Diane Smith-Gander AO

Diane Smith-Gander AO is a professional non-executive director maintaining a diverse portfolio across different entities, industries and geographies. She is an advocate for gender equity and a past president of CEW, Australia’s pre-eminent women’s advocacy group with more than 1,000 members now.

Diane is Chair of Zip Co Limited, Perenti, HBF Health Ltd and CEDA.

Diane has also been active in sports administration and is a past Chairman of both Basketball Australia Limited, the sport’s peak body, and the (then) Australian Sports Drug Agency. She currently chairs the inaugural Nominations Committee for the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Diane holds an MBA from the University of Sydney and a BEc from the University of Western Australia (UWA), who awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Economics. She is a Fellow of the AICD and Governance Institute of Australia and an adjunct professor of corporate governance at UWA where she chairs the advisory board of the Business School.

Diane is a keen downhill skier and enjoys spending time in Australia’s premier wine region, Margaret River.

Diane Smith-Gander Offers:

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)