The 100 Percent Project

Rose Herceg is President of WPP in Australia and New Zealand. WPP is a multinational communications, advertising, public relations and technology, company and the world’s largest advertising company.

As well as a passionate advocate for gender equality and flexible work, Rose recognises the importance of psychological safety in the workplace to nurture and encourage creativity – the lifeblood of WPP.

In this podcast we discuss the recent research from The 100% Project: “Breaking Dad”; which considers the role of psychological safety, especially in the context of men and women taking extended parental leave and the positive impact this has on organisations, families and society.

Despite these benefits, many fathers are still not taking extended parental leave, even when it is available, for fear of the impact it may have on their career. As a result, many women are forced to take a longer career break, impacting their financial and job security. We discuss the importance of role models to encourage behavioural change as well as how the communications industry can also support changing social paradigms.

The 100 Percent Project’s “Construction” series of podcasts explore the world of gender diversity and equality within the Australian construction industry. In this episode, Althea Papinczak, the Founder and National Director of WIDAC – the world’s largest network for women in the Design and Construction industry – talks to The 100 Percent Project’s David Cummins.

Based in Brisbane, Althea has created a national community for women within the construction industry and in this interview shares some of her personal and professional experiences as a woman within a male-dominated industry.

This is the second episode in The 100 Percent Project’s dive into the gender issues surrounding the construction industry in Australia

In this episode, we hear from Sarah Holdsworth from the School of Property Construction and Project Management at RMIT University.  Sarah is an associate professor of sustainable built environments.

Sarah has spent several years researching women’s experiences in the Victorian construction industry with the aim of better understanding how women gain entry and experience into the industry.  Her evidence-based research seeks to inform policy and programs to increase the attraction and retention of women in all roles across the construction industry.

In this episode, Sarah discusses that research with David Cummins from The 100 Percent Project.

In this episode, we hear from Francisco “Disco” Morales, Talent Acquisition Lead for Technology and Security at Canva, about his flexible working experience after the birth of his first child.

Francisco Morales is a recruitment leader at Canva, a Sydney-based software company that creates simple and accessible graphic design software across web and mobile.   His current role has him building out Canva’s leadership layer within the Software Engineering group.  He joined the company in 2016 when it was a startup with about 60 people. 

Since then, he has helped them grow into a highly-profitable global technology powerhouse, with a USD $40 million valuation, and over 2300 employees in multiple offices around the world.

He’s always been heavily involved in the technology domain. Previously, he worked in an executive search capacity at Harvey Nash, placing CEOs, CTOs, etc – into large publicly traded companies as well as high-growth early-stage technology ventures.  Prior to that, he received his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in the US, with a focus on commercial and intellectual property law within the online space.

Francisco is a strong believer in workplace equality, flexibility, and the importance of mental health – happy employees can do more with less.  He has been involved in many of Canva’s initiatives around diversity & inclusion.  He and his wife welcomed their first child in December 2019 and he will be rolling back his hours to part-time in 2022, so he can spend more time with the little kiddo!

Justin Untersteiner joined the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) as Chief Operating Officer in December 2019 and is responsible for AFCA’s core operations and corporate services. He has extensive expertise in leading large scale, significant organisational transformation programs. Justin combines strong relationship management skills with technical knowledge of regulation, procurement, contract management, property management, and financial compliance. 

Justin held a variety of leadership roles at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) over a 13-year career, most recently as the Assistant Commissioner of Integrated Compliance. In this role he was responsible for leading the ATO’s approach to large scale, complex taxation and superannuation matters focussing on compliance.  

Prior to this Justin was the ATO’s Chief Financial Officer, responsible for the agency’s annual budget of $3.5 billion. Justin also brings valuable private sector perspectives and experience from Cadbury Schweppes and Woolworths to his role as COO. 

Justin is a passionate advocate for gender equality and workplace equality and flexibility. He has worked throughout his career to build inclusive workplaces that engage, inform and support employees and has designed and implemented a variety of programs to improve outcomes for diverse workforces. He is a hands-on Dad with two young children, he himself utilises flexible practices such as part time hours, set finish times and a mix of office/home work to balance both his role at work and at home.  

