The networking group representing Australia’s most senior women in business has taken the next step in its evolution by appointing its first ever CEO.
Former Macquarie Group Foundation head Julie White will take the helm of the 240 member Chief Executive Women, in an appointment CEW president Belinda Hutchinson says will help the group implement its strategic vision.
The move comes following recent news that Women Corporate Directors, a new group at the senior leadership end of women’s networking organisations, is on the hunt for members. WCD was formed earlier this year by Carol Schwartz and NAB director Jillian Segal.
White, a long-time member of CEW and non-executive director of a range profit and not for profit boards, takes up the position part-time. Hutchinson says the structure of the appointment is symbolic of CEW’s advocacy for flexible working conditions for senior leadership roles.
White retired as global head of the Macquarie Group’s philanthropic arm last year, and has also been chair of the Coca Cola Australia Foundation, DanaAsia, and a board director of Social Enterprise Finance Australia, Inspire Foundation and Women’s Community Shelters.
The appointment will be formerly acknowledged at CEW’s annual dinner tonight in Sydney, where the group is also expected to announce new executive education scholarships supporting women in leadership positions.