Kitty Chiller AM OLY

Renowned for her resilience, strong and empathetic people driven leadership, up front communication and attention to detail.

Kitty Chiller has had a long and distinguished international career in the world of sport – as an Olympic athlete, an administrator and a leader. She is a trailblazer for females working in what is still a very male dominated environment. She has transferred the enormous array of skills required in the tough, multi-disciplinary sport of Modern Pentathlon, (that took her to compete in the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000), to the Board room and the CEO’s chair.

Kitty’s sporting and corporate leadership roles have been high profile, high pressure and far from straightforward. As the first ever female Chef de Mission of an Australian Olympic Team (Rio 2016) Kitty was responsible for not only ensuring the best possible high-performance culture for the entire Australian contingent but also for keeping them safe, in what was a highly challenging and dangerous Games environment. Fronting three press conferences daily in front of a packed international media contingent, Kitty was in the spotlight 24/7.

Moving to a CEO role at Gymnastics Australia, (and parallel role on the International Gymnastics Federation Executive Board), Kitty was faced with managing staff, athletes, clubs and members through COVID; navigating through the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games; and also leading the response to the Athlete A abuse scandal from the US that hit Australian shores and the subsequent Human Rights Commission review into the sport in Australia.

Kitty has been at the coalface in highly public and emotion-charged arenas. She is renowned for her poise and ability to respond and react appropriately, transparently, empathetically, and in a timely manner. She knows what it’s like to have to front the microphone, and her team, to deliver good and bad news.

2022 saw Kitty suffer a major cardiac incident that has seen her re-evaluate her life and take a new approach – with important lessons for all.

Kitty has a highly regarded ability, and personal passion, to translate her own experiences to assist others. Through her work as a coach and mentor, keynote presenter and leadership consultant, Kitty has an innate ability to tailor messages to resonate with audiences and to help prepare individuals, teams and organisations for challenges and crises.

Kitty has boundless energy and is an incredibly engaging presenter, tailoring each presentation to the audience. Her raw, authentic and often humorous presentation style will resonate with all.

Kitty Chiller talks about:

• Personal resilience
• Resilience in leadership
• People driven and focussed leadership
• Traits required for successful leadership and management
• Driving cultural change
• Dealing with crises and challenging environments
• Teamwork and the importance of ‘people’
• Lessons from the sports world and how they can relate to corporate / business environments
• Treating obstacles and challenges as opportunities
• Work-life balance and dealing with the impact of a major health scare