Speakers at Women in Insurance & Financial Services Summit 2018
Kathryn Bordonaro
Director Finance Brokers
Allbiz Finance Brokers
Kathryn Bordonaro has over 25 years experience in commercial finance, and has been a commercial finance broker for over 17 years. More importantly Kathryn is the 8th generation of her family to be a self employed business owner, and it is this passion for small business that has led her to advocate CAFBA (Commercial Asset Finance Brokers Association of Australia) and has served on the board of this organisation for over 10 years.
She is the first woman to hold an executive position on this board. In addition to this role, Kathryn is a member of the Victorian State Government Small Business Minister’s Advisory Council, and uses this forum to raise issues that impact on small business, particularly with regard to access to finance. In 2014, Kathryn was named as the Small Business Champion of Australia by COSBOA (Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia) – this award was given to represent the many hours of volunteer work that Kathryn has provided on behalf of the small business community, in particular, her constant lobbying for improved access to finance for small business.
Deirdre Boyle
Head of Marketing and Digital
AIA Insurance Australia
Deirdre is a senior marketing leader with over 15 years’ experience working in some of Australia’s largest banking and insurance brands across marketing, product and digital. She is passionate about the application of human behaviours and motivations in shaping effective insight led marketing, channel and business strategies. Currently the Head of Marketing & Digital at AIA, she leads a team of marketing, insights, analytics and digital professionals in the design and delivery of brand and channel marketing strategies and great digital experiences.
Stephanie Carman
Head of Change and Capability, Customer Growth
Bupa Australia & New Zealand
Stephanie is an experienced strategic change leader who is focused on aligning organisational design, culture and performance to strategic objectives. Practiced in various management roles ranging from account management, operations and sales to strategic human resources and Leadership Development. Her passion lies in leadership development, organisational culture change and creating inclusive leadership to maximise business performance outcomes.
Believing that leadership and inclusion are synonymous in creating a psychologically safe and thriving culture, at Bupa Stephanie plays a critical role in influencing and curating the culture by leading multiple future focused projects.
3+ years’ experience as a member of the Senior Executive Team reporting to the CEO, with expertise leading and delivering strategic change projects business-wide. And a proven track record in delivering organisational change initiatives across a broad spectrum of business objectives.
Samantha Clarke
Founder & CEO
Advice RegTech
25 years financial services experience in executive director and consulting roles, spanning strategy, product development, technology & innovation, marketing & distribution, Government & regulatory
relations, for multi-nationals, NFPs and start-ups.
Samantha has received industry awards for Leadership, IT and Compliance Innovation, and IndustryAdvocacy.
Her qualifications include a Masters of Business, a Bachelor of Commerce, and she is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Lynda Coker
Board Director & Investor
Scale Investors Limited
Lynda is a chartered accountant with c.20 years of working in Financial Services and advising both financial institutions and private equity. She has experience of working with Government and regulators during the financial crisis in the UK and was involved in authoring the 2014 Financial System Inquiry report to Commonwealth Treasury, Australia.
Currently a FinTech mentor and sits on several Advisory Boards of FinTech startups, Lynda is also an angel investor and a NED for Scale Investors, which funds female entrepreneurs and a NED for The Studio (incubator for Mediatech startups). She has two bachelor degrees in Information Technology and Business and has completed studies in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Stanford University.
Jen DalitzAn accomplished businesswoman, Jen was listed in the inaugural ‘40 Young Business Leaders List’ by In The Black; has been a Telstra Business Awards finalist and the recipient of an Edna Ryan Workplace Award for improving the working conditions of Australian women. She represented Australia in a BBC global debate on the advancement of women and the Millennium Goals and the Women’s Summit hosted by Malaysia’s Minister for Women.
Jen holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management, is a Graduate of the Company Directors Course and an accredited coach with the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership. She has ten years experience serving on Boards in the financial services, agricultural and education sectors including four years as Chair of a national education foundation.
Jen began her career over 20 years ago in the finance sector where she developed a strong operational and consulting track record within leading financial services providers and a top-tier management consulting firm. Her achievements there include leading large teams of 200+ people; with responsibility for $9billion in funds under administration; and directing business programs with $50m+ budgets.
A decade ago, she transitioned to the entrepreneurial arena and has since launched three thriving small businesses. With this experience, Jen brings an ownership mindset to the organisations she works with and is a self-starter with an autonomous style and proven ability to deliver.
