Kistin is passionate about supporting women to get the rewards they deserve. With over 25+years of experience within Operations Management, she has seen it all.

She is an experienced mentor working with professional women to carve out the career they desire and encouraging them to negotiate for the rewards they deserve.

Now let’s get this straight… I was not born with truckloads of confidence, I was not bestowed with a magical gift, nor did I have some super-human genetic code. My confidence is a result of many years worth of growth, learning, mistakes and practise.  It’s something I work on daily, using practical techniques that now, through RiSe Women, I can share with you

Jodie is passionate about empowering women to be confident

Amanda has navigated her leadership team through tough restructures and changing economic environments with top tier results. She boasts a wealth of experience and knowledge that stems from her commitment to growing through adversity.

One of Amanda’s greatest joys is helping women develop critical emotional, business and leadership skills to thrive in their environment.

Natalie’s great passions are personal development, constant learning and health and fitness.  She is always looking for opportunities to learn and develop both personally as well as a leader.  Her current role merges her passions and gives her the platform to engage with organisations on how best to support their employee’s health and wellbeing.

Natalie is also an active member of her community volunteering her time when she can.  She is the President of the P&F committee at Mentone Grammar where both her boys attend, and she gives her time to help develop the school community.

Jo also holds an MBA majoring in Strategy, Planning, Leadership & Communication and is a Business in Heels Ambassador.

Jo is known for her optimistic, energetic style and has been affectionately coined the ‘positive provocateur’. She is relentless in her drive to focus on and positively shape the futures of the organisations with which she is engaged. Her trademark is aligning customer and community expectations with sound commercial, social and environmental outcomes.

Nicola spent the majority of her childhood living and being educated in south east Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia) before moving to Perth, Australia where she completed her schooling and a degree in Asian Studies, with a double major in marketing and Japanese along with further studies in undertaking a Graduate Diploma in Education.

She has spent time working in the energy, water and mining sectors and in trade & investment with those roles seeing her work in Perth, London, Port Hedland, Melbourne and now Geelong. She has been working in Geelong for over 5 years now and very quickly established an understanding of the Geelong business community through her role as Manager, Stakeholder Engagement & Communications for WorkSafe Victoria.  She played a large part in the project team for integration of  WorkSafe to Geelong and was heavily involved in all local partnerships.

She is now the Manager for Strategic Health Programs in the Innovation & Insights division with a current focus on an emerging disease effecting many stonemasons, silicosis.  She loves to be active and takes her love of sport to the Boardroom where she is entering her 5th year as a commissioner for AFL Barwon.

She has been involved in the judging for the Give Where You Live grants, Pako Festa and enters her third year as a Geelong Chamber of Commerce, Geelong Business Excellence Awards judge. Outside of working life, Nicola enjoys spending time with her family, reading and traveling.

Prior to this, she held senior management roles at the TAC in the areas of Business Intelligence, Partnerships and Claims Services.

Committed to building her community, Fiona serves in a number of volunteer roles. These include participating in the Industry Mentoring Program run by La Trobe University, where she connects with students as an industry professional in a 12 week guided but flexible mentoring relationship. 

Students are matched with mentors based on key interests, education and career aspiration alignment. Fiona also supports the Office of the Public Advocate’s Community Visitors program, where volunteers visit disability accommodation services, supported residential services and mental health facilities. In this volunteer role, Fiona visits residents living in specialist disability accommodation to talk with them about the care and support they receive. 

All visits are unannounced and a brief report is written at the conclusion discussing observations, recommendations and issues. The reports are discussed with facility management and compiled for an annual report to the Victorian Parliament.

Besides her professional career, her passion for arts & craft is showcased through her brand, Candescent Art Connoisseur; an artistic candle company. Sheetal’s creative mind has helped her pave her path in the entertainment industry catering to corporates & government entities through Option 1 Group, an illustrious events technology & content company. 

Being part of the founding member of this organization has helped her grow and explore her entrepreneurial skills over the past 2 decades as she actively contributed to the global growth and spearheaded several business verticals.Her passion and exposure to the knowledge and experience in the industry has motivated her to facilitate women empowerment and guide those who need a little boost to increase their confidence in being successful. 

Sheetal has a knack for making meaningful connections with audiences and an insatiable appetite for helping others maximizes her potential, to rock a platform, connect with a crowd and provide guidance so that others can effectively do the same.

Sian is a regular volunteer mentor with:

• Institute of Managers and Leaders ANZ
• Business in Heels.

And is a Committee Member for Melbourne Business Network, supporting all business across Melbourne and Victoria.

Talent Development at Adobe APJ, is a strategic business executive with extensive experience creating and delivering impactful people and organisational change outcomes that build success. I have built a strong reputation for delivering value to the business with a professional approach that is commercial, creative and collaborative.

I have worked in Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe and across Asia with multi-national businesses and iconic Australian organisations.

An experienced sales leader with deep insurance industry experience and a strong track record of embedding a high-performing sales culture, Kylie has been able to develop new accounts through effective prospecting and networking initiatives, and cultivating relationships with key decision makers. Her passion and dedication have enabled her to drive organic sales growth for the Australian business and motivate her team to deliver year-on-year growth which she now brings to her new role.

Along with a strong rural background Kylie has had more than 30 years’ experience in delivering insurance solutions for a diverse range of clients. She believes that success comes from leading from the front and inspiring through example to achieve organic growth goals and client service excellence.

Kylie’s dedication, passion and results have seen her recognised by the business for key awards such as, Branch Manager of the Year for Australia in 2016 & 2019, Best Leader of the Year in 2018 and attendance at the elite Gallagher Presidents Club held in Chicago in 2019.

Professional Experience

Kylie began her career in 1988 with Commercial Union Insurance. Her roles there included claims executive and technical farm underwriter, before she made the move to a broking role in 1995.

She joined Gallagher in 2012 as Dubbo Branch Manager and was promoted to Area Director for the region in 2016. Using deep insight into what it takes to make a branch successful and working from the ground up she is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and goal-oriented culture.