Women in Media Speakers
Emma Alberici
Presenter
ABC1's Lateline
Emma Alberici is the presenter of ABC1's Lateline Program. Prior to taking up her latest role, Emma spent four years as the Europe Correspondent for the ABC based in the UK.
She arrived in London just as Lehmann Bros was collapsing and as the world began questioning every accepted orthodoxy attaching to global financial markets. For someone who had spent most of the previous two decades as a business and finance journalist, it was a case of right place, right time.
Emma worked at the Nine Network and did her cadetship at News Limited's Herald Sun Newspaper.
The daughter of a greengrocer, born and raised in Melbourne by migrant Italian parents, Emma has been a finalist three times in the Walkley Awards for journalistic excellence.
She is the author of three editions of The Small Business Book.
Emma is sought after by corporate Australia for her business, economics and finance expertise. She is an outstanding interviewer, facilitator and MC and is in high demand for corporate videos.
Melanie Allibon
Group Executive – Human Resources
Seven Network
Melanie Allibon joined Seven West Media as Group Executive Human Resources in February 2013. She has over 25 years of human resources, operating risk, communications and safety and environmental management experience gained across fast moving consumer goods, retail, mining, engineering and packaging organisations, including Foster's Group, Amcor, BHP and Pacific Brands. Ms Allibon holds a Bachelor of Business degree and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In addition to her role with SWM she is also the Group Executive Human Resources for Seven Group Holdings and is a Non-Executive Director of Melbourne Water.
Ana Bacic
Marketing Director
Seven Network
and Presto
Entertainment and Media marketing specialist, with significant strength and proven performance in media strategy, planning and implementation, multi platform integration, promotions, partnerships, sponsorships, endorsements, PR and events. A divergent thinker who's always looking to improve the process and the outcomes.
Extensive advisory and/or Director roles with various community and charity organisations, with a truly global network of contacts and resources.
Lucinda Barlow
Head of Marketing
Google
Lucinda leads Google's marketing efforts to bring Google products to help Australian and New Zealanders and help more businesses grow online. She brings 16 years experience working in Internet and mobile in Asia, the US and UK. Before joining Google, Lucinda was VP Marketing for Symbian where she led a global team promoting smartphone technology. She has worked in two Internet start-ups and at BHP as a mission critical systems engineer. Lucinda holds Bachelors degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and an MBA from INSEAD. She is a board member of ADMA and recently won Australian IAB Digital Marketer of the Year. Lucinda lives by the beach with her husband and three children.
Sophie Blachford
Head of Brand Development
Instagram
As head of Brand Development at Instagram in Australia, Sophie works closely with brands to deliver creative advertising solutions that drive business results.
Prior to Instagram, Sophie worked at Facebook for six years, gaining deep experience in branding and launching products into new markets. Sophie started at Facebook London and returned to Australia to set up the Facebook Melbourne office, before moving to join the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) team as a client partner in the Sydney office. Before joining Facebook, Sophie ran her own Search Engine Optimisation Consultancy.
Sophie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Economics from the University of Melbourne.
Angela Clark
Director, Digital Network
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Angela Clark is currently Director, Digital Network at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Angela joined the ABC Executive as Director of the Innovation division in March 2012. Angela started her career as an investment analyst before joining JCDecaux Australia as 26 year old to become its first Managing Director and launching the company's operations across four states. Seven years later Angela joined Macquarie Radio Network as CEO, leading the company for five years before leaving radio to pursue her passion for digital media, founding a number of start-ups in citizen powered and local news. Angela sits on the Sydney Festival Board of Directors and has previously held Directorships across arts, media and sporting organisations including; South Sydney Football Club, Biennale of Sydney, Bundanon Trust, Performing Lines and Commercial Radio Australia.
Angela holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University.
Carly Daff
Head of Product
Stan
Carly’s passion is building compelling and beautiful user experiences that put world class content in the hands and homes of hundreds of thousands of Australians.
Currently Head of Product at Stan, Carly has taken Stan from concept to leading subscription video on demand product in a record amount of time, in a fiercely competitive market. As Head of Product Carly’s vision leads the team who design and deliver Stan across mobiles, tablets, web, connected TVs and games consoles.
Prior to Stan Carly product managed the award winning Foxtel Play bringing over 50 live streamed channels into Australian homes, changing the way Australian’s consume television.