Mike Dovey
Director
IAG Ventures
Samantha Green
Director
RCL Insurance Service
Samantha is the owner/director or RCL Insurance Services, based in Melbourne. After several positions as an Insurance Broker and moving interstate from Queensland to Victoria, Sam decided it was time to take the leap, invest in herself and start her own business as an Authorised Representative with PSC Connect. With a Career spanning over 12 years in the insurance industry and successfully launching her own business, Sam has a desire to help other women break the status quo and give them the confidence to step outside their comfort zone to pursue their career dreams. Ask Sam what keeps her up at night!
Majella Knobel
IT Project manager
Westpac
Majella Knobel is renowned for being a trail blazer and pushing the boundaries especially when it comes to her professional career as she lives without any usable vision. Majella has more than 10 years’ experience in technology development and implementation. She has worked for numerous organisations including Red Cross, the University of Melbourne and currently is a Project Manager in Technology at Westpac Group. Her professional career not only includes managing multimillion dollar technology projects and leading a team of people but also includes rolling out numerous programs of work around accessibility and disability advocacy where her strategic thinking is changing the culture and greater customer experience for individuals with disability and access requirements. Majella’s presentation will leave you not only challenging what you thought was possible in life and work, but also giving you to ideas with which to push the boundaries that may hold you back.
Debra Kruse
Executive Director
Verifier
Debra is an experienced and commercially focussed lawyer, with a keen interest in policy and legislative development affecting business start-ups of all flavours.
Currently, she is one of Verifier’s Executive Directors. In addition, she provides both legal and non-legal consulting services to a number of other clients. Debra’s experience includes 9 years with GE Capital in Australia (as Deputy General Counsel and Government Affairs and Policy Leader), 3 years with the US law firm Skadden Arps, based in Skadden’s San Francisco and Palo Alto office. During that time, she provided specialist support in high value, fast paced mergers and acquisitions and worked closely with the firm’s corporate lawyers in Palo Alto, New York and other domestic and international offices.Debra is admitted to practice law in Victoria, Australia and in California, U.S.A.
Rebecca James
Chief Marketing & Enterprise Officer
Prospa
Rebecca joined Prospa from ME Bank, where as CMO she led the transformation of the ME brand and drove the establishment of a business-wide customer centric culture to transform the bank into a digitally led business. Rebecca has a wealth of experience in marketing and advertising, having held key marketing and leadership roles with challenger brands and strategic enterprise channels. Prior to ME Bank, Rebecca held the position of managing director at CX agency, Lavender, for seven years and ran her own strategic consultancy. She has a B.Bus from UTS and is trained in Design Thinking from Stanford.
Natasha Janssens
Founder
Women with Cents
Natasha Janssens arrived in Australia as an 18-year-old refugee, with no money and no knowledge of Australia’s financial system. In an unfamiliar country and without a support network, she had to learn from experience – and fast!
Now based in Canberra, not only did Natasha go on to become a qualified accountant, mortgage broker and financial planner, she is also the founder and director of Sova Financial!
With a family of her own, Natasha knows what it’s like to juggle life as a new mum with the transition to a single income household – in short, not easy! Having experienced this balancing act first hand and witnessing other women facing the same challenges, Natasha realised her calling: to shift the way women think about money forever.
Lina Lim
Head of Technology
National Stock Exchange of Australia
Lina Lim is the Head of Technology at the National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX), where she is responsible for the strategic direction on innovative product and technology adoption for the business. Her leadership and achievements were recognised by CIO50 Australia 2017 as a rising star on the CIO50 Ones to Watch list.
She is also Managing Director & Co-founder of Tempus Adventus, a start-up company that focuses on promoting and delivering Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies in the financial market and services industry. Her projects are involving and focusing particularly in blockchain for social impact, impact investing, fintech for financial inclusion, and empowering women leadership and involvement in financial technology.
Lina recently joins as Director and Board of Directors of the Blockchain Philanthropy Foundation (BPF). It is a not for profit organisation; with purpose statement is enabling and accelerating humanitarian and initiative social good projects worldwide, through blockchain technology. Committed to be the catalyst of change for the world by providing thought leadership in Blockchain for Philanthropy and Social Good space, BPF is connecting NFPs, corporates, governments, philanthropists and blockchain community together to create a better future.
Fiona Macgregor
Chief Information and Innovation Officer & (Acting) Chief Customer and Brand Officer
TAL
In July 2018, Fiona Macgregor expanded her role to TAL’s Chief Information and Innovation Officer and (Acting) Chief Customer and Brand Officer.
In her role, Fiona has responsibility across Technology and TAL’s Innovation Incubator and Accelerator programs and brings with her a successful history of corporate innovation.
