The amazing career of Zita Peach - from refugee to ASX Chair
Women on Boards I Making it Real
Release Date: 02/12/2021
Women on Boards I Making it Real
Once upon a time, this full-time NED for various ASX listed companies, worked one week a month in Mongolia in minus 40 degrees when she was the General Manager for Rio Tinto’s Global Copper Concentrate. Today she is often battling 40 degrees heat from her 1600-acre farm in Western NSW. Leanne latched onto the mining industry at a time when it wasn’t common for women and discrimination was overt. Leanne launched her portfolio career through hard work and preparation, and by not taking feedback personall
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Crushed by a 600kg horse in 2017 when training to qualify for the World Equestrian Games, doctors told Hacia Atherton she’d never walk again. Four years and 14 operations later, Hacia tells us how she has transformed her trauma into triumph. A CPA, CCO for her family’s manufacturing business, Committee Member for the CPA Australia Emerging Leaders Network and Advisory Board Member for Real Time Learning Australia, Hacia is passionate about increasing female tradies and smashing assumptions
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Ros Kelly, the former MP and OAM, joins Claire this week and shares the intimate story of her upbringing and professional life. Ros was elected the first woman member of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly, later became the first Labor woman federal minister in the House of Representatives and the first to give birth while holding office. Hear why it’s important to take opportunities, to know who you are and to choose the right partner, because we all need someone who has our back.
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Have you heard of the Governance Evaluator? If you’re on a Board or a Committee, it’s time you had. In this episode, Claire speaks with Maryanne Puli Vogels, Chair of Timboon and District Healthcare Services, about the Governance Evaluator — an intelligent technology solution with expert governance consultants. By baptism of fire, Maryanne became Chair and without GE, she and her Board would not be able to predict risks, identify gaps, create reports and generate insights for the future of their commu
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Julie is one of those women who knows, deeply, what she is here to do. In this podcast, Julie shares her story of advising chartered firms in the UK and Australia for 10 years, including Ernst & Young, before changing career paths. She realised her core purpose was to use her financial acumen to promote healthier communities and today serves as NED for RAVC, Greening Australia and Loddon Mallee Waste & Resource Recovery Group Board, among other significant roles.
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It’s podcast time! In this episode, Claire Braund speaks with Fiona McLean, CEO and Managing Director of The Social Index, about the impact of our digital footprint and the challenges and opportunities that exist for people in positions of governance. It’s a brand new world and your reputation as a leader is your most valuable and critical career asset. Learn why WOB has partnered with this unique platform to help its members optimise their online presence. Don’t miss this one.
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Claire speaks with a very special friend of WOB, Charlotte Valeur from Jersey in the United Kingdom. The internationally renowned and highly experienced Non-Executive Director and Chair has a reputation for leveraging good governance globally through her style of value-based leadership. The former Danish investment banker has extensive Board level experience with IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring, but it is her ability to foster true diversity in the Boardroom that sets her apart.
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She’s kicked goals, smashed glass ceilings and debunked gender stereotypes at every turn during her substantive career. This week Claire Braund in conversation with Rebecca Frizelle, pioneer for Australia sports and passionate ambassador for the motor industry. She’s the Chief Operating Officer of Frizelle Prestige, was first female Chair in the NRL code and just last year, was awarded an Order of Australia for her contributions to the Motor Industry and Rugby League.
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Zita Peach discovered early in her career the importance of both actively seeking Board opportunities, actively networking and becoming known in the Board community. That’s how she transitioned from CSL Limited to Fresenius Kabi, while accepting two Board positions with ASX listed companies. Her story starts in Eastern Europe, takes her to studying BioMed at university and sees her today successfully heading multiple ASX listed companies.
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You can’t assume roles will fly at you because you have had a successful executive career, shares Kerry, ASX Director, Senior Executive and Board Advisor for the past two decades. In this podcast, Claire speaks with Kerry who has successfully led over $10 billion of complex multi-regional transactions, but regardless, networks like a boss to get seen in the non-executive sphere. Passionate about building strong corporate cultures, rigorous governance standards and unifying diverse operations.
info_outlineZita’s story begins in Eastern Europe where she was born to parents of Hungarian heritage who found themselves living in the Serbian part of Yugoslavia. Based on a tip from a colleague that authorities were planning to confiscate the family’s passports, they fled to Austria in search of asylum. Following detainment and processing to confirm their refugee status, Zita and her family migrated to northeast Victoria, before eventually calling Melbourne home.
Zita’s curiosity led her to study Geology at university, but the advice of a professor sent her down a path of BioMed and a specialisation in immunology.
Today she is a Non-Executive Director for multiple ASX companies, including Pacific Smiles Group Limited (Chair), Monash IVF Group, Starpharma Holdings, and Visioneering Technologies. She is also on the Board of The Hudson Institute for Medical Research, a not-for-profit institute and on the Advisory Board for Luina Group.
Her Board career started out by representing industry bodies for the organisations and companies she was involved in, which sparked a real enjoyment for serving on committees. Zita was the first to nominate herself to attend functions and discovered early the importance of actively seeking Board opportunities and networking in the Board community. She got to know industry colleges, politicians, venture capitalists, bankers and head-hunters, and found herself transitioning from CSL Limited to Fresenius Kabi while accepting two Board positions with ASX listed companies.
Hear from Zita on the differences between being a NED and a Chair and why everyone needs a mentor. Zita is chairing the next WOBSX syndicate, a director-led, peer support program to assist women achieve ASX Board roles.
LinkedIn Zita Peach Claire Braund (host)