Dr Leonora Risse

Dr Andrea Carson is a Professor of Political Communication and incoming Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne. Her research explores the intersection between media and politics, with a particular focus on gender and political representation.

Dr Anjalee de Silva is a Lecturer at Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne and an Associate Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. She is an expert in administrative, anti-discrimination, and free speech and media law. Her research focuses on hate speech against women and its regulation, especially in online contexts.

Chantelle lives and works on Ngunnawal Country. She is a passionate feminist and leading global gender equality expert dedicated to advocating for and creating lasting improvements for women and girls globally. As part of the 2024 Australia Day Order of Australia Honours, Chantelle received a Public Service Medal for outstanding leadership and innovation in gender equality and women’s policy.

Cordelia Fine is a Professor in the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her work analyses scientific and popular biological explanations of behavioural sex differences and workplace gender inequalities, explores the effects of gender-related attitudes and biases on judgements and decision-making, and contributes to debates about workplace gender equality.

Dr Elise Stephenson is a multi award-winning gender researcher with an entrepreneurial background. She is Deputy Director at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University and her work focuses on intervening at critical junctures to be at the forefront of projects on gender, sexuality and leadership.

Emma Dawson is Executive Director of the Chifley Research Centre, the official think tank of the Australian Labor Party. Previously she was Executive Director of independent public policy think tank Per Capita. She has worked as a researcher at Monash University and the University of Melbourne; in policy and public affairs for SBS and Telstra; and as a senior policy adviser in the Rudd and Gillard Governments.

Isabelle Reinecke is a prominent leader successfully driving system change on the critical issues of our time, helping build a fairer, safer and more inclusive Australia.

Dr Michelle Evans holds a Professorship in Leadership at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne, specialising in the areas of Indigenous leadership and entrepreneurship. She is Director of the Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership working to contribute through education and research to an economically powerful Indigenous Australia.

Dr. Ramona Vijeyarasa is one of Australia’s leading experts on the ways in which legal systems address gendered issues, known for her innovative work on quantifying and addressing gender inequality in law. A Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney, she pioneered the Gender Legislative Index (GLI), a ground-breaking tool using human evaluators and machine learning to evaluate the gender-responsiveness of laws worldwide.

Dr Rebecca Huntley is one of Australia’s foremost researchers on social trends. With degrees in law and film studies, and a PhD in Gender Studies, she has lead research at Essential Media and Vox Populi and was a director at Ipsos Australia. For several years, she ran her own research and consultancy firm working closely with climate and environment NGOs, government and business on climate change strategy and communication. She is now Director of Research at the agency 89DegreesEast.

Stacey Ong is an economist by training, and Director of One Red Step, a social equity consulting practice. One Red Step works with clients to address issues such as gender inequality, family violence, homelessness, disability, disadvantage and marginalisation.