Fiona is an engaging leader who believes strongly in purpose-led innovation as the means by which businesses can create a sustainable future for their customers. At TAL, Fiona has forged a strong link across Brand, Customer Experience and Innovation, using shared values and a common purpose to galvanise the teams she is responsible for and drive value across the organisation.
Prior to joining TAL, Fiona worked as an independent consultant, advising some of the UK’s largest service brands and high-tech companies on growth opportunities, customer experience design and how leaders can create the right climate for innovation.
Naby Mariyam
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Coverhero
Naby Mariyam is Founder and CEO of Insuretech Startup Coverhero. Coverhero is a platform that helps consumers understand, manage all their insurance policies in one place using machine learning. Coverhero is part of the Qantas Avro Accelerator program. Naby Has 20 years of experience in research, Education, Management consulting and ventured into start-ups in the last 5 years. She is passionate about AR/VR, Machine learning and Technology. She Represented Australian and the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit in Berlin 2017. She is an advocate for Diversity of thought in technology and women in leadership.
Juliette Murphy
CEO & Co-Founder
FloodMapp
Juliette Murphy (CPEng, RPEQ) is the Co-Founder and CEO of FloodMapp. Juliette is a chartered professional water resources engineer turned entrepreneur. She is a passionate and driven individual, inspired by social good and solving big-impact problems. Juliette worked as a consultant and water resources engineer for ten years; specialising in surface water management, flood modelling, water supply planning and mine water management. Throughout her career, she has worked as a water resources engineer in Australia, Indonesia and Canada; gaining diverse experience with different climates and hydrological challenges. After seeing the devastation of the Queensland 2011 floods and then the Calgary, Canada 2013 flood, and how each impacted on friends and family, Juliette was motivated to improve flood preparedness and response. She left her role as a Senior Surface Water Engineer and co-founded FloodMapp with Ryan Prosser to tackle this problem. FloodMapp is a venture-backed startup offering real-time mapping and intelligent flood alerts for insurers and banks. FloodMapp helps insurers reduce their flood related damages, whilst improving the safety, resilience and customer experience of their policy holders.
Gaayathri Periasami
Risk and Compliance Manager - Wealth Investment Products
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
Gaayathri Periasami is a risk and compliance manager for wealth investment products at the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited. She works in a highly dynamic environment with daily responsibilities including managing and monitoring the compliance framework for superannuation, assisting the business unit with its compliance obligations, and assessment of operational risk events.
She is also a professional lawyer admitted to practise in Victoria and has held a number of diverse roles including a stint in politics where she was a legal research adviser for the Hon. Senator Bridget McKenzie, currently the Minister for Sport, Rural Health and Regional Communications and a media adviser for Dr. Sharman Stone, the former member for Murray. Gaayathri is very passionate about serving the communities she works with and has a special interest in projects and programmes affecting regional and rural communities and affairs. Gaayathri’s presentation will be thought-provoking and will provide a granular insight into the future of compliance and risk management in the digital era.
Troy Roderick
Strategic Advisor | Executive Ambassador
Male Champions of Change | Catalyst Australia
Troy Roderick has specialised in Diversity & Inclusion for around 25 years. In his work with the Male Champions of Change, Troy advises MCC program directors on key insights and trends in gender equality, shaping the agenda for bold initiatives to create more gender balance in business. As Catalyst Australia’s Executive Ambassador, Troy provides leadership and support to Catalyst supporter companies in Australia committed to more inclusive cultures.
Most recently, Troy served for 10 years leading Telstra’s global Diversity & Inclusion function, with reach into customer, community and HR practice, which included ground-breaking initiatives on flexible working, inclusive leadership, gender equality, Indigenous employment, and workplace responses to domestic and family violence. Troy’s work achieved record levels of female representation in executive management, CEO leadership team and graduate cohorts; consistent increases in female recruitment, retention and representation across the organisation including in male-dominated business units; D&I Index results scoring higher than any other element of employee engagement; a 300% increase in male leaders taking long parental leave; employee engagement of flexible workers at global high-performing norm levels; and increased employment across all diversity segments - Indigenous, disability, LGBT+ and other cultural and linguistic diversity.
Founding Director, RegTech Association
Lisa Schutz is a founding director of The RegTech Association and the founder and CEO of Verifier. The RegTech Association’s mission is to accelerate the use of regulatory technology (RegTech) to deliver corporate and community outcomes. In her own business, which is a RegTech company, Lisa is pioneering customer driven data sharing and started out by solving for proof of income to solve the responsible lending challenge - by using non-bank data particularly payroll data.
