Empowering Women: A Summit for Growth, Power and Purpose

Before We Begin : Understanding Cognitive Load and the Cost of Holding It All Together

Lynne Cazaly is an internationally recognised keynote speaker, award-winning author, and expert in leadership, workplace change, and the future of work. Through her consulting, speaking, and writing, Lynne helps organisations and leaders anticipate change, navigate complexity, and adopt more effective ways of working. Author of ten books and a regular contributor to leading business publications, including Harvard Business Review and Forbes Australia, she is known for translating emerging workplace trends into practical strategies that help people think, lead, and work differently. And yes, for the Australian-rules football fans, Lynne IS related to football legend Roy ‘Up there’ Cazaly!

Challenging Institutional Power and Its Manufactured "Truths": The Bold Advocacy of Women

Dr Sonja Skocic is a clinical psychologist, researcher, educator and Founder and Director of the Melbourne Centre for Women's Mental Health. Her academic interests lie at the intersection of epistemology, critical psychology and the history and philosophy of science, particularly how institutional authority shapes the production of knowledge, legitimises dominant perspectives and marginalises others.

In her opening keynote, Challenging Institutional Power and Its Manufactured ‘Truths’: The Bold Advocacy of Women, Dr Skocic examines how women throughout history have challenged established systems of knowledge and power, exposed the assumptions underpinning institutional authority and created new possibilities for participation, equality and social transformation.

The Cost of Just Doing It: What’s Really Driving Your Life

Kabinga C. Mazaba is an award-winning author, international speaker, counsellor, and transformational coach whose work is anchored in a single defining truth: healing begins the moment you stop abandoning yourself. A survivor of childhood trauma, profound loss, and displacement, Kabinga draws on both lived experience and professional expertise to help people move beyond survival and into meaningful transformation. She is the creator of the C.O.N.F.R.O.N.T. Framework and the author of the Amazon #1 bestselling memoir C.O.N.F.R.O.N.T. Reclaim Your Life. Known for her authenticity, powerful storytelling, and practical wisdom, Kabinga inspires audiences to challenge limiting beliefs, reclaim their voice, establish healthy boundaries, and live with greater courage and self-trust.

Back On My Feet: A Story of Resilience, Self-Compassion and Becoming

Dr Olivia Ong is a TEDx speaker, Rehabilitation and Pain Physician, and author whose work explores the intersection of neuroscience, resilience, and women's wellbeing. After a catastrophic spinal cord injury left her paralysed, she was told she would never walk again. Through years of rehabilitation, she not only regained the ability to walk but discovered the transformative power of self-compassion. Today, she helps women build resilience, recover from burnout, and lead with greater purpose and wellbeing.

Creativity and Clashing Cultures: The Ins and Outs of Permission

Tamara Protassow Adams helps women reconnect with their creative voice and overcome the barriers that keep them from expressing themselves fully. Drawing on her background in Gender Studies, writing, and publishing, she explores creativity, permission, and self-expression as pathways to personal growth and empowerment. A former editor and writing coach, she has worked with more than 60 authors and is a sought-after speaker on creativity, writing, and women's voices.

Joy, Movement and Embodied Expression as Pathways to Transformation

Abby Wake is an embodiment facilitator, movement artist, and creator of The RAWR Method, a body-based approach that blends primal movement, expression, and storytelling to support transformation. With a background in film, theatre, and international performance, and lived experience navigating childhood sexual abuse, hormonal intervention, and complex trauma, Abby’s work is grounded in both artistry and depth.

She teaches everyone to embody that their power is within and the awareness of the body empowers freedom and connecting back into presence, confidence, and authentic expression through the body. Her approach contributes to traditional narratives around healing, offering joy, aliveness, and expression as powerful and often overlooked pathways for change.

Abby has worked with women, men, and children across Australia through workshops, programs, and performance-based experiences designed to cultivate self-trust, embodied confidence, and connection.

Women Who Go the Distance: Stories of Courage, Endurance & Possibility

Hey, I’m Maria and my passion is trail running. The longer the distance, the better!

My love for running started as a way to escape the rigours of raising three daughters and before long it became part of my psyche; a way to test both my mind and body and achieve something for myself. Trail running takes you to some beautiful places, and lets you meet and build relationships with women from all walks of life. It also forces you to push beyond your comfort zone, to continually move forward despite any physical pain. 

