This inaugural program will celebrate our female business leaders while providing bespoke and tailored sessions for participants, aspirational emerging leaders who will be selected via expression of expression from our membership base.

The program development has been led by the Board and Executive at the Victorian Chamber. It was informed by a recent member survey, which identified barriers to workplace success faced by women such as lack of access to specific expertise, networking opportunities and role models.

Twenty senior executive women from Melbourne Chamber of Commerce members and the VCCI Board and Executive Council have volunteered to lead the program as Chamber Change Champions and will be aided by subject matter experts from the Chamber.

Chamber Change participants will have access to an association of eminent women in business across the state to share invaluable career insights, advice on skills and expertise and networking opportunities.

The inaugural Chamber Change program will be held across August, September and October and is open to Victorian Chamber members and their staff via an expression of interest process which closes on Friday July 23, 2022. The second iteration will run from February to April 2023.

More information and registration details can be found online.

To be attributed to Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive Paul Guerra:

“The Chamber Change program provides a unique and rewarding opportunity for our Champions to give back to other women in business, while participants will also have access to our in-house experts.

“We are proud of this program which we hope will make a real difference in empowering, celebrating and elevating women in business. Our President Karyn Sobels, the first female President of the Victorian Chamber, deserves credit for her role in championing the concept.

“There are lots of fantastic women in business programs out there and we were cognisant of creating a unique program that will genuinely benefit our members, rather than recreating the wheel.

“At the Victorian Chamber, we practice what we preach. We have strong representation of women on our Board, with females comprising 57 per cent of positions, while our executive team and broader staff demographic is 66 per cent female.”

Chamber Change Champions:

• Karyn Sobels, President – Victorian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
• Kate Mannix, Chief Executive Officer - AFS & Associates Pty Ltd          
• Tamara Culembourg, Customer Director - Alstom      
• Louise Adams, Chief Operating Officer - Aurecon Australasia Pty Ltd  
• Clare Gleghorn, Chief Executive Officer - Bastion Reputation 
• Kylie Warne, Founder and Managing Director - Brand Bureau
• Jo Allan, Chief People Officer - carsales.com Limited             
• Marcelle Davis, General Manager - CDC Victoria Pty Ltd       
• Victoria Loughnan, Head of Public Relations - Crown Melbourne            
• Samantha McCormack, State Manager - Gallagher   
• Liz Rodriguez, Co-owner - Grossi Florentino 
• Julia Swanson, Chief Executive Officer - Melbourne Convention Bureau                 
• Aileen O'Carroll, Executive Director - Pitcher Partners Advisors Pty Ltd     
• Wendy Killeen, Chief Executive Officer - Stanton & Killeen Wines       
• Pascale Quester, Vice-Chancellor and Director - Swinburne University of Technology
• Carlene Wilson, Director Policy & Government Relations - University of Melbourne  
• Helen Fairclough, Chief Operating Officer – Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre    
• Kristen Georgakopoulos, Executive General Manager People & Culture - VicTrack                
• Sarah Quinn, Head of Media & Communications - Visit Victoria Limited                 
• Wendy McMillan, Regional Senior Vice President - Wabtec Australia