Interview with Jono Willis, General Counsel, Lion New Zealand and Lion Little World Beverages.  “Breaking Dad” research series into the psychological safety for men when requesting non-traditional working conditions.

Jono has been with Lion since 2012 and assumed the role of General Counsel – Lion New Zealand and Little World Beverages in 2018.   Jono’s role has him sitting on the executive team for two of Lion’s business units: Little World Beverages, Lion’s fast-growing international business with operations in the UK and USA, and its well-established New Zealand business.  The dual role requires managing two very distinct teams with different strategic visions and ways of operating, and working across multiple jurisdictions.  Jono brings a commercial and pragmatic approach to his legal role which combined with his strong technical skills sees him as a trusted and key strategic advisor.

Jono has been a loud and proud advocate for improved parental policies for a number of years.  Jono is a passionate believer that having workplace policies that give parents the choice to equally share parenting is an important component to achieving fairer outcomes in the workplace. Jono is a hands-on dad to his young toddler Pippa and took three months parental leave to be the primary caregiver when Pippa was five months old so his wife Kate, also a Lawyer, could return to work.

The 100% Project is a not for profit organisation and our vision is to see 100% of Australia’s leadership potential, female and male, equally contributing to our social and economic future.

The 100% Project is a not for profit organisation and our vision is to see 100% of Australia’s leadership potential, female and male, equally contributing to our social and economic future.

So, where are we on the path to this vision? And in particular, what impact has the current pandemic had on gender equality in the workplace? In this episode, our host Hilary Lamb speaks with Matthew Gribble, the Regional Managing Director of the Page Group, headquartered in Sydney, to explore how COVID-19 has been affecting leaders approach to gender equality in the workplace.

The 100% Project is a not for profit organisation and our vision is to see 100% of Australia’s leadership potential, female and male, equally contributing to our social and economic future.

So, where are we on the path to this vision? And in particular, what impact has the current pandemic had on gender equality in the workplace?

In this episode, our host Hilary Lamb speaks with Mich Gara, Connected Home and Business Executive at Telstra, to hear her perspective on how COVID-19 has affected gender equality.

Tune in to hear The 100% Project host, Hilary Lamb, discuss Christina Tulloch’s journey to the top from the very bottom of Tulloch Wines.  Christina tells all on how she has dealt with the barriers of being a female leader in a male-dominated industry, her ongoing challenge of proving herself as CEO while being a mum to 2, how the wine industry survived COVID-19 and Christina’s ongoing pursuit for gender equality.

Christina Tulloch is the CEO of Tulloch Wines and the fourth generation of the 120-year-old family company.  She loves to eat, drink and cook and takes her role as Chief of Quality Control very seriously.

The 100% Project host Hilary Lamb talks to Stuart Irvine about the challenges Lion is facing in this post-COVID world, and how they are dealing with the “new normal.”

Stuart Irvine, CEO of Lion, has significant experience developing an organisations culture, its people and making sure they do the right thing for the world in which we live to drive long-term value creation. Since joining Lion as CEO in late 2012, Stuart has led the organisation whose purpose is to “champion sociability and help people to live well.”

In this episode, The 100% Project host Hilary Lamb talks to John Thompson, who shares some of the strategies Oliver Wyman implement to achieve gender equality in their business. John also shares some insights into how other companies he’s worked for have made inroads into achieving a better gender balance.

John Thompson is a Partner at Oliver Wyman in the Finance and Digital, Technology, Operations and Analytics Practices based in the firm’s New York City office.

Before Oliver Wyman, John spent twenty-five years with Accenture where he developed and managed programs of change for clients across North America, Switzerland and France.   Serving as a strong business partner, John has an established record in implementing process improvements, operating model change, and has extensive knowledge on gender equality in the corporate world.  Tune in to hear how global companies handled COVID-19, their attitude towards gender equality and diversity, and how the new normal has changed their opinion of flexible working arrangements.