Empowering Women: A Summit for Growth, Power and Purpose

Antoinette Braybrook AM is an Aboriginal woman who was born on Wurundjeri country. Her grandfather and mother’s line is through the Kuku Yalanji. Antoinette is the CEO of Djirra, a position she has held since the service was established in 2002. Antoinette is also Co-Chair of Change the Record, Australia’s only national First Nations led justice coalition of legal, health and family violence prevention experts. 

Antoinette seeks to give voice and visibility to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly Aboriginal women, who experience family violence. She is a strong advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control and self-determination. Antoinette’s leadership and contribution to justice and human rights has been recognised through numerous awards, including being honoured on the UN Gender Justice Legacy Wall in 2017, inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2020, being recognised by the City of Melbourne as the 2022 Melburnian of the Year, becoming a Member of the Order of Australia in 2023 in recognition of her service to law and family violence prevention, being awarded the Deakin Alumni Award for Excellence and receiving a Deakin University Honorary Doctorate in 2024.

Paralympic triathlete, Exercise Scientist, disability advocate, and more! Since debuting on the international triathlon circuit in 2022, Anu has been enjoying great success while also studying, working as a coach, support worker, and advocate for people living with disability. Living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Dopa-Responsive Dystonia, and Autism, Anu brings lived experience, professional insight, and powerful advocacy to everything she does.We’re honoured to welcome Anu to Melbourne this October. With thanks to 'Navi for Women' for supporting Anu’s trip down to Melbourne for this incredible event.

Jo is a performer, writer, podcaster, speaker, MC and broadcaster. Since being discovered performing stand-up comedy in a dingy pub sometime in the early 2000’s, she has become loved for her warm and honest brand of content. Her 20 year career in radio included 2 record breaking, number 1 breakfast shows which makes her one of Australia’s most successful radio hosts. 

Jo writes a regular column for the Sunday Life Magazine, and is the creator of the Play Like A Girl kids book series. Her podcast credits include A to Be with Mimi Kwa. 

In between all these very rewarding roles, Jo has now turned her vast media experience into building Broad Radio – Australia’s first radio network for women, and a platform that amplifies the full diversity of women’s voices and stories. 

Jo is a fierce advocate for gender equality. In support of these issues, she is a patron for Lighthouse Foundation and Wellsprings for Women, and an ambassador for Left Write Hook and Fitted for Work.

Award-Winning Author and Melbourne - based leader in body-based healing and creative arts therapy, Cathy invites you to see your body not as something to fix or fight against, but as home, a safe, supportive place that holds your story, strength, and potential. Too often, women are conditioned to suppress their intuitive guidance. Whether through stress, illness, or societal pressure, it’s easy to become disconnected from our inner knowing. Cathy blends storytelling with innovative creative and somatic practices to help women rebuild that connection. You’ll explore how to cultivate a compassionate dialogue with your body, heart, and mind, moving from resistance to partnership.

Danijela is a passionate advocate for women’s financial empowerment, helping women transform their money mindset and make confident financial decisions both personally and in business. With nearly two decades of experience in corporate finance and leadership at global organisations including Lonely Planet, Toyota, Commonwealth Bank, and Invensys Plc, she now works as a sought-after business money mentor.

Her results-driven yet grounded coaching style helps women reduce financial stress, clarify their goals, and build a relaxed, empowered relationship with money.

Danijela is a CPA-qualified accountant with a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) with Distinction from RMIT and a Graduate Diploma in Company Secretarial Practice. She’s also trained in NLP, Matrix Therapies, Life Coaching, and is an Accredited Extended DISC Consultant, bringing a unique blend of financial and mindset expertise.

She believes “financial relaxation” shouldn’t be a dream, it should be a lived reality. Don’t miss her keynote, where she’ll share powerful tools to help women step into financial ease, confidence, and purpose.

Jo Smyth is a change strategist, board director, and author of Finding My Voice, a powerful collection of stories that amplify women's lived experiences of courage, bias, and resilience. 

With a career spanning strategic change, culture transformation, and human-centred leadership, Jo is the founder of Twiga Group, advising purpose-driven organisations across Australia and New Zealand. She brings deep expertise in navigating complexity, empowering voices, and designing environments where people and ideas thrive. 

In her writing and speaking, Jo champions the power of storytelling to shape culture and spark change.

Ana Asanovic is a storyteller, strategist, and advocate who harnesses the power of communication to drive meaningful social change. A migrant woman and former refugee, she draws from lived experience to amplify underrepresented voices, especially those of women navigating identity, belonging, displacement, and trauma.

Ana has contributed to two anthologies, Unity and Undefeated, with work that explores resilience, recovery, and cultural identity. With a background in strategic communications, she is passionate about using storytelling to empower women, remove barriers, and

challenge dominant narratives, while fostering connection and creating lasting impact. She holds two Master’s degrees, one in English Literature and one in Strategic Communications.

Adele Kincses grew up as a competitive swimmer before moving into triathlon and athletics, where she has achieved success at state, national, and international levels, including being crowned Victorian Triathlon State Series Champion and representing Australia at the World Triathlon Age-Group Championships. Alongside her sporting career, she works as a Research Assistant in GP training and is completing a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, focusing on improving health outcomes for diverse communities.

Through her decade-long lived experience with RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport), Adele shares a powerful story of recovery, resilience, and personal growth. Her journey offers insights that resonate beyond sport; listening to your body, prioritising health, overcoming challenges, and finding balance in life. Adele inspires not only athletes and health professionals, but anyone striving to embrace well-being and sustainable habits in their everyday lives.

Diane Rennard is a specialist dietitian with a lifelong passion for food and its relationship to health, with a particular focus on mental health and women’s well-being. She brings extensive experience supporting clients with eating disorders, fertility, pregnancy and breastfeeding nutrition, gastrointestinal conditions, metabolic health, and general women’s health concerns.

As a fertility dietitian, Diane helps clients optimise their diet for conception, supporting those trying naturally or through IVF and assisted reproduction. She takes a personalised approach, considering medical history, lifestyle, and cultural preferences, to provide practical, evidence-based guidance that empowers clients to achieve their health goals.

Diane’s background includes study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and senior clinical experience leading the dietetics team at a private psychiatric hospital in Melbourne. She is passionate about fostering a healthy relationship with food, supporting intuitive eating, and challenging misleading nutrition myths in society. Diane is a member of the Dietitians Association of Australia and the Australian Counselling Association, and is committed to providing a supportive, non-judgemental environment for all clients.

Emily Moore is a PhD candidate in neurophysiology at The University of Adelaide, as well as a radiographer in the public health system. After experiencing a life-changing injury in 2020, she turned her focus to research and improving understanding of mild Traumatic Brain Injury or 'concussion'. A passionate brain injury advocate and Navi for Women ambassador, Emily works to close the gender gap in concussion awareness, care, and research. In recognition of her impact in science and advocacy, Emily has been named as a finalist in the South Australian 7 News Young Achiever Awards, in The University of Adelaide STEM Award.