Chief Executive Women invests $350,000 in leadership scholarships
Looking beyond the simple idea of profit is one of the aims of Chief Executive Women (CEW), an organisation representing more than 300 of Australia’s most senior women from the corporate, public service, academic and not-for-profit sectors
Today, CEW today announced eight executive education scholarships for women leaders to attend the best executive education on offer in Australia, the US, France and Singapore.
The awards are the first part of CEW’s 2015 program of 17 scholarships worth a total of $350,000. The awards go to women who emerge from CEW’s stringent selection process as leaders who will shape Australia’s future. CEW’s scholarship program aims to equip women to reach their potential and make decisions that have social impact that goes beyond an organisation’s bottom line.
Importantly, the 2015 awards include a new scholarship for ethical leadership, the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship at the Centre for Ethical Leadership, Ormond College, Melbourne University. The course is designed for leaders who are ready to leverage their leadership skills to influence and improve the ethical culture of their workplaces.
Diane Smith-Gander, CEW President, said: “Creating the female leaders of the future is a numbers game, and that’s why CEW’s scholarship program has supported more than 100 women at all levels of their careers. Leaders need to find a different way to lead.”
Smith-Gander said CEW was ahead of the curve in offering a scholarship on ethical leadership. “The leadership roles of the future will centre on collaboration and redefined notions of holistic performance outcomes. Ethical leadership explores these already, so CEW scholars will be a step ahead in this arena,” she said.
Among the eight scholarships announced today is the $60,000 award for a senior leader to attend INSEAD’s Advanced Management Program in France. Kate Farrar, Managing Director of QEnergy, has been awarded this scholarship for 2015.
Farrar said: “The world is changing so quickly at the moment, given the pace of technological innovation and globalisation, that if you take time out for whatever reason, you do really need a super-heated re-set on what business looks like today. Executive education is the most effective, most personalised and fastest way to do that. CEW is to be applauded for deliberately helping women into positions of leadership. It’s the only way we can get to the ‘tipping point’ where it becomes a cultural norm for half the leadership team to be female.”
In addition to the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship and the INSEAD AMP scholarship, the other six awards announced today are:
Harvard Business School, Women’s Leadership Forum (Boston). Two scholarships awarded in partnership with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia
- Kate Gunn, Chief Operating Officer, ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), University of Sydney
- Julie Shuttleworth, General Manager (Solomon Mine), Fortescue Metals Group
INSEAD Negotiation Dynamics (Singapore)
- Cheryl Chantry, General Manager, Personal Insurance Customer Delivery, IAG
- Clytie Dangar, Global Account Manager, Orica Mining Services
AGSM Women In Leadership Program (Offered to women working part-time)
- Jodi Keall, Senior Manager, Strategic Policy, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
- Kellie Wade, Diversity Manager, People and Development Centre Manager, King & Wood Mallesons