Virtual event |
ACC Australia
Overview (Program Summary)
A program hosted by:
ACC AustraliaWhat’s next on your Legal Department’s DEI journey?
In the words of the great Maya Angelou “If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going.”; and this is certainly the case for your legal department’s DEI strategy. No matter where you are at on your DEI journey, the ACC Foundation’s DEI Maturity Model (ACCF DEI MM) can help get you to where you need to be. The ACCF DEI MM has been designed for use by legal departments around the world to benchmark maturity of their efforts regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across a wide range of functional areas that have been proven relevant to optimising DEI impact and results.
Join our panellists Christalyne Look and Sneha Balakrishnan in a roundtable facilitated by Carmel Mulhern, the Group General Counsel and Group Executive, Legal & Group Secretariat, CBA to check where your department is at against the ACCF DEI MM, identify DEI challenges particular to your industry and hear about inclusive practices you can adopt to support your organisation to achieve its goals and increase innovation and growth through equity and inclusion.
Speakers
Carmel Mulhern, Group General Counsel and Group Executive, Legal & Group Governance
Carmel Mulhern is Group General Counsel and Group Executive, Legal & Group Governance at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. She has responsibility for the Group’s Legal and Governance teams and advises the CEO and the Board on legal matters and corporate governance. Her priorities are to ensure the fair and efficient resolution of the Group’s legal matters and to support the effectiveness of the Board.
Carmel joined the Commonwealth Bank in January 2020. Prior to joining the Commonwealth Bank, Carmel was the Group General Counsel and Group Executive Legal and Corporate Affairs at Telstra. In this role she was responsible for legal matters, government relations, communications, regulatory engagement and corporate sustainability.
At Telstra, Carmel also held the positions of General Counsel Finance and Administration, as well as Company Secretary. Previously, Carmel worked as a Senior Associate at Mallesons Stephen Jacques (now King & Wood Mallesons).
Carmel holds a Bachelor of Arts (Politics) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland, and a Master of Laws from Monash University (Directors’ Duties/Corporate Governance).
Carmel is a member (and inaugural chair) of the Association of Corporate Counsel GC100 and a member of Chief Executive Women. She is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.
Sneha Balakrishnan, Head of Legal
Sneha Balakrishnan leads the legal function at Shippit and has over 15 years of experience in corporate and commercial law. Sneha has extensive expertise in the technology sector, with a focus on intellectual property, privacy law, software licensing, and IT contracts.
Sneha is a champion of diversity in senior leadership positions and an advocate for women from underrepresented backgrounds.
She also plays principal clarinet with The Lawyers Orchestra Inc in Sydney, Australia, and is a mother of three.
Christalyne Look, Thermo Fisher Scientific
A highly experienced corporate (M&A) and commercial in-house lawyer, with diverse experience,
having worked at multinational fortune 500, listed and regulated companies, including in biotechnology,
technology, manufacturing, construction, entertainment and financial services, as well as global law firms. A trusted advisor to boards, senior executives and management, as well as experienced in delivering regulatory compliance and