For the discussion, Ms Priestly was joined by an expert line-up: entrepreneur and founder of digital political data start-up Polipedia, Su Dharmapala; Co-Head of Investments at the Australian Business Growth Fund, Ghazaleh Lyari, CommBank Senior Economist, Belinda Allen; and CommBank CFO of Business Banking, Victoria Hickey.
The panel spoke to their personal career experiences and addressed issues such as the significant gender gap in venture capital investment in Australia, the need for more female representation at leadership levels and the systemic and institutional barriers that need to change to enable even greater success for women in business.
Despite the challenges identified, the research showed positives too.
“So much success comes from our networks”, said Ms Priestley, with 57 per cent of women founders saying support from other women in business has contributed to their success. And promisingly, nearly 80 per cent of those surveyed are confident they’ll be able to grow their business in the year ahead.
CommBank’s Victoria Hickey pointed out an overarching theme from the report, that “women are increasingly using their lived experiences to solve complex issues”, with the panel highlighting the significant opportunities in health and care industries.