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Cassandra Nadira Lee, Founder, COMB (Connecting Mind and Body)

What inspires you? I am inspired by the resilience and strength that comes from overcoming personal challenges. My experiences with clinical depression, temporary blindness, and the determination to balance work and family life have all fueled my drive to help others. Witnessing the positive transformations in my clients and their teams also motivates me to continue advancing our mission at COMB. Tell readers about COMB and what it offers clients? COMB(Connecting Mind and Body) is a learning and development consultancy that focuses on improving team dynamics, collaboration, and communication through a holistic approach. At COMB, we emphasise these elements in our programs, helping clients to become more self-aware, manage their unconscious biases, and enhance team dynamics and performance. Our goal is to align the heart, mind and body so they are able to be confident and not be blinded by “fears and insecurities”. Our services cater to a diverse clientele, including both MNCs and SMEs, with a special focus on sustainable solutions that drive meaningful results. You are aspirational and bring about meaningful change? Tell us about this. I would like to contribute the learnings that I have acquired for meaningful change. I feel blessed with all that I have gone through and learned in the process. Through COMB, I aim to bring about meaningful change by focusing on both individual and team development. My intention is to create and enhance environments where people can connect their mind and body to achieve their full potential. By addressing both soft skills and personal development, I believe we can empower individuals to overcome limitations and foster high performing and engaged teams. Your journey has had challenges. How are you now? I have made significant progress since overcoming my challenges. My vision for COMB and my personal experiences have shaped me into a […]

Darlene Winston_Director of Advice, Peninsula Australia

Profile: Darlene Winston (MAICD), Director of Advice, Peninsula Australia

www.womengoingplaces.net What is your role at Peninsula Australia and what does it involve? I head up the Advice division and our employee relations specialists at Peninsula Australia, a leading provider of HR and WHS support for small to medium-sized businesses. We provide 24/7 expert advice to our clients that reduces their risk of non-compliance with workplace law, giving them piece of mind and allowing them to focus on their business knowing their HR concerns are in hand. I lead a management team comprised of people leaders who drive performance, as well as a best-in-class training and workforce planning team. Essentially, I drive the people and operations management to ensure we’re providing the highest standard of service possible. Why have you chosen this career path? My career background is incredibly varied, spanning Executive roles in 13 industries across three countries. I love this role as it encompasses every business discipline, with responsibilities including leadership and people management, finance and sales, as well as operations and efficiencies – no day is the same! What has been the highlight of your career and why? I’m very lucky to have many highlights throughout the varied roles I’ve held. One that I have very fond memories of is residing in mainland China overseeing an SAP end-to-end integration in seven languages with several countries in my remit. I was there for three years and completed the final country, Thailand from Sydney. It was a big project, millions of pounds sterling and reporting to the Group Board. I love a challenge and absolutely loved the opportunity to jump into this regional role. What has been the greatest challenge in your career, and how did you overcome it? I have worked in many industries and never the same one twice, so I’ve encountered challenges in every position […]

Cassie Price-McCoy

Cassie Price-McCoy is General Manager, Services ANZ for GE HealthCare, where she’s been for over 11 years. Cassie is an energetic and senior service, operations, sales enablement and customer experience leader with over 25 years’ experience across functions and industries. As General Manager, Services ANZ, Cassie oversees service strategy, safety and customer experience. At GE HealthCare, you lead a large team of field engineers. What is that experience like for you? Leading this team is a great honour. The work they do is vital—ensuring that life-saving equipment is always available for accurate patient diagnoses. They need to be highly knowledgeable, communicate effectively, follow processes, and at the same time think on their feet, stay patient, and remain confident. They are incredible people doing extraordinary work. There are currently five women on your team. Can that number be increased? That’s absolutely the plan! In fact, I now have nine women working as field engineers with strong technical expertise, and another four in field service leadership roles. We are intentional in our recruitment, particularly at the levels where we have open roles. We recently launched a graduate program, and we ensured that at least one of the successful candidates was female. One challenge we’ve identified is that universities aren’t fully communicating the range of career opportunities available to students in modern engineering fields—like biomedical, electrical, and mechatronics engineering. Being a medical field engineer isn’t something many students even consider. We need to change that. Another aspect is showing the exciting travel and variety that comes with field engineering work. We know this appeals to many, and we’re leaning into that as a recruiting point. Involving more aspirational women leads to excellence. Do you agree? I believe all women have aspirations, though some are more intentional about their path and goals. We all […]

