Gail Kelly Travels from Sydney, NSW
Gail Kelly is a well respected leader in the financial services sector. Her executive banking career spanned 35 years, split equally between South Africa and Australia. She served as the Group CEO and Managing Director for two banks in Australia, St George Bank (2002 to 2007) followed by Westpac Bank Corporation (2008 to 2015).
Highlights of her CEO career included the effective navigation of Westpac through the challenges of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 / 2009 and the successful merger with St George Bank in 2008, the largest in market financial services merger in Australia. Westpac market capitalisation more than doubled over her tenure as CEO.
Gail is currently engaged in various roles:
• Member of the Group of Thirty
• Board Director of the Bretton Woods Committee
• Board Director of Australian Philanthropic Services
• Senior Advisor to McKinsey
• Chair of Council, Ravenswood School for Girls
• Member of the Australia America Leadership Dialogue Advisory Board
• Adjunct Professor of the University of New South Wales, Australia
• Patron of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools, Australasia
• Ambassador for Women’s Empowerment for Care Australia
She has previously been Senior Global Advisor to UBS, Global Board of Advisors at the US Council on Foreign Relations (Founding Member), Member of the McKinsey Advisory Council, Board Director of the Business Council of Australia, Member of the Australian Bankers’ Association; Chairman between 2013-2015, Member of the PLuS Alliance Advisory Board, Member of the Northern Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission, Author of Live Lead Learn: My Stories of Life and Leadership.
In her post executive career, Gail holds a portfolio of roles, leveraging her experience and insights as a global leader.
Gail is the author of Live Lead Learn: My Stories of Life and Leadership which was published in July 2017 in Australia and New Zealand. In the same year she established ‘The Gail Kelly Global Leaders Scholarship’ between the University of New South Wales and the University of Cape Town.
Gail holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and Higher Diploma of Education from the University of Cape Town, a Masters of Business Administration (with Distinction) from the University of the Witwatersrand, and she has also completed the INSEAD Advanced Management Programme in Fontainebleau.
Gail has been awarded three Honorary Doctorates of Business, by the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University and Charles Sturt University. She has also been conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Science in Economics by the University of Sydney.