Carly’s passion for design is complemented by her UNSW Bachelor of Computer Science. A geek at heart you won’t often find her without a gadget in hand.
Clive Dickens
Chief Digital Officer
Seven West Media
Clive joined Seven West Media (ASX:SWM) in 2015 as the Chief Digital Officer for Seven West Media and as a non-Executive Director at Yahoo 7. He oversees and oversees all strategic and operational aspects of Seven West Media’s digital content and digital revenue activities.
Clive’s career to date has been a unique Digital/Broadcast media hybrid – never very far from Broadcast Content nor from a Digital team and boasts over 30 years’ experience, which has taken him from New York to Los Angeles, Mumbai to Johannesburg, Budapest to Berlin and London to now Australia. Clive’s first digital role was in 1995 with the multi award winning team at Capital Interactive part of then one of the largest Broadcasters in the UK.
Clive was also an advisor to the founders of the world leading mobile company Shazam used by more than 700 million people in over 60 countries and was recently valued at $1bn. Since Shazam, Clive has also advised a number of other successful digital start-ups, helping them achieve growth, maturity, IPO or exit.
In 2008 Clive co-founded Absolute Radio for the Times of India - the World’s largest English language newspaper publisher as COO. Absolute Radio has a world leading reputation for Digital, Social, Mobile innovation with more than 77% of its audience via a digital platform. Absolute Radio pioneered the new 'In-Stream' premium marketing platform. Clive was also a Founding Director of UK Radio Player Ltd, a joint venture between UK Broadcasters and the BBC that is used each month by 6m users to simplify discovery of live Broadcast Content.
In April 2013 he relocated from the UK to Australia to take the reigns as Director of Digital and Innovation at Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), overseeing strategic and operational aspects of the company's diverse and multifaceted digital content and free-to-air television platform. During the 20 months Clive was at SCA, his digital team achieved a 700% increase in digital traffic, which in turn drove 50 % increase in digital revenue and EBITDA by over 90%.
Clive is one of the Founder Directors of Code Club - a not for profit after-school coding club for Australian primary school children funded in part by a grant from the Telstra Foundation.
Jenny Eather
Communication Consultant
Jenny Eather is a highly experienced, proactive consultant specialising in strategic development, digital communication and stakeholder engagement.
With an impressive track record in government, not-for-profits and private enterprise, Jenny champions women in media as an innovator, educator, mentor and colleague.
Kelly Ferguson
Chief Information Officer
Mi9
Ms Ferguson has been with Mi9 since 2011 and currently leads the Technology Group as Chief Information Officer.
As the Mi9 CIO, she is responsible for all product development, technology and creative build functions. In this role she works alongside the editorial and commercial teams to run the ninemsn network and Mi9’s suite of digital properties.
Prior to Mi9, Ms Ferguson was in the healthcare division of Philips Electronics Ltd. From 2000-2008 she worked at Microsoft, where she held many senior management roles. With 15 years of international experience in the technology, data and healthcare sectors, her career has taken her from the United States, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region to Europe and Africa.
Ms Ferguson leads through motivation, transparency and commitment to her people. She enjoys mentoring others and watching the retainment, promotion and progression of people not only in her own team but across the IT industry. She is passionate about the future of digital media and the exciting opportunities ahead for Mi9’s Technology Group.
On top of her professional responsibilities, Ms Ferguson is a mother of two and lives with her family on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Jessica Gallienne
Director
Integr8 Consulting
Jessica can be described as a “social architect”, connecting people across multiple industries to guide and inspire each person and organisation to be the best version of themselves.
Jessica’s formal education is in commerce and psychology and balances these two disciplines to provide a common-sense approach to drive business outcomes. As a highly skilled facilitator,
Jessica’s workshops create visible shifts through challenging traditional thinking paradigms, fine-tuning effective leadership skills and encouraging bold steps into an effective future.
Despite having just 15 years’ commercial experience, Jessica herself defeated the odds and quickly climbed the professional ladder and has created her own impressive career trajectory. She is currently engaged in an exclusive contract with the QLD Public Service Commission to develop and lead the State’s new internal consulting practice; mandated to align public sector service delivery to community needs. Jessica is also frequently asked to support Boards, mega projects and multi-national organisations. Her clients engage her because of her down-to-earth approach, her focus on adding value and her broad experience she brings from working cross-industry.