In 2023 I completed my first ultramarathon in the Grampians. I felt on top of the world and ready to set my running goal higher! But one month after the race, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and soon my new goal became one just to survive. And this is where my ability to step outside my comfort zone became invaluable, as I was able to treat my cancer journey just like a ultramarathon, slow and steady, full of ups and downs. I continued to make myself walk or run each day, creating a purpose and above all protecting my mental health. 

My girlfriends and I now have a motto, ‘drink it while it’s fizzy’, meaning enjoy today what you may not be able to do tomorrow. I take this saying into every run, extremely grateful to be able to be still doing something I love and proving that we are all capable of extraordinary things.

Women Who Go the Distance: Stories of Courage, Endurance & Possibility

Karyn Fitts is an accomplished age-group triathlete whose achievements have placed her among Australia's leading competitors and among the world's best in her age group. Across almost three decades of endurance sport, she has demonstrated exceptional performance, determination and an enduring commitment to improvement.

Karyn has competed across the full spectrum of triathlon, from sprint and Olympic-distance racing to Ironman 70.3 and full Ironman events. She has won multiple Australian and Victorian age-group championship titles and represented Australia at World Triathlon Championships, including an impressive fifth-place finish in the Women's 65–69 Standard Distance event, where she was the first Australian across the line.

Karyn's endurance story extends beyond competition. Following major three-level spinal fusion surgery in 2021, she was advised that she might never run again. Her return to running, and ultimately to competing at a high level, became another extraordinary chapter in her sporting journey.

A fierce competitor with the mindset of a lifelong learner, Karyn continues to challenge herself, refine her performance and explore what remains possible.

Her story brings together athletic excellence, persistence and a curiosity about the limits of human capability.

Women Who Go the Distance: Stories of Courage, Endurance & Possibility

Esther is a national sales leader, endurance athlete, and passionate advocate for the idea that extraordinary achievements are possible for ordinary people willing to take the first step. 

With more than 15 years of leadership experience across DuluxGroup, Esther has built a reputation for championing women, delivering growth, leading high-performing teams, and navigating complex commercial challenges. Throughout her career, Esther has been recognised for her ability to combine commercial excellence with people-first leadership.  

Beyond the workplace, Esther is perhaps best known for an achievement that tested her physical and mental limits. In July 2017, she successfully swam the English Channel in 11 hours and 47 minutes, joining a select group of women worldwide to complete one of the world's most demanding endurance challenges. Battling cold water, powerful currents, unpredictable conditions, and hours of relentless swimming, Esther discovered that success is often less about talent and more about discipline, resilience, preparation, and mindset. 

Esther is looking forward to sharing lessons learned from chasing a seemingly impossible goal while balancing a demanding national leadership role. Through stories of determination, setbacks, support networks, and mental toughness, she explores how courage grows through action, why discipline matters more than motivation, and how ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when they commit to a vision and keep moving forward. Esther's message is simple yet powerful: anything you want is possible. Be relentless. Go get it.

Art as a tool for insight and empowerment

Caryn has worked as an art therapist for a range of community organisations that support the mental health of children, adolescents, adults, and families. She is currently a lecturer in the Master of Art Therapy at La Trobe University. When she is not teaching at LTU, Caryn works in private practice. For several years, she worked at a not-for-profit cancer support network that promoted coping and self-expression of children and teenagers living with cancer. In this role, she often worked with families, parents and siblings alongside the child. Her work has mainly been outreach, involving travelling to family homes to offer art therapy. In addition to her practice, Caryn has conducted research into how art therapy can support the ongoing recovery of adults with eating disorders at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She has published articles and spoken at conferences about her research and practice both nationally and abroad. She is also a co-editor of the Journal of Creative Arts Therapies (JoCAT).

From Margins to Movement: Reclaiming Power Through Intersectional Voices

Malavika Kadwadkar is an intersectional systems change leader. Her work spans health promotion, research, and advocacy, with a focus on advancing gender equality, women’s mental health, and community-led approaches to social change. She contributes to national advocacy through the Australian Multicultural Women's Alliance and serves in leadership roles across women's health and research translation, helping to elevate lived experience and shape more equitable systems and policies.

You've Outgrown Your Old Self, Now What?

Katherine Gokavi-Whaley is an executive coach and former CEO and COO who works with women at pivotal moments in their leadership journey. Through her She Leads Coaching practice, she partners with women entrepreneurs, leaders and organisations to move beyond surface-level development and create meaningful, sustained behaviour change. Known for her lived experience and commercially grounded, deeply human approach, Katherine brings a rare combination of executive experience and coaching insight, helping women navigate complexity, lead with clarity, and step into their next level with confidence and intention.