public Service. 

Gillian Franklin

Founder, Chief Executive Women

Gillian Franklin is recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative businesswomen and an accomplished Company Director and Board Chair. With both broad corporate and entrepreneurial experience, Gillian has a reputation for adding value to any business both strategically and commercially. Stakeholders from all levels within various business types and boards, including staff, suppliers and customers, attest to Gillian's ability to grow companies and value to shareholders.

Gillian's NED experience over the past 30 years includes Chair, Deputy Chair and NED roles across public and private business, Government, sport, medical, arts and community. Roles include Chair Abbotsford Convent (current), Chair Ad Standards Governance Committee (Current), Chair Prime Minister's Gold Medal Access Foundation, Deputy Chair The Australian Grand Prix (Director 23 years), and NED roles for CEDA (Committee for Economic Development Australia), ACCORD (Hygiene, Personal Care and Specialty Products Industry Body), Melbourne Theatre Company, Neopec, Microsurgery Foundation and Quintis.

Prior to selling to PE, during the 21 years that Gillian was the Managing Director of The Heat Group, the company she founded, Gillian grew the company to be Australia's largest independent distributor in the beauty and personal care category. Heat Group, with a portfolio of 40+ owned and distributed brands, represented some of the world’s leading brands including Procter & Gamble with Max Factor and CoverGirl. During the 17 years of partnership with P&G, the Heat Group won the coveted "Partnership of Excellence" distributor award an unprecedented 6 times. Sourcing brands and products globally and selling to over 7,000 retailers across all channels, under Gillian's leadership the company sold a product every 3 seconds.

Michele Bullock

Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia

Michele Bullock is Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Ms Bullock commenced as Governor on 18 September 2023. She is Chair of the Reserve Bank Board, Payments System Board and Council of Financial Regulators. Prior to her current role, Ms Bullock was the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Ms Bullock has also held a variety of senior management positions in the Bank. She was Assistant Governor (Financial System), Assistant Governor (Business Services), Assistant Governor (Currency), Adviser for the Currency Group and, before that, Head of Payments Policy Department.

Belinda Hutchinson AC

Australian business leader, accountant, philanthropist, former CEW President and Companion of the Order of Australia

Belinda Hutchinson is a Director of Australian Philanthropic Services, Goodstart Early Learning, Qantas Airways Limited, Thales Australia, a member of the Australian British Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board, the European Australian Business Council Corporate Council and a Trustee of the St Vincent’s Curran Foundation.

Belinda was previously Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Chairman of Thales Australia, QBE Insurance Group, Future Generation Global Investment Company.  She has served as a non executive director of Telstra Corporation, Coles Myer, Energy Australia, AGL Energy, TAB, Snowy Hydro Trading, Sydney Water, Crane Group and St Vincent’s Health Australia, representing a diverse portfolio with a focus on companies supporting national critical infrastructure.  Her executive career included her role as an Executive Director of Macquarie Group, a Vice President of Citibank, and a senior manager at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).  She has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Belinda is a past President of the State Library of New South Wales and Chief Executive Women of which she is still a member.

Dr Aruna Sathanapally

CEO, Grattan Institute 

Dr Aruna Sathanapally joined Grattan Institute as CEO in February 2024. She heads a team of leading policy thinkers, researching and advocating policy to improve the lives of Australians. A former NSW barrister and senior public servant, Aruna has worked on the design of public institutions, economic policy, and evidence-based public policy and regulation for nearly 20 years. Before joining Grattan, Aruna worked in senior roles in the NSW Treasury. She led the 2021 NSW Intergenerational Report and led the economic analysis for the 2022 Women’s Economic Opportunities Review. 

Dr Leonora Risse

Australia's leading gender policy economist 

Dr Leonora Risse is an economist who specialises in gender equality.

She is an Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Canberra and a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia. She also serves as an Expert Panel Member on gender pay equity for the Fair Work Commission. She formerly held roles with the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University and the Australian Government Productivity Commission. She earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland.

Leonora is a co-founder and former National Chair of the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia.

Leonora’s research focuses on gender gaps in the workplace, including the gender pay gap and women’s under-representation in leadership and decision-making.

She engages regularly with governments and organisations on evidence-based policies to close gender gaps and how to apply a ‘gender lens’ to economic analysis and policy design.

Leonora’s economic expertise extends to labour economics, disadvantage and wellbeing. She engages regularly with the media to empower everyday audiences with a greater understanding of economic issues.

In 2021 she was named as one of Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy.

Hannah Wootton

Australian Financial Review Reporter & AFR’s Rear Window Columnist. 

Australian Financial Review Reporter & recently appointed  AFR’s Rear Window Columnist.

Hannah’s reporting has spanned national news, superannuation, professional services, gender equality and legal affairs.A former lawyer,  Hannah holds  a Juris Doctor from UNSW and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Melbourne.