Sydney, Business Women Australia Fireside Chat - Lessons in the Boardroom

Sydney, Business Women Australia Fireside Chat - Lessons in the Boardroom

Join Business Women Australia members and guests for a fireside chat with Andrea Durrant, CEO and Managing Partner at BoardsGlobal. Hear key insights and experiences about Boardroom agendas, Board roles, and pathways.

Co-hosted by BWA Leaders Wendy Harper and Vicki Wu, this conversation will cover all the burning questions about the challenges and opportunities facing women on boards and those embarking on boardroom pathways.

Andrea will share the most valuable connection Initiatives, how to identify people and networks where your knowledge and skills will be valued.

Join the conversation as we explore the issues Boards are facing, skills they are looking for and how Directors are managing in this current, complex environment.

Don’t miss this delicious business dinner with a meaningful Roundtable Discussion and brain-trust peer group, where everyone is heard.

This is an opportunity to connect and contribute to a conversation with a diverse group of experienced women keen to be more effective in the Boardroom (spanning all sectors).

Register and join the conversation. We cater to dietary requirements, and your seat includes a glass of fine wine and non-alcoholic refreshments.

Be connected to Australia's fastest-growing national, cross-sector community of female leaders who are committed to the greater good. We welcome non-members to join us at this event.

If effective Boards and Boardroom decision-making drives your purpose or piques your interest (whether NFP, private, or public), we would love to see you.

BWA is a non-competing, supportive community with a desire to see all businesswomen achieve success in business and life.

Meet Andrea Durrant

Andrea is the CEO and Managing Partner at BoardsGlobal. She brings a deep understanding of board and organisational dynamics to this Roundtable conversation. She specialises in board and culture performance. Her work delivers evidence-based insights drawing on the latest science and provides tangible results.

With 30 years experience as a CEO, Managing Director, a partner in consulting firms, and a Non-Executive Director, Andrea has a deep commerciality and understanding of boards, leadership, and governance. She is known for the keen insight and sound judgement that she brings to her work. Andrea has consulted to organisations including Incitec Pivot, Bupa, ActewAGL, First State Super, SkyCity, KPMG, NAB, Meridian Energy, Blackmores, AHRI, IDP, Fletcher Building, Australia Post and Australian Red Cross. Her former executive career entailed CEO and C-suite roles delivering high growth and transformation for large multi-faceted organisations such as Nokia Mobile Phones (NZ) where she was the first female country leader globally, Spotless Group, and Melbourne Chamber of Commerce.

Meet Wendy Harper

Wendy Harper is a Transformation Leadership Consultant with a deep focus on inner development in leadership. She is Chair of the Business Women Australia Advisory Board, CEO of Agency of Women, Global Ambassador / Co-founder of the Inner Development Goals National Hub, and Non-Executive Board Member of several Non-Government Organisations (sustainability/gender equity). Wendy guides visionary leaders to activate their core agency and resilience for mastering the art of complex transitions. She also curates immersive, gamified ‘Collaboration Gyms’ for building the collaborative muscles essential to successful sustainability and cultural transitions within an organisation.

As the founder of the Agency of Women, Wendy is committed to building the infrastructure required to connect the world’s 2 billion grassroots and rural women as part of a single global movement. The pilot project iterating the model is being developed in partnership with Vanuatu Elder and women's champion, Mary Jack, founder of Mitingar.org (Vanuatu’s first national grassroots women’s representative body), which is advocating, representing, and resourcing the social leadership development capacities of n-Van women amid escalating climate impacts.

Meet Vicki Wu

Vicki Wu serves on the Advisory Board of BWA, contributing a governance lens to the organisation’s leadership and programs. Her role supports the Board in ensuring leadership practice remains grounded, sustainable, and respectful of the real human load leaders carry behind the scenes.

As the founder of AI Kindred Families™, Vicki works at the intersection of leadership, artificial intelligence, and family systems. Her work centres on human‑first governance, ensuring that as technology accelerates, judgment, stability, and family integrity remain intact.

About Business Women Australia

Business Women Australia is a national community of women connected through a shared commitment to leadership, growth, and meaningful impact. Across industries, roles, and stages of career, women engage with BWA in different ways, whether leading organisations, building businesses, contributing on boards, or stepping into new levels of leadership.

Our focus is on developing conscious, capable women leaders through pathways that support leadership, business growth, and personal evolution, while fostering genuine connection and collaboration.

If you feel aligned with this, you’re already part of the broader BWA community.

For those ready to go deeper, you can explore our leadership pathways and programs at:

https://businesswomenaustralia.com.au