Sam Mostyn AO, Chair of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, Will make her Address to the National Press Club of Australia.
Sam Mostyn is a businesswoman and sustainability adviser, with a long history of executive & governance roles across business, sport, climate change, the arts, policy, and NFP sectors.
Sam Chairs the boards of Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, the Foundation for Young Australians, Australians Investing in Women, Ausfilm, ANROWS (the Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety) and Alberts.
Sam serves on the boards of Mirvac, the Climate Change Authority, GO Foundation (founded by Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin to provide education scholarships to indigenous students), the Centre for Policy Development, The Climate Council, Tonic Media, and is a member of the Ethics Advisory Groups for the National Gallery of Australia and IAG.
Sam was a founding supporter and Chair of the women’s climate action group 1 Million Women and serves on the Australian faculty of the Cambridge University Business & Sustainability Leadership Program. Sam is also Chair of Aware Super.
Sam is past President of Chief Executive Women and Chair of Citi Australia’s consumer bank and Women’s Economic Opportunities Review, has served on the Global Business & Sustainable Development Commission, and on the boards of Reconciliation Australia, the Australia Council for the Arts, the Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Swans, Transurban, Virgin Australia Australian Volunteers International, and has chaired Carriageworks, The Australian Museum and was an inaugural board member of Climateworks Australia.
Sam served as a Commissioner with the Australian Football League for over a decade until 2017. In 2005 she was the first woman to be appointed to the Commission where she was an advocate for the inclusion of women at all levels of the AFL. She was an advocate for the creation of the AFL Women’s league and was the 2018 AFLW Cup Ambassador. In 2009, Sam was a member of the Crawford Sports Funding Review expert panel which examined sports funding in Australia.
Between 2013-2017 Sam was President of the Australian Council for International Development. She was an inaugural commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission and was Deputy Chair of the Diversity Council of Australia. Sam was named Winner - Individual, in the IGCC 2019 Climate Awards.
Sam was awarded an AO in the 2021 Australia Day Honours for distinguished service to business and sustainability, and to the community, through seminal contributions to a range of organisations, and to women.
Her executive and non-executive roles have encompassed business strategy, human resources, culture change, corporate and government affairs, risk management, community engagement, climate change, gender equality, and sustainability.
Before taking on non-executive roles, Sam held senior executive roles at Insurance Australia Group, Optus, and Cable & Wireless plc. After early years working as a solicitor for Freehills, and Gilbert + Tobin, She was a senior Policy advisor for Senator Bob Collins (Minister for Transport & Communications) and The Hon Michael Lee MP (Minister for Communications & the Arts), and senior communications Policy advisor for the former PM, The Hon Paul Keating.
Sam has a BA/LLB from the Australian National University, and in 2018, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the ANU, in recognition of her work as a pioneer of gender inclusion and equity, and leadership in sustainability and climate change.
