Annika is CEO of Male Champions of Change, a high-profile coalition of men who step up beside women to accelerate change on gender equality issues in organisations and communities.

As inaugural CEO, Annika led the development of a replicable and scalable model that has enabled Male Champions of Change to grow from its Founding group to an internationally recognised social change coalition of more than 230 CEO-level leaders and organisations. Together, they are focused on achieving gender equality, advancing more women into leadership and creating the conditions and cultures that enable women to thrive.

The Male Champions of Change strategy now includes local and global groups operating across every major sector, with a strong focus on innovative and disruptive actions to shift systems of inequality – many of which are now considered global standards for organisations aspiring to be employers of choice.

Prior to commencing as CEO of Male Champions of Change, Annika spent 15 years working in both the public and private sectors. She has worked for the US government, the United Nations Development Programme and multiple international NGOs focusing on public policy. She has designed programs for Chief Executive Women, Australia’s pre-eminent organisation representing its most senior women leaders from the corporate, public service, academic and not-for-profit sectors, and contributed to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s National Review on discrimination during pregnancy and return to work.

Prior to this, Annika worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company where she:

• designed McKinsey Australia’s, 5 year, multi-million-dollar pro-bono strategic initiative;
• advised the Board of a major Australian hospital on how to think strategically about medical tourism and the global health workforce shortage; developed a private label brand strategy for one of Australia’s largest retail companies; and
• designed and implemented a multi-departmental business review system, created to track performance and tailor execution strategies for one of Australia’s largest retail companies

Annika has completed a Bachelor of Science (Foreign Service) from Georgetown University in Washington DC and a Master of Law (International Law) from The University of Sydney.