Vanessa Gavan
Founder and Managing Director
Maximus
Vanessa Gavan, Founder and Managing Director of Maximus International, is an insightful and experienced business professional with a passion for developing and transforming organisations through their people.
For over 15 years, Vanessa Gavan has consulted to a range of leading Australian and international organisations to enhance business strategies, improve executive leadership capability, redesign organisation structures and deliver whole-of-business performance solutions..
As an entrepreneur and business leader, Vanessa has lived through every business lifecycle and has refined her abilities to inspire, deploy and motivate people to achieve great things.
In the last 12 years, Vanessa has founded two organisations - Maximus International (2001), an innovative business performance consultancy, and Imprint Global (2006), a frontrunner in the talent-management technology arena. Both businesses have only gone from strength to strength, with offices in Sydney and Melbourne and a client base of many large organisations across the Asia-Pacific, including: Telstra, 3M, Suncorp, QBE Australia & Asia, Estee Lauder Australia & South Africa, Fitness First, Volkswagen Group Australia, Deutsche Bank and NRMA.
A compelling presenter and talented facilitator, Vanessa speaking repertoire boasts engagements with NDM, IQPC, AHRI, Informa, RCSA and Futuris, As well as executive off-sites and client conference keynote engagements for a wide range of organisations including: Telstra, QBE and Coca-Cola Amatil.
Vanessa is also a thought-leader in the business world, regularly contributing to leading business publications, including: CEO Magazine, BRW, SMH, The Age, The Daily Telegraph and CEO Online.
Marina Go
General Manager, Hearst
Bauer Media Group
Marina Go is GM of Hearst brands: Harper's Bazaar, ELLE and Cosmopolitan. Her career began as a news journalist, before taking on the roles of Editor of Dolly, ELLE, Australian Good Taste and Sunday Life. Marina has held senior executive roles at Fairfax, Pacific and EMAP and was previously CEO of Private Media. She is also Chair of the Wests Tigers, a director of Odyssey House and a member of the advisory boards of The Walkley Foundation, The Remarkables Group and Women's Agenda. She has an MBA from The AGSM and is a member of the AICD.
Joanne Gray
Editor BOSS, Australian Financial Review Group and Co-Chair of Judges 100 Women of Influence
Fairfax Media
Joanne Gray is the editor of The Australian Financial Review's BOSS magazine. A longstanding AFR reporter and editor, Joanne has also worked in China, Switzerland and the US with Asiamoney, Bloomberg News and the AFR.
Joanne holds an MBA from the Melbourne Business School and a BEc and LLB from the University of Sydney. She is an honorary fellow of the Australian Institute of Business and Economics at the University of Queensland and co-chair of Judges for the AFR Westpac 100 Women of Influence.
Emma Groves
News Presenter
Imparja
Emma Groves is the Senior Journalist and News Presenter at Imparja Television.
One of Australia’s last independent media organisations, Indigenous-owned Imparja is based in Alice Springs and services the largest “footprint” in the southern hemisphere - over four million square kilometres and more than one million viewers.
Previously, Emma has worked as a Multimedia Journalist for Port Douglas’ The Newsport Daily and contributed to Port Douglas Magazine and Yuppee (online).
Emma holds a Bachelor of Public Relations from the University of South Australia and Graduate Diploma of Broadcasting from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
Annabelle Herd
Director Corporate and Regulatory Affairs
Network Ten
Annabelle Herd joined Network Ten in July 2004. Annabelle is a senior corporate affairs executive with more than 17 years’ experience in policy, regulatory affairs and government relations in both commercial and public sector roles.
Before Ten, Annabelle spent four years as Senior Adviser to Federal Communications Minister, Senator the Hon. Richard Alston. She has also worked in government relations for Virgin Mobile Australia, and led copyright policy and advocacy functions for Australian and international industry peak bodies and through a secondment to the Federal Attorney-General’s Department.
Rebecca Huntley
Senior Editor and Director of Insights
Mamamia
Rebecca Huntley is one of Australia’s foremost social researchers and experts on social trends. She is an author and researcher with degrees in law, a first class degree in film studies and a PhD in Gender Studies. She is currently senior editor and director of insights with the Mamamia Women's Network. She has been a regular columnist for Business Weekly Review, a feature writer for Vogue and a radio presenter for ABC's RN. She regularly features on radio and TV.