Laura Boccanfuso

Laura Boccanfuso started her PhD in computer science after being a stay-at-home mother for eight years to her three kids. She’s been building AI-enabled classroom tutors ever since. As the founder and CEO of Van Robotics, Boccanfuso wrote the original code in her home workshop while undertaking postdoctoral studies at Yale University, far from her home base in South Carolina. Her mission? To find ways to support children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other special needs, in their classroom learning time. Like all entrepreneurs, Boccanfuso faced pushback when she initially approached venture capitalists (VCs) to fund her business. Yet her hurdles were different: one VC wouldn’t support her because her husband wasn’t part of the business or leading it with her, and another because she held too much equity, even though it was her first round of funding. “There was this perception that women don’t have technical capabilities,” Boccanfuso said, adding VCs would address technical questions to men even though she wrote the code herself. VCs also pushed her to design a retail model of her robot, named “ABii,” even though its purpose was to support classroom learning—not double as a babysitter or tutor. Boccanfuso ignored them and found talent and resources from her academic circles in child development and robotics, and ABii by Van Robotics is now being used in schools and homes in 38 US states and seven countries. More than 100,000 students and teachers have already benefited from robotic reinforcement in the classroom—as well as from Boccanfuso’s experience as a stay-at-home mother, which helped her build a learner-centric, school-based solution. “I think moms are phenomenal problem solvers,” she said.

Gender equity and inclusion has stood still or worsened, according to women in leadership research

A new survey of over 100 women in leadership roles across Aotearoa New Zealand sheds light on the gender inequities and inequality that remain pervasive in the workplace, impacting women’s career performance and advancement, mental health, wellbeing, and relationships. The survey by leadership development practice, Leadership for Good, highlights the scale of the issue – 61% of respondents say they feel gender equality and equity in the workplace is the same or worse than it was five years ago. When asked if they had experienced any of the following scenarios in the workplace within the past 12 months, survey respondents said they ‘often’ or ‘very often’: faced challenges balancing work and personal life (71%) received unequal pay for equal work (61%) had a lack of mentorship or sponsorship opportunities (54%) encountered gender bias in favour of men in promotion decisions (48%). The challenges don’t end there. Many of the women surveyed continue to experience microaggression – a subtle, and sometimes unintentional, expression of bias or discrimination – which is proven to have a profound impact on individuals. In the last year, the following occurred for respondents ‘often’ or ‘very often’: had something explained to them in a condescending manner (49%) had their ideas claimed, dismissed or ‘elevated’ by a male colleague (42%) were excluded from important meetings or decision-making processes (39%) • experienced jokes or comments that stereotype or belittle women (31%) received unprofessional comments about their appearance, demeanour or emotional state (29%). Dr Sue Watson, Leadership for Good founder and programme director, says that while disappointing, the results reflect what she and her colleagues have been hearing from women in leadership positions across the country. “We chose to do the survey to benchmark the recurring issues that are still commonplace with the women we work with, who are in […]