As well as her board role at The RegTech Association, Lisa is on APRA’s Data Collection Strategic Industry Group and is an active participant in the Open Banking standards setting process instigated by Treasury. Lisa has a Masters by Research on information sharing in credit markets and is the author of Decisions Not Data - a book designed to help CEOs and their teams make more strategic use of data. Lisa’s vision for data sharing is a sustainable, values driven, privacy by design model that empowers both individuals and societies.
Blazenka Skender
Chief Human Resources Officer
icare
Blazenka is a senior human resource executive with over 20 years’ experience working in the insurance and financial services, telecommunications and government.
Prior to Chief Human Resources Officer, Blazenka was the General Manager, People Engagement Partnering at icare and partnered with the group leadership team to develop strategic, innovative and pragmatic focused people solutions that align with icare’s transformation strategy.
Her extensive leadership experience has centred on human resource management, talent acquisition, change management, remuneration, culture, wellbeing, inclusion and diversity, and people centric strategies across Australia and throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and South Africa.
Blazenka has a solid track record in driving business performance by developing and executing strategic solutions that align the customer and employee experience and comes to us with a Bachelor of Arts and Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education at the University of Sydney.
Deanne Stewart
Future Chief Executive Officer
First State Super
Experienced international senior executive with over 20 years proven track record of turning around and managing successful international & domestic businesses.
Expertise in superannuation, wealth management, and insurance industries with deep experience in marketing, business strategy, sales leadership, customer experience and product development gained at several global financial service and management consultant organizations. Demonstrated ability to run a P&L, solve complex business issues, and motivate & lead a diverse team.
Roslyn Toms
Group Executive; Legal and Chief Risk Officer
nib Health Funds
Ms Roslyn Toms is Group Executive - Legal and Chief Risk Officer and is responsible for managing legal, risk, compliance and governance (including ESG) across the nib group businesses in Australia, New Zealand and its global operations. Ms Toms has over 15 years’ experience in-house and in private practice and is a member of the Law Society and Governance Institute.
Dr Catriona Wallace
Chief Executive Officer & Founder
Flamingo
Dr Catriona Wallace is an Entrepreneur in the Artificial Intelligence field.
Dr Wallace is the Founder and CEO of high-profile Artificial Intelligence FinTech and ASX Listed company (ASX: FGO) Flamingo AI, which provides a Cognitive Virtual Assistant platforms, ROSIE and MAGGIE that helps Financial Services companies improve online sales conversion rates. Flamingo is the second only woman led (CEO & Chair) business to list on the ASX.
Based in NYC and Sydney, Dr Catriona Wallace is one of the world’s most cited experts on the Future of Customer Experience, Artificial Intelligence and Bot Strategy. Catriona also sits on the Board of ADMA.
Catriona has founded three other businesses - customer experience design firm, Fifth Quadrant, market research firm, ACA Research and women’s co-working space, The Ventura. Catriona has a PhD in Organizational Behavior:Human Technology Interaction and is a well published author and Analyst.
Catriona is a highly awarded business person having won the Advance Australia's Technology & Innovation Award (2017,) been inducted into the Australian Business Woman’s Hall of Fame, winning Telstra Business Awards, is Alumni in the Springboard Enterprises Women Entrepreneur’s and EY Entrepreneur of the Year programs. Recently Catriona was awarded a Pearcey Foundation award for tech entrepreneurs and was recognized as Top 4 Most Respected People globally in the Customer Experience sector.
Catriona is also a high profile philanthropist, human rights activist and mother of five.
Specialties: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Digital Transformation; Customer Experience Strategy, Customer Experience Design & Research (Global), Innovation, Outsourcing and IT Tender Management; Data Analytics; Big Data; Multi-channel Strategy; Contact Centre Service Operation; Customer Experience Analyst; Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Studies (Asia Pacific and Nth America), Location Assessments, Investment Attracti
Speaking opportunities are still available for the Women in Insurance & Financial Sectors Summit 2018
Introduce your company, showcase your leadership and demonstrate how you can help by speaking to this senior gathering of insurance and financial services sectors.
Use this unique forum to voice your opinions on the most important issues facing the insurance and financial services executives today. Speakers will assert themselves as advocates for the future success of the sector.
For sponsorship opportunities at Women in Insurance & Financial Services Summit 2018, please contact, Nischal Aryal on +61 (0)481 367 399 or email nischala@questevents.com.au