The Chair’s Mentoring Program is the AICD’s flagship board diversity initiative. This year’s cohort of mentees are women linked by their sense of purpose, digital acumen and innovative ways of thinking.
In an increasingly complex world of business, the careers of directors are being shaped by seismic economic, technological, regulatory, political, environmental and social change that is moving at pace. Yet, in the throes of change, an accomplished group of women directors who will be mentored by experienced chairs nation-wide as part of the AICD’s 2025 Chair’s Mentoring Program, say it’s a moment of great opportunity.
The program comes as the number of women directors on ASX-listed boards is rising. However, few are progressing to chair positions, according to AICD’s latest board diversity data. The research revealed that at the end of 2024, 38.3 per cent of director positions on the ASX 200 were held by women, and 12.9 per cent of chair positions.
Directors participating in this year’s Chair’s Mentoring Program speak about their board careers, their motivation to take on director duties and the forces that shape the boards they serve.
Rosina Hislop FAICD
Who or what has inspired you to "March Forward" throughout your director career?
"The chance to make a tangible difference has inspired me to "March Forward". The ability to influence decisions that resonate beyond the boardroom — impacting customers, workforce, and society — is both a privilege and a responsibility. The opportunity to foster meaningful debate and turn ideas into outcomes that matter at scale is what keeps me focused and motivated."
Rosina Hislop FAICD honed her executive career as a partner at EY before making the transition into the boardroom more than a decade ago, bringing her expertise in finance, audit, risk, assurance, and mergers and acquisitions to the table. Hislop is currently chair at ECH, a provider of integrated retirement living accommodation and ageing care services. She is also a board director and chair of Super SA’s audit and risk committee, and a director at Jones Radiology.
While Hislop’s board career primarily spans healthcare, human services, property and financial services, these were not always her focus. She originally worked across technology, fast-moving consumer goods, hospitality and leisure. The pivot followed a suggestion from a mentor, who encouraged her to “be bold” and change sectors.
“To start with, I thought, what could I possibly offer a healthcare company with people who have trained as doctors for so many years,” says Hislop. “But it is about recognising the parallels between your skills, knowledge and experience, and how they can be of value and make a real contribution.”
With a dual focus on governing for both the present and long-term future of companies, during the past eight years, Hislop has steered ECH through a period of seismic transformation. In her early days on the board, the organisation needed to reorient its positioning in the market at a time when in-home care was in its infancy, and its business model — from government block funding to a consumer-led strategy. The sudden imperative to acquire each customer, she says, placed a board-level focus on ECH customers. “The biggest risk for any board or company is to miss the market.”
Hislop believes all boards should question what’s tried and tested, citing the “Einstellung effect”, where past experiences and successes can shape future problem-solving and decision-making, often to their detriment. While risk oversight is part of her core expertise in more traditional governance terms, she cautions it can be dangerous for boards to be immune to change, and that prior successes cannot always be replicated. “The more successful you are, the harder it is to adapt, because you trade on doing the same things you’ve done before,” says Hislop. “Every company has at least 50 reasons why they should not change. The skill of a board is that when those reasons come out — either around the table or from the management team — to explore them in a curious way.”
At ease with change, she says fostering relationships with stakeholders is key to her boardroom success. “Every board I served on has had to guide the company through [change]. If you’re guiding a company through a transformative phase, at some point, things will get rocky, and you need those strong foundations and relationships with stakeholders to get you through.”
Meet this year’s impressive cohort of mentees in the AICD Chair’s Mentoring Program: Pip Marlow GAICD, Anna Leibel GAICD, Shirley Chowdhary GAICD and Gorana Saula GAICD.
This article first appeared under the headline ‘Emerging Directors’ in the March 2025 issue of Company Director magazine.
AICD’s Chair’s Mentoring Program is sponsored by Allens and Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Find out more HERE.
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