Huntley worked briefly in legal publishing before she attended the University of Sydney to obtain her PhD. During this period, she worked with several federal politicians in the ALP, acting as an active member of the National Committee of EMILY’s List Australia and the ALP’s federal policy committee. Simultaneously, she worked as an academic, teaching public law, film studies, politics and communication part-time. Huntley left the ALP in 2006, wishing to be politically neutral in her research.
While working in politics and publishing, Huntley authored her first book, The World According to Y: Inside the New Adult Generation. Not long after, she was appointed as the director of The Mind & Mood Report.
In 2006 she gave the 2006 National Republican Lecture in Canberra, her talk entitled "Trust Matters: Politics, Trust and the Republican Cause". Dr Huntley is a committed republican and worked for the YES campaign during the 1999 Australian republic referendum.
She has written for numerous publications including The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, marie claire, Griffith Review, The Hoopla and Mamamia. She has been a regular columnist for Business Review Weekly and was a feature writer for Australian Vogue from 2004 to 2012.
In 2013, Huntley appeared at TEDxSydney, talking about truth in social research.
Huntley has been on the board of directors of Campaign Action and the Dusseldorp Forum. She was a member of the UNSW Arts and Social Sciences Advisory Committee.
She has been a regular guest at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas and numerous writers festivals across Australia. She has also appeared as a guest on many television shows including Q&A, Gruen Planet, Media Circus, The Drum, Meet the Press, The Observer Effect, Paul Murray Live, ABC’s News 24 and One Plus One. In early 2014, Huntley joined the ABC under Radio National Drive, a current affairs radio show.
Until 2015, Huntley was a director at Ipsos, leading The Mind & Mood Report and Ipsos Food-Health Report. She is currently senior editor and director of insights with the Mamamia Women's Network and cohosts a weekly podcast called Just Between Us. She is also an author.
Helen Kellie
Chief Content Officer
SBS
Helen Kellie is the Chief Content Officer at SBS responsible for bringing together all of SBS’s content teams, under one umbrella to maximise the value, impact and experience for Australian audiences around our unique SBS content offering across all our platforms.
Joining SBS in 2012, Helen commenced as Marketing Director, then Director of Marketing and Verticals, responsible for the brand and marketing for all channels and services at the SBS. She led the Marketing Division including audience strategy and insights, marketing communications comprising brand, publicity and social, and the in-house creative services teams. Helen also led the strategy and planning for the SBS’s verticals across platforms in Food, Football, Cycling, Film and Documentaries, and was instrumental in the success of key SBS properties including Struggle Street, First Contact, SBS On Demand and Eurovision.
Prior to SBS, Helen was Chief Marketing Officer for BBC Worldwide where she built the BBC brand and its key content brands like Top Gear, Doctor Who and TV channels across the world, and also led the company’s CRM and social media strategies. Helen joined BBC Worldwide from its parent, the BBC, where she was Head of Brand Strategy from 2000, and Director of Marketing, Communications & Audiences for BBC Vision (Television) from 2006. Before joining the BBC, she worked for household products giant, Reckitt & Colman (now Reckitt Benckiser) in a variety of roles around the world.
Helen has an extensive 20 year’s leadership experience in marketing, brands and audience engagement in the media and consumer goods sectors in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States.
Jihee Nam
Vice President and General Manager
Nickelodeon Networks Australia
Jihee Nam joined Nickelodeon Networks Australia and New Zealand in the role of Vice President and General Manager in June 2014. Based in North Ryde (Sydney), she is responsible for the day-to-day management of Nickelodeon’s brands in Australia and New Zealand, overseeing a diverse business consisting of 24-hour subscription television networks (available in over 3.1 million households), digital platforms, live events, recreation destinations, consumer products, local production and programme sales.
Ms. Nam returned to Australia after a lengthy career in Asia having held positions with Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), CNET Networks, online gaming company CCR and Korean news platform, Hankook Ilbo. She initially joined VIMN in 2005 as the Head of Digital Media in Korea, leading MTV and Nickelodeon websites to be some of the most trafficked within the organisation.