Big Opportunities in Green Building Revolution

11 strategies are highlighted as crucial to reach up to 80% reduction in emissions, with integrated energy management playing a more substantial role than classic retrofits. The World Economic Forum has released a report proposing a $1.8 trillion global market opportunity through the decarbonisation of buildings by 2030. The report identifies 11 strategies to reduce building emissions by 80%, emphasising the crucial role of advanced technologies, including integrated energy management. “It was only a matter of time until we see AI-driven platforms highlighted in the most influential reports. They enable real-time optimization of building energy systems, managing data from thousands of sensors to ensure peak efficiency,” said Donatas Karčiauskas, CEO of Exergio, a leading company in the Baltics that focuses on AI-based building energy performance solutions. “This approach aligns perfectly with the WEF’s strategies, facilitating significant emission reductions and operational improvements.” The report identifies integrated energy management as a critical strategy for achieving a collective 80% reduction in emissions. For the first time, it was placed as more important than insulation or traditional renovations. Owners and investors are now encouraged to invest in digitalisation to capture operational-cost savings, architects and engineers are urged to deploy energy management systems, and utilities and operators are advised to provide technology and services to generate new revenue streams and build synergy with renewable development. “As energy performance platform providers, we know that investing in digitalisation and AI-based solutions is not just about cutting costs anymore; it’s about unlocking new revenue streams and creating long-term value,” Karčiauskas emphasized. “Achieving up to 20% in energy savings is a common practice for us, however, we also see increased user satisfaction in the buildings whose energy performance is controlled using AI solutions.” Alongside integrated energy management, key strategies highlighted in the report include upgrading heating and cooling systems, […]

Gender and entrepreneurship: why women quit

Entrepreneurship is often viewed as a way of enhancing work-life balance and flexibility, but for many female founders the reality is quite different, according to a study that explores why women leave their businesses and the emotional effects of doing so. Researchers Dr Janine Swail (University of Auckland) and Dr Susan Marlow (University of Nottingham) undertook in-depth interviews with 16 female founders in the UK and discovered that all of the participants left their businesses due to personal reasons rather than financial or performance issues. These reasons were related to gendered caregiving responsibilities for children or elderly parents. Of the study participants, those who had or were planning to have children said this was their main reason for leaving or selling their business. In addition to maternal caring responsibilities being a key driver in many of the women’s decisions to leave or sell their businesses, tensions around household finances were an issue and many of the business owners found themselves dealing with a trade-off between hours invested in the business and those in the household. Faced with such financial implications, the participants highlighted the penalties and issues with using entrepreneurship as a route to flexible working and work-life balance. The study authors say the popular perception of entrepreneurship as providing a pathway for making a decent income while offering greater flexibility and choice regarding how, when, and where to work can be dangerous. Dr Swail says almost all the study participants had strong negative emotions directly after exit including feelings of failure when shutting down or leaving their businesses. “There needs to be a more nuanced view of entrepreneurship and self-employment, and people need to have difficult and realistic conversations in their households about what it takes to set up and run a business, especially when you have, or are […]

Hard work and good service a recipe for success

Australasia LAPP Australia Purchasing and Finance Manager, Alisa White A young mother who has gone from immaterial knowledge of industrial systems and automation issues is today leading a team dedicated to the task. Alisa White has forged a career in the industrial sector, and is now LAPP Australia Purchasing and Finance Manager, where she is relishing the organisational and logistical challenges of her role, as well as being respected for her hard work. Alisa’s previous experience is highly varied, from interior design, to customer service and architectural specification work with a building material wholesaler, to production planner for a manufacturer, before finding ECS New Zealand and sister company, LAPP Australia. ECS and LAPP Australia specialise in cables, connectors, accessories, and industrial automation solutions for a broad range of industries across New Zealand and Australia, respectively. “I have to admit that when first taking the job, cables were new to me, and automation was mysterious. But my background was service, and that applies to any industry. And once I learned how and where these cables and industrial automation technologies were being used, it became increasingly fascinating,” says Alisa, whose role includes forecasting, quoting, ordering, administration, supplier relationship management, and managing a team of four staff. “LAPP has a several other women in leadership positions, including a warehouse 2IC, a business development head, and an industry sector manager, so its been a great environment where internal progression is encouraged, success is rewarded, and I can learn from other talented and successful women in business.” Alisa joined ECS 10 years ago, and then became predominantly focused on LAPP Australia, when it was established as a permanent subsidiary six years ago. (LAPP Australia is a joint venture between ECS New Zealand and LAPP Group.) Supply chain challenges When Covid first hit, just about everyone […]

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