Diane Smith-Gander AO
Leading Australian Executive & Keynote Speaker
Non-executive director and advocate for gender equity. Diane Smith-Gander has held leadership roles in sports administration, including Basketball Australia and the World Anti-Doping Agency. A Fellow of the AICD and adjunct professor at UWA, Diane combines governance expertise with global leadership experience.
Quick Contact
Diane Smith-Gander AO is a professional non-executive director with a diverse portfolio spanning multiple industries and geographies. She is a passionate advocate for gender equity and a former president of Chief Executive Women (CEW), Australia’s leading women’s advocacy group.
Diane currently serves as Chair of Zip Co Limited, Perenti, HBF Health Ltd, and CEDA. She has a strong background in sports administration, having been Chairman of Basketball Australia Limited and the former Australian Sports Drug Agency, and currently chairs the inaugural Nominations Committee for the World Anti-Doping Agency.
She holds an MBA from the University of Sydney and a BEc from the University of Western Australia (UWA), which also awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Economics. Diane is a Fellow of the AICD and the Governance Institute of Australia, and serves as an adjunct professor of corporate governance at UWA, where she chairs the advisory board of the Business School.
Outside of work, Diane is a keen downhill skier and enjoys spending time in Australia’s premier wine region, Margaret River.
Topics
Coaching and Mentoring
Diane has experience in coaching and mentoring based on her time as a leader in McKinsey & Company’s organisation practice.
Her coaching engagements have focused on C-suite executives seeking to improve their performance, particularly those seeking to progress to CEO roles. In her personal capacity, Diane has coached executives in financial services, resources, agribusiness and government. They have been finance executives, P&L owners, human resources professionals and information technology professionals. While at McKinsey her reach extended also to family-owned businesses, pharmaceuticals and equipment manufacturers.
Reviews and Consulting
Diane’s consulting background gives her the expertise to conduct reviews and consulting projects. Publicly known reviews include panel member of the Capability Review of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (June 2019) commissioned by then Treasurer Frydenberg following the Hayne Royal Commission, Chair of the Independent Review of Football Federation Australia National Teams’ Management (December 2019).