In 2009, she was promoted to Vice President / Head of Digital Media where she oversaw all of VIMN’s digital businesses in Japan, China, Korea and Southeast Asia. Under her leadership, the company launched historic content partnerships with CCTV in China, SBS in Korea and Gyao! in Japan. She was also responsible for the development of bespoke digital products in partnership with VIMN’s commercial partners throughout the region including StarHub, AirAsia, Sunway Resorts, Lenovo, WeChat, Baidu and many others.
Ms. Nam was a contributing writer for McGraw-Hill’s “Emerging Powerhouses: The Asian Internet Handbook, Episode IV” and a starting member of the Korea Digital Content Future Forum established by the Ministry of Information and Communication. Multilingual in Korean, Spanish and English and a native of Sydney, Ms. Nam is a graduate of Wesley College and holds a masters diploma in Psychology.
Alice Manners
Chief Executive Officer
IAB
Alice Manners is a senior digital and media specialist with more than 20 years experience working across the Asia Pacific region. She has held a number of roles with WPP Asia Pacific including most recently, GroupM Asia Pacific COO of Interaction since 2005. Previously she was Managing Director of mOne Asia Pacific and Head of Interaction for mDigital.
Appointed CEO of IAB Australia in August 2013, Alice is responsible for the overall management of the IAB and achievement of the organisation’s objectives, to represent and promote the interests of members, and to grow the interactive advertising industry.
With the online industry undergoing a huge transformation in the past year and with more change ahead, Alice's key focus will be to steer IAB Australia’s transition through this growth as an agent of change for both the IAB and the industry as a whole.
Naomi Mourra
Head of HR, Australia & New Zealand
BBC Worldwide
Naomi Mourra is the Head of HR for the Australia & New Zealand region of BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation. She is part of the global HR Leadership team and contributes to the development of the People strategy across BBC Worldwide globally. As part of the local Executive Leadership Team for ANZ, Naomi works to ensure local business strategies are built upon a strong foundation of high performance, engagement and talent management.
Naomi started her career in HR in Learning and Development and Change Management and has moved into a strategic HR generalist role during her time at BBC Worldwide. Being passionate about the media and entertainment industries, she has developed her career at BBC Worldwide for the last 6 years and prior to that at EMI Music both locally and abroad. She has valuable experience in supporting great brands adapt to the changing landscape of their industries through their people.
Nell Payne
Group Director Technology and Operations
Foxtel
Nell is the Group Director Technology and Operations, part of the COO Group for Foxtel.
In this role, Nell is responsible for the operations of the technical facilities supporting the Television Centre and Customer Systems, including:
- Broadcast encoding and encryption
- Content Preparation (VOD and Linear assets)
- Contribution & Aggregation Services
- Customer Systems infrastructure (billing platforms, IDM, CRM)
- Desktop & Helpdesk
- Distribution via Satellite, Cable and IP
- IP encoding and DRM
- Playout
- Post Production
- Studio
Over the last two years Nell and her team have been driving organizational adaptability and change to enable enhanced platform monitoring and control, driving improved business and customer KPIs.
Nell combines her technical background with experience in the Customer, Installations, and
Governance to better align the Operations and technology team with the wider business.
Nell holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Angela Priestley
Founding Editor
Women's Agenda
Angela Priestley is a Publisher with Private Media and the founding editor of Women's Agenda, a publication for career-minded women.
She has been a journalist and editor for more than ten years, writing about and editing publications on legal affairs, business, politics and technology. She's a passionate advocate and supporter of making career opportunities more accessible to men and women, no matter what their life choices.
Angela is a new mother and Gen Y woman with plenty to say about the opportunities and challenges facing women of her generation. She wrote her first book, Women Who Seize the Moment, while on maternity leave, after speaking with dozens of inspiring and game-changing women and discovering that successful and satisfying careers come to those who make them happen, instead of sitting back and waiting for them to occur.
Angela was named one of Cosmopolitan's 30 Under 30 in 2013, and in 2014 as one of Open Colleges most inspiring women online.
Ros Reines
Columnist
News Corp Australia
Ros Reines was originally an advertising copywriter working for agencies in Sydney and London. But she spent rather too much time in meetings and not enough time writing, so she followed her passion for music and became a rock journalist working for various publications in London including New Musical Express and The Face. A reggae specialist, she did the last major interview with Bob Marley in New York just before he collapsed in Central Park.
