Aya Leadership

The 2024 Australian Women in Security Awards on Thursday was again a show stopper!! With a theme of ‘Phoenix Rising’ it was an incredible and inspiring celebration of the talent, commitment and diversity across Australia’s security industry, that motivates me to contribute even more to this dynamic and adaptive industry. I was absolutely thrilled when Aya Leadership and AWSN - Australian Women in Security Network won the 'Best Industry Initiative for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity' Award for our Women in Security Emerging Leaders Program. This award recognises initiatives that are deeply and sustainably impacting diversity, inclusion and equity across the industry. The Women in Security Emerging Leaders Program expands the leadership skills and confidence of early career women and emerging leaders in the industry. Its impact on individuals and their careers is enduring, and is seen in many of the finalists and recipients of these awards over the past few years. However, the impact also extends to organisations, who benefit from participants stepping into leadership roles, which is where the deep sustainable change resides. When we started this program in 2022, we had no idea it would become so popular (140 participants to date) or so impactful across the industry. We look forward to growing it even further. If your organisation would like to benefit, please get in touch to learn more. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners, especially my friends and colleagues: Meg Tapia, Jodi Finn, Peter Gigengack, Donna Buckley, Paula Sillars, Felicity Le, Jakub Zverina, CyberCX, and Mona S. and the CyberMarvel team! #womeninsecurity

During the course of this year, Aya Leadership has worked with hundreds of female leaders globally at all levels in #stem, #cybersecurity, and broader #security through our tailored female leadership development programs. One of my favourite programs to deliver is the Women in Security Emerging Leaders Program, in partnership with the AWSN - Australian Women in Security Network. This program is so impactful that we are a finalist in the Australian Women in Security Awards Best Industry Initiative supporting Diversity, Inclusion & Equity! https://lnkd.in/gac6C-8E For participants, this program helps them set the foundations for strong leadership: "The Emerging Leaders program has been so helpful in providing frameworks and ways of thinking about leadership and my career – it’s given more steps to take action in developing my leadership. It has come at a good time in my career and helped me find my niche."   "The Emerging Leaders program has been so valuable and the leadership skills and techniques I have learnt have been gold for me. It has helped me to focus on being mindful of every action and reaction, to better support others and help my team find their own solutions." Aya Leadership also delivers this program in-house. If you're interested in this program for your security or STEM organisation in 2025, you can learn more about this program or register your interest here: https://lnkd.in/ge-WNPrn #femaleleaders #leadershipdevelopment

It was a real privilege to be a (virtual) guest speaker for the University of San Diego Master of Cyber Security Operations and Leadership program yesterday, on the topic of 'Refining Leadership as a Cyber Security Leader'. Thank you to Michelle Moore, PhD for inviting me to present, and to the students, who asked thought-provoking questions to help put stronger people leadership into practice.

Too often science, technology and engineering specialists are being asked to lead without any leadership training. I believe it's never too early to start the intentional leadership development of emerging leaders, particularly in industries that are being asked to deliver the ethical and responsible innovation required to (for example) safeguard the sustainability of our planet, transition to renewable energies and food sources, ensure inclusive and ethical technologies, secure the cyber world and provide equitable healthcare solutions. This past week I have continued working with the Arctic Frontiers Emerging Leaders Network – who are focused on dismantling the barriers between science, business, and policy and collaboratively addressing global issues that demand immediate action and swift decision-making. Issues that include looking after the natural environment, impacts of climate change, the need for sustainable development, equitable healthcare access, and supporting arctic communities to thrive in changing geostrategic environments. Leadership development is so important to support these emerging leaders – ranging from postgraduate students to policy advisors to CEOs – to effectively communicate, collaborate, adapt and innovate, and I have been grateful to support them over the past couple of years. #emergingleaders #leadershipdevelopment #stem #sustainability #ethicalinnovation

I was honoured to speak at the 2024 Women in STEM Leadership Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas this weekend. I have been a member of Women in STEM Leadership's Advisory Board for the past 12 months, and the recipient of their 2023 Leader of the Year Award. With a mission to empower #stem women at all levels with the support, resources and tools needed to elevate their career and become an agent of change in the STEM industry, and genuinely invested in helping STEM women reach their potential, this organisation is such a great fit for me. This year’s conference theme ‘From the Classroom to the Boardroom: Leadership at all Levels’ reflects a particular focus of Women in STEM Leadership to connect with, mentor and support girls and young women in STEM education. I spoke on this exact topic: sharing strategies for female STEM leader development that cover the spectrum of classroom to boardroom. I was joined by incredible speakers who are equally passionate about supporting women at all levels in STEM to strengthen and leverage networks, mentoring, leadership skills, including understanding current trends (via a panel discussion on AI), how to manage risk, how to navigate career setbacks, and how to understand and make the most of your own journey.   Dr. Sandra Blanke, Nicole Scheffler 🎤, Bhavani Kola, Sandra Blanke, Kate McDougall-Mason, Michelle Foley, Dr. Brett Landry, KJ Haywood, Jeffrey Price, our brilliant Founder Ogechi Ugwulebo, MS, CISM, CCISO, and keynote speaker Anuradha Muralidharan. As I was presenting virtually (I was unable to attend from Australia in person this time) I don’t have any great photos to share, and I also missed the Awards. Congratulations to all the Award Winners, including Tera Davis who won the 2024 Leader of the Year! If you would like to learn more about the best strategies your organisation can implement to develop your female STEM experts and leaders, or support the journey from the classroom, please reach out. I'd love to help you. #womeninstem #womenincyber #femaleleaders #mentoring

