Post by Chief Executive Women (CEW)

This week, Chief Executive Women (CEW) is at Women Deliver 2026 in Narrm/Melbourne, the first time the conference has been hosted in the Oceanic Pacific region. CEW CEO Lisa Annese spoke yesterday on the panel Harnessing systems of power as a disruptive strategy for progress, alongside Dr Samone McCurdy from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Julie Bissinella from the Champions of Change Coalition, Sarah Buckley from the Trawalla Foundation and Pathways to Politics for Women, and Khayshie Tilak Ramesh from Australian Multicultural Women's Alliance (AMWA) and YWCA Australia, in conversation with Julie Reilly OAM from Australians Investing In Women. The panel made the case that meaningful progress on gender equality requires shifting institutional power, not just improving outcomes at the edges. “Nothing changes without shifting institutional power to look different and to be ready to create a different future,” Ms Annese said. Australia’s progress over the past decade has been built through cross-sector collaboration of exactly this kind: women’s leadership, regulated transparency, philanthropic backing, civil society advocacy and corporate action working in concert. CEW will continue to advance this agenda at home and to share these lessons with international counterparts navigating similar challenges. #WomenDeliver2026