Key tips for international board success with Linda Duncombe OAM MAICD

The big difference between Australia and the US is scale, but bigger is not always better, says director, movie producer and management executive Linda Duncombe.

Linda Duncombe OAM MAICD first worked in executive roles at NAB, then Citi in Australia and New York. Financial technology and marketing would eventually lead her to Los Angeles. She is now a freelance management executive, philanthropist — and an executive producer of this year’s family adventure movie The Queen’s Jewels.

Duncombe has also been featured several times on Variety magazine’s “Most Powerful Women In Hollywood” list.

What initially motivated you to want to work in the US?

As a child, I used to watch Charlie’s Angels and Wonder Woman on TV and was so inspired by the attitude of these strong women. I told my parents, “I am going to live in New York.”

I’m sure they were hoping that I would grow out of it — I was about eight — but they were super-supportive. My dad passed in my 20s, which was a devastating blow to our family. I felt like I owed it to him to live my best life.

When I joined Citi, my goal was to get to America. When my brother passed away in 2014, my mother said, “You have to do what you were born to do.”

I grew up in government housing in Sydney’s south-west. Kids at school were never mean when I was growing up, but when I started working, people in very senior roles would make nasty comments about my background. Shame on those people. I didn’t do anything to prove something to anyone else. But to the people who doubted me, I told you I’d do it — and I did.

Why did you decide to become a director?

I got involved in the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. My dad died of an incorrectly diagnosed heart attack. With all of my board appointments, there is something that talks to my personal values and makes me want to do it. I’ve been lucky to have C-suite senior roles where you work hard, the packages are good and I can give time and money to causes that mean a lot to me.

Because of the death tax in America, there is a different approach to philanthropy compared to Australia. It’s a huge part of communities and societies. The first charity I got involved with was the Grammy Museum, a not-for-profit, when they were working hard to get music digitally across the world so every child could get to hear music.

We also made it admission-free for children. I was involved with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney when that was made admission-free. It spoke to me as someone who, as a kid, would never have been able to go to those places unless they were free.

How different is being a director in the US?

I sit on the board of the Grammy Museum, SAG-AFTRA Foundation (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles.

With boards specifically, I don’t really think anything is overly different. The major difference is scale — Australia is about 27 million people, the US around 340 million. But being bigger is not always better.

With governance from a banking perspective, when I worked for Citi, I had to meet regulatory requirements for every regulator that governed a bank in Australia — and do the same for the US. So I was running dual controls. We had to get approvals in Australia to open a branch through the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

In Australia, the states are more connected in how things operate. If you sit on a board there might be nuances for each state, but in the US it can be incredibly different from state to state. The benefit of Australia is you can get efficiencies out of 27 million people. In the US, boards can be challenged by the different laws at state level, especially in governance. One thing I like very much about the US is that it doesn’t matter if you’re the board member or the most junior person in the team, everybody has KPIs around governance and regulatory issues. You’re personally held accountable. The boards I sit on really advocate that you don’t have a compliance or a governance team — that “team” is you. Certain departments provide specific expertise, but you can’t just say that it’s their job.

At the bank during COVID, I saw the power of scale. There was a government initiative called the Paycheck Protection Program, but those who needed it were struggling to get access. We built a portal to allow our clients to more seamlessly obtain these funds. In the entertainment industry, we got access to US$1.8b of funds for our clients.

When you have more resources at your disposal, you have scale and can do something like that. It’s an enormously rewarding feeling, knowing you’re part of a much bigger group, helping people who truly need it.

How does the unpredictable US landscape impact your board roles?

We’ve had plenty to deal with. When we came out of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, we thought we’d be able to focus on different areas. Then we had the California fires and people needing financial assistance again. The fires were devastating for Los Angeles. Habitat for Humanity’s mandate is helping people to buy their first home, but we’re pivoting and expanding our strategy to include homes that have been damaged by the fires.

With the uncertainty in global markets, the NFP boards I sit on are facing new criteria to continue to receive federal funding. That involves a lot of administration. Some people feel great about it, some uneasy. It’s too early to tell, but the conversations and agenda items have definitely shifted to, “If we should lose our federal funding, what would happen?”

Incentives for filmmakers to do things outside California are now attractive. A huge part of the LA ecosystem is around Hollywood. Incentives to keep people here are something the state government will need to work out in partnership with the federal government.

How diverse are US boardrooms?

I’m fortunate to sit on three diverse boards. Habitat for Humanity has a female CEO running a building company and I don’t sense bias. SAG is very conscious of making sure there are cardholders and non-cardholders on the board to create positive friction.

Sometimes, we don’t lean into why we’re on a board. Friction and tension aren’t bad things — we’re meant to have difficult conversations. We’re representing people who count on us to ask the hard questions and make sure we’re doing the right thing. I’ll say to people, “Find your voice. You’re about to vote and these votes have huge impacts on people who are counting on us.”

This article first appeared under the headline 'Directors abroad: Coming to America' in the August 2025 issue of Company Director magazine.