Do you know a budding high school science, technology, engineering or maths enthusiast? Please point them in the direction of the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF). What began in 1984 as a science summer school has evolved into the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) and inspired and supported the learning of 16,000 of Australia's scientists, many of which have stellar careers in science and broader STEM and are leading science at the national level. The NYSF also includes an annual National STEM Summit for 18-25 year-old STEM students and professionals, providing important support in their early career journey, held in Canberra last weekend. And this year, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the NYSF, a Gala dinner at Parliament House. I was delighted to attend both the Summit, to provide a workshop to emerging STEM leaders, and the Gala Dinner, alongside these gorgeous gals and STEM superstars Sybilla Grady, Alison Every, Laura G N., Irene Zhen. The Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, the NYSF's new patron, opened the 40th Anniversary Gala Dinner and it was an absolute privilege to hear her speak to the room of dedicated scientists.   

For early-career women and emerging leaders in #security, or women transitioning from other sectors into the security sector, the AWSN - Australian Women in Security Network and Aya Leadership Emerging Leaders Program (now in its 3rd year) provides the confidence, skills and experience to progress their career and develop as an impactful leader. The tailored leadership training provided, alongside the peer mentoring, networking and social and experiential learning, strengthens participants leadership mindset, leadership confidence, resilience, communication, influence and emotional intelligence skills. It catalyses how they show up as leaders and sets them up for enduring leadership growth. How do we know it is so impactful? We collect quantitative and qualitative data throughout the program, follow-up feedback, and watch participants excel as their careers progress We are well into Cohort 2 of the program for 2024 and are taking registrations for Cohort 3, which commences on 16 September. If you’re not sure whether this program is for you, or your female employees, please reach out, I’m happy to chat. Find more details here: https://lnkd.in/gJRMjsVU This program is for AWSN members – if you’re not yet a member, I encourage you to join, and also take advantage of the incredible mentoring program for women in security: https://lnkd.in/g3SBnXVP Aya Leadership also delivers the Emerging Leaders program directly to organisations and to other STEM sectors. If you’re interested, find out more here: https://lnkd.in/ge-WNPrn #womenincyber #womeninsecurity #emergingleader #leadershipdevelopment #femaleleaders

Last Friday we wrapped up our most recent Leadership Accelerator Program for early-career female leaders in STEM and Security. I was truly inspired by the four months I spent teaching, coaching and supporting the incredible first-time leaders we had in this group. Participants join the Leadership Accelerator Program seeking to expand their leadership toolkit and find new ways to grow their leadership skills, while reflecting on the type of leader they aspire to be, cognisant of the challenges women often face in their STEM and Security career journeys. We consistently receive feedback that this is the best, most practical and supportive leadership program they have ever done, and we see rapid change in participants’ mindset and skills. Our recent program reiterated this, which leaves me feeling grateful to have had the opportunity to support these leaders and motivated to continue. Feedback from participants showed that: * The course helped them to gain more detailed self-awareness, determine the type of leader they aspire to be and consider how that informs their career journey, and increase their understanding of the best ways to lead others. * It helped them define and commit to their leadership values and identify positive leadership values in others. * They found the practical tools, strategies and frameworks for day-to-day application valuable to support their teams, manage difficult situations and support their ongoing leadership development. * The program provided them with inspiration and confidence in their leadership skills and their ability to be good leaders. * It provided them with a strong sense of choice around how they continue developing their leadership skills, enabled by a clear pathway. If this sounds like the leadership development opportunity you or your early-career female leaders need, you still have time to register for our upcoming Leadership Accelerator Program. This is the final program for 2024, commencing later this month and running until early December. Registration is open until 15 August (next week!). Learn more about the program and register via this link: https://lnkd.in/gUeyiGsK #womenincyber #womeninstem #femaleleaders #femaleleadership #leadershipdevelopment

The transition from technical expert to technical team leader can be a challenging one. I have observed these challenges for technical experts over and over again and experienced them myself in my early career. Knowing how to engage and motivate others, connect people with purpose, manage conflict and negotiation, build inclusivity and performance in teams, input the right technical advice into the right decision point, make good decisions, prioritise, and navigate between your team of experts and senior leaders in a technical environment requires training. And for women in male-dominated environments like #STEM and #security, that transition can be even more difficult, particularly from the perspective of confidence in own leadership approach and style, wanting stronger voice and visibility, knowing how to navigate unconscious biases, and finding the right role models and support networks. That’s why I developed the Leadership Accelerator Program, for early-career female leaders who are transitioning from expert to leader (formal or informal) or expanding their leadership. The 4-month program rapidly accelerates the leadership of early-career female leaders working in STEM and Security, so they develop enduring confidence and leadership excellence, reach their potential as experts and proactively create impact and change. Registrations are open for our second Leadership Accelerator Program for 2024, which will run 23 August-11 December virtually, offering access to women all across Australia. I am excited about the group of women coming together in August to learn alongside and support each other and would love you or your early-career female leaders to join us. To learn how this program enables accelerated leadership impact, head over to the website for all course details and registration: https://lnkd.in/gUeyiGsK Registration is open until 15 August. #womeninstem #womeninsecurity #womenincyber #stemleaders #femaleleaders #leadershipdevelopment