Empowering Women: A Summit for Growth, Power and Purpose
Melbourne Centre for Women's Mental Health is hosting its inaugural Empowering Women Summit, celebrating 7 years of advancing womens mental health and professional success.
24TH OCTOBER, 2025
PERSONAL GROWTH - PROFESSIONAL POWER - SHARED PURPOSE
Empowering Women Summit 2025
Personal Growth | Professional Power | Shared Purpose
Join us as we celebrate 7 years of advancing women’s mental health, professional success, and values-driven leadership at Melbourne Centre for Women’s Mental Health.
The Empowering Women Summit brings together professionals, leaders, and changemakers to explore the intersection of personal growth, career advancement, and collective impact. Designed in collaboration with our Professional Women’s Network and Department of Professional Programs, this event is your opportunity to gain insights, build meaningful connections, and contribute to a community that supports women in achieving success and alignment in their goals.
We have an incredible lineup in store!
Don't miss this chance to connect, collaborate, and ignite change. Secure your spot now!
Personal Growth – Self-awareness, resilience, and finding meaning
Professional Power – Leadership, career strategy, and breaking barriers
Shared Purpose – Collaboration, mentorship, and driving change
MEET OUR SPEAKERS
Anu Francis PLY
Announcing our first speaker for the Empowering Women Summit 2025: Anu Francis PLY – 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 Stanley
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.
Cathy Williams
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.
Sponsors
NAVI FOR WOMEN
Australian Made Activewear with a Purpose
Advocating for Women’s Health and Safe Inclusive Sport
Our Core Values:
Female Empowerment – Supporting women to feel strong, confident, and capable in all they do.
Environmental Sustainability – Committed to ethical, sustainable production.
Australian Made – Locally designed and manufactured for quality and impact.
We proudly sponsor women’s sporting events, including Triathlon Pink and other community initiatives that provide safe, accessible pathways into sport. More than just a brand, we are a community of women who support and inspire each other.
Through our Brand Ambassadors, Sponsored Athletes, and the Navi Pledge for Coaches, we champion women’s health, wellbeing, and inclusion. We also support research into female athlete mental health, using our platform to amplify the voices of those making a difference.