Unfortunately there was not much work for reggae specialist writers in Sydney upon her return, so she worked as a freelance journalist for The Australian, The Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald before finally scoring a job on The Sydney Morning Herald where she worked for several years writing in all sections of the paper from State Politics to Good Living.
Her gossip column career started after the birth of her son over 20 years ago. It was chosen because it allowed her flexibility to work her own hours. She started her column in The Sun Herald before being poached by The Sunday Telegraph where she has remained for the past 18 years. The author of three books including two novels, Gossip and The Social Diary, released by Allen and Unwin earlier this year, she is currently working on a sequel. These days, she also considers herself to be more of an opinion writer than a gossip columnist
Suzie Shaw
Managing Director
We Are Social
Suzie is MD of socially led creative agency, We Are Social. She started her career in Australia in marketing, but later spent 14 years in London creative agencies (including TBWA and WCRS), working with clients including Adidas, PlayStation, BBC and Sky TV. Suzie returned to Australia in 2011, and assumed the role of MD at creative agency, Host, and was later promoted to CEO. She’s an experienced creative leader and passionate about supporting women in leadership, having founded networking and mentoring group, SWIMM (Senior Women In Media and Marketing).
Suzie is mother of two girls and passionate about being a great role model to them.
Daad Soufi
Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs
IAB Australia
Daad is the Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for IAB Australia. Daad is an experienced regulatory and commercial lawyer. She has developed her expertise by working for the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (for four years) and as a legal adviser in the areas of financial services having worked for GE, NAB, Australian Unity and the Bendigo and Adelaide banks. Daad has also worked in private practice at K & L Gates where she developed her appreciation for credit and privacy laws. Daad also has worked as legal counsel and majored in data protection and credit reporting for the not-for-profit sector having worked for ARCA & ADMA. Daad's breadth of knowledge and legal talent places her in the best position to analyse government policy and legislative developments and represent IAB members. With extensive commercial experience in dealing with regulatory change, Daad applies a practicable approach to the finer details of balancing regulatory requirements with businesses' needs.
Sandra Sully
News Presenter
Network Ten
Sandra Sully is a Journalist and Senior Editor with TEN Eyewitness News First At Five and one of the most recognisable and respected faces on Australian television.
Sandra is the co-presenter of TEN Eyewitness News First At Five Sydney and has been part of the TEN News team since 1990. She celebrated her 25th anniversary at the network in 2015.
Sandra has also hosted major Network news events including the Federal Budget, the Royal Wedding coverage from London and Oprah Winfrey’s Big ‘O’ event at the Botanical Gardens. She also co-hosted TEN’s interactive, real-life crime series Wanted.
Sandra’s career includes 18 years as the highly popular Presenter and Senior Editor of TEN Late News with Sports Tonight. In that role, Sandra was the first Australian journalist to break the news of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. She has subsequently covered anniversary commemorations of both the Bali bombings and the September 11 attacks.
Sandra’s documentary credits include travelling to Timor in 2010 to produce Independent Future, a report on how the then new nation was coping post-liberation.
In 2009, her documentary Sandakan – Sheer Bloody Murder revealed the tragic story of hardship and horror faced by Australian prisoners of war in Borneo on the infamous death marches of World War II. It premiered on Network Ten over the Anzac Day weekend that year.
COOL AID: the National Carbon Test featured Sandra’s exclusive interviews with former US Vice President and producer of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, and Australian of the Year Tim Flannery.
In 2005, Sandra secured a world-first exclusive interview with Douglas Wood, the Australian hostage freed from his kidnappers in Iraq. In 1997, Sandra was one of the first on the scene at one of Australia’s worst natural disasters, the Thredbo landslide, and covered the emotional rescue of Stuart Diver.
Off camera, Sandra is a news junkie and has been a driving force behind TEN Eyewitness News’ Social Media framework. She is a news leader on Twitter and Instagram and her prolific news tweets provide Australians with breaking news and information, amassing a large and loyal following along the way.
Sandra’s engaging warmth, style and versatility have enabled her to cover numerous events such as Commonwealth and Olympic Games, as well as becoming the first woman to co-host the iconic Melbourne Cup/Spring Carnival, a role she filled for seven years.
Sandra is a passionate sports fan and sits on the Board of Hockey Australia, as well as being one of the first women members of the prestigious Carbine Club of New South Wales, which supports children in sport.
Sandra is an Ambassador for National Adoption Awareness and, as well as being committed to several charity organisations, including her position as Co-Patron of Spinal Cure and Ambassador for the NSW Crime Stoppers and the Carbine Club of New South Wales. She is also a National Ambassador for Do Something, which encourages social change.
Sandra’s passion for news has fortified her position as one of the finest newsreaders in the country, delivering TEN Eyewitness News bulletins with integrity and credibility.
Alan Sunderland
Acting Director of People
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Alan Sunderland is the Head of Editorial Policy for the ABC.
He has been a journalist and editorial manager in public broadcasting for over 35 years, having divided his team equally between the ABC and SBS.
He has reported for news and current affairs programs on both radio and television, and spent 5 years as the Political Editor for SBS in Canberra.
He won two Walkley Awards for his journalism before moving into news management.
In his current role, Alan is responsible for editorial training, policy and advice for all content areas across the ABC.
Lucielle Vardy
Strategic Planning Director
GPY&R
Lucielle is currently the Executive Head of Planning at George Patterson Y&R Sydney. In her role, she leads the thinking on large-scale behaviour change communications campaigns, and a number of lifestyle brands. She was recently part of a global team that was selected to work on a campaign for Nobel Laureate Al Gore and the United Nations, to address climate inaction amongst world leaders. Before moving to GPY&R, Lucielle held senior roles in the media, marketing and advertising industry. She was on the launch team that introduced Virgin Mobile to the South African market, and has also run her own strategic communications consultancy.
Lucielle has achieved her Chartered Marketer Designation (CM). She is a strong believer in transferring knowledge, and has: spoken at a number of youth symposiums, contributed to a book ‘Hitchhikers Guide to Mobile’ and helped coach young talent through the Media Federation of Australia’s NGEN initiative.
In 2014, she was awarded the 2014 B&T Women in Media Awards winner for Strategy.
Melanie Withnall
Board Member
CBAA
and Managing Director
2SER
Melanie Withnall is the Managing Director of 2SER 107.3. She is also on the board of the Community Brodcasting Association of Australia.
She started her radio career in her local community radio station, 20 years ago, and volunteered at 2ser when she was studying for her communications and international studies degree at UTS.
She has worked as a producer, executive producer and journalist at 2GB and 2UE for many years. She was the Executive Producer of the Stan Zemanek program for many years, and has also worked with John Laws, Chris Smith, Philip Clark, Jason Morrison and many others. She was the executive producer of Mornings with Deborah Cameron t 702 ABC Sydney before she joined 2SER 4 years ago.
Melanie has also dabbled in television, film and magazines, and was a fulltime lecturer at AFTRS in the radio division (where she still gives guest lectures), and has tutored and lectured at UTS. She lived and worked in Russia.
She has a Graduate Diploma in Commercial Radio from AFTRS and a Bachelor of Communications/Bachelor of International Studies and Masters in International Studies (Russian) from UTS.
Miranda Wood
Head of News
The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph
Miranda Wood is Head of News at The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, responsible for the seven-day news and entertainment operation across both print and digital. Before her appointment in June, she was previously Head of Entertainment across the mastheads. Miranda has been a journalist for more than 17 years, starting her career at the regional Queensland newspaper, The Morning Bulletin, before relocating to Sydney to join The Sun-Herald where she worked her way up to become chief-of-staff. Miranda joined News Corp in 2007 as chief-of-staff of The Sunday Telegraph. She also worked on the newspaper as assistant editor and Insider editor.
Ways to engage - speaking opportunities are still available at Women in Media 2015
Present your company, showcase your leadership and demonstrate how you can help leaders from the Australian media industry transform their organisations in to an innovative enterprise. Use this unique forum to demonstrate your value to leaders in leadership and career advancement strategies across the media sector.
Speakers will assert themselves as leading suppliers and solution providers who have the tools to inspire emerging leaders and prepare for the new media landscape.
For a confidential discussion about a sponsorship solution tailored just for you, please contact Jon Treherne on +61 (0)2 8188 7536 or email jont@questevents.com.au