Director’s Forum Speakers

Emma Walsh is the CEO of Parents At Work and Founder of Family Friendly Workplaces, and a globally recognised pioneer in family-inclusive workplace policy. With more than two decades of experience, she has championed the social, economic and business case for inclusive workplaces, advocating for policies that advance gender equality and improve outcomes for families. Central to this work was Emma leading the development of the National Work + Family Standards - establishing Australia’s first clear benchmark for family-friendly workplace culture, and spearheading the launch of the Family Friendly Workplaces Certification program to recognise employers driving meaningful change. Regarded as one of Australia’s leading experts in return to work and parental leave transition, Emma delivers coaching and training programs that equip organisations and working parents to thrive. Her corporate background spans HR, training, recruitment and career mentoring roles with KPMG, Zurich and JP Morgan across Australia and the UK.

Meredith is a People & Culture executive specializing in growth and transformation, global operations, and organisation effectiveness.

As Senior VP, Global People & Culture at Telix Pharmaceuticals, she leads a global team with focus on talent management and organisation design, and building flexible and future-proofed People & Culture practises that can scale with a business. Telix is an ASX100 and Nasdaq listed, fast growing and highly innovative radiopharmaceutical company with employees in 12 countries across APAC, EMEA and AMER.

Meredith has worked in Healthcare and BioTech for most of her career, and excels in high-stakes, purpose-driven environments. She have a keen curiosity for all things people, particularly in how the systems and networks in the workplace influence capacity for accountability, communication, empathy, and self-awareness.

Rob Lamb is a global talent executive and currently Executive General Manager, Talent Experience at Xero. He has led large-scale talent transformation across high-growth technology companies including Careem and Uber, building data-driven, AI-enabled hiring engines that power global expansion.

Rob is passionate about the intersection of leadership, technology, and human potential - and how organisations can design talent systems that are both high-performance and deeply human. He brings a practical, operator’s perspective on scaling teams, raising the hiring bar, and building resilient organisations in times of rapid change.  

Jodette Cleary is an award-winning People & Culture executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across global, Asia Pacific and Australian markets. As Chief People & Culture Officer at hipages Group, an ASX-listed technology company transforming the tradie economy, Jodette is known for building high-performing, purpose-driven cultures where people and technology work hand in hand to drive growth.

A recognised expert in scaling tech start-ups, Jodette has established leadership teams and HR foundations for some of Australia’s most successful innovators — including Atlassian, BigCommerce, Campaign Monitor and hipages — guiding them through rapid expansion, IPO readiness, and international growth.

Named one of HRD’s Global Top 100 HR Directors, Jodette has also been celebrated for her leadership in diversity, equity and belonging, employee wellbeing, and the use of technology to create more human, inclusive and high-trust workplaces.

Passionate about the future of work, she champions the integration of AI, data and design thinking into the employee experience — always with a focus on keeping people at the heart of digital transformation.

Neha Patel is the Manager of Performance, Recognition and Benefits at Suncorp, based in Sydney. With more than 15 years of global experience across leading organisations, Neha is at the forefront of shaping a contemporary, benefits-led employee value proposition for over 12,000 employees across Australia and New Zealand. She doesn’t see benefits as programs — she sees them as powerful levers of engagement, performance and culture. At Suncorp, Neha champions a holistic benefits framework that connects performance, reward and recognition into one cohesive strategy. Her work ensures benefits are not just competitive, but meaningful, equitable and aligned to business outcomes. By embedding fairness, consistency and commercial impact into the design of benefits, she helps bring Suncorp’s purpose — building futures and protecting what matters — to life for its people every day.

Neha is passionate about repositioning benefits from an operational function to a strategic driver of organisational success. Through strong cross-functional collaboration and future-focused thinking, she enables leaders to use benefits and recognition as tools to attract, retain and energise talent in an evolving workforce landscape. At a time when employee expectations are rapidly shifting, Neha’s work demonstrates how a well-designed benefits strategy can become a defining advantage

Lindsay has been the Chief People and Culture Officer at SGFleet since March 2022. She is responsible for all people-related matters including talent, engagement, leadership development, change, remuneration and recruitment.
Before joining SGFleet, Lindsay worked for FWD Insurance in Singapore. As Group Head of Talent and Organisational Development, she was responsible for all strategic HR Leadership, Employee Engagement, Change, Talent Management and OD initiatives. During her 3 years at FWD, the company headcount doubled to 9000 employees.

Pauly Grant, Chief Talent Officer at Publicis Groupe ANZ & APAC, is an innovative and strategic HR leader with a more than 20-year career spanning marketing, communications and the fashion industry.

She has led the people and culture strategy for companies to deliver organisational transformation, new operating models, employee engagement, best practice L&D programs, safe and productive working environments, and holistic DE&I strategies.

Pauly is a creative problem solver who identifies and embraces new approaches to solve complex problems by leveraging data and insights. She believes that fostering an inclusive, enabling culture is a driver for exceptional business performance. As a leader, her focus is on making the shift from how to create a great Employee Experience (EX), to a great Life Experience (LX) for people. This is enabled through support frameworks that reflect a diverse workforce with varied lived experiences.

Belinda is the Chief Executive People, Legal and Corporate Services at Suncorp, 
overseeing People, Legal, Company Secretariat, Procurement, Real Estate and 
Partnering teams. With nearly 20 years of legal practice experience in Australia and 
South Africa, she has also led major organisational transitions, including Suncorp Bank’s sale to ANZ, and previously served as Group General Counsel.

Belinda’s HR leadership is centred on building future-fit capabilities with a performance edge, ensuring Suncorp’s sustainability and capacity to deliver for their customers. She is focused on investing in people, recognising their loyalty, and prioritising psychological and social safety across the organisation.

Dynamic senior People, Culture and Safety executive with extensive experience across Oceania and exposure to the APAC and US markets. Proven responsibility for multi-site operations across diverse industries including agriculture, consumer goods, retail, paint and coatings manufacturing, and transport. Her experience brings broad partnering with green, blue, and white-collar workforces and engagement at all organisational levels—from boards and executive leadership through to engineering, sales, warehousing, and customer service teams.  Sarah is deeply passionate about safety and wellbeing, and that the foundation of every successful organisation is a healthy, safe, and engaged workforce

Lauren is the Chief People & Culture Officer at Australian Payments Network, a role she has held for the past six years. Lauren’s role prioritises developing and executing people focussed solutions in support of AusPayNet’s strategy. She has spent the last 15 years in Executive Human Resources, partnering with leaders to shape the people agenda.

When she is not solving complex people issues, Lauren is passionate about education. She holds a Master of Commerce, majoring in Human Resources & Industrial Relations, and has recently graduated from Macquarie University with her Bachelor of Medical Science, majoring in Neuroscience and Advanced Human Biology.

Chris Lamb - Deputy Chair, Diversity Council Australia (DCA) Board
Chris is currently the Chief People Officer for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). He has responsibility for leading all aspects of APRA’s people strategy, including Inclusion and Diversity.

Prior to this Chris completed a 4-year term as Deputy Commissioner at the NSW Public Service Commission. His role included leadership of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging for the Commission which oversees the largest workforce in Australia.

Much of Chris’ career has been spent in the private sector, including 12 years at Lendlease where he served at different times as the HR Director – Australia, Global Head of Organisational Development and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. During his career, Chris has held HR Executive roles across Asia Pacific, the UK and Europe and driven inclusion programs across the globe.

Chris previously served on DCA’s board from 2010 – 2019 and was a foundation member of the Pride in Diversity (PiD) Advisory Board in 2010, serving until 2020. In 2015 Chris received AHRI’s Diversity Champion Award and in 2018 he completed further postgraduate education in Aboriginal Studies. Chris is also a Non-Executive Director of Netball NSW and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Chris is a registered psychotherapist and sees clients in private practice several evenings each week to play his part in increasing access to mental health support services.

He lives in Sydney with his wife of 30 years, and they have two adult children.

Chris is also the Chair of the People & Culture Committee of the DCA Board. 

Celina brings more than 20 years’ experience across the breadth of Human Resources spanning various sectors including financial services, oil, retail, construction and not-for-profit. Prior to joining Ausgrid in 2023, Celina’s most recent roles were with Life Without Barriers and John Holland, following 13 years at Caltex where she worked in various roles within and outside of HR.

Celina is passionate about building strong authentic relationships and shaping purpose aligned cultures which empower and energise people. Celina holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Human Resources & Industrial Relations from Western Sydney University.

Nidhi Chopra is a passionate and strategic HR leader with over a decade of experience, including fifteen years at Adobe. Throughout her career, she has excelled in diverse HR roles including business partnering, organisational design, employee relations, and leadership coaching.

Currently, Nidhi leads the HR Business Partnership Center of Excellence across APAC, where she is known for her thoughtful risk-taking, collaborative spirit, and commitment to delivering impactful outcomes.

Outside of work, Nidhi co-authored a children's e-book series and is a certified Leadership and Life Coach. Recognised as an Excellence Awardee for Australian HR Director of the Year 2024, Nidhi is dedicated to elevating capability and maximising outcomes for those around her. 

Janet is passionate about growing organisations and the people who work in them. After successfully navigating her way through careers in Finance and IT, Janet became fascinated with how individuals and organisations change. Consequently, she obtained her Masters in Organisational Coaching and ran an organisational change consultancy for 5 years. Janet has come to believe that through skilled leadership, it is possible to change our work environments so that they increase both employee well-being and business performance. That is why, since 2013, she has been working with leaders to strengthen leadership potential in them and the people around them. 

Janet’s style is part coaching, part facilitating, but always challenging and engaging. She believes that growth is best explored through curiosity and openness. Janet has over 20 years of business and management experience, including 10 years in executive positions. 

Her Industry experience spans across IT, Financial Services, Government, Professional Services, and SME and includes work in the US, Australia and across Asia

A seasoned ASX C Suite executive and Chief People Officer, Gillian Davie brings deep expertise in guiding organisations through disruption, transformation, growth, and divestment. With extensive leadership experience across domestic and international markets—including start ups, acquisitions, accelerated growth environments, strategic restructuring and post merger integration. Known for remaining calm, decisive and outcome focused under pressure.   Woolworths Group, AMP, NetComm Wireless, Bravura Solutions and MLC/IOOF are some of the organisations Gillian has contributed to.  

Gillian draws on GAICD and FGIA qualifications with her broad board experience spanning listed, private and not for profit organisations including Scouts Australia, Yarno, and currently Vice Chair Ronald McDonald House Greater Western Sydney.  

Gillian was recognised for her HR experience and impact, being named in the HRD Global 100 in 2023 and HRD HR Hotlist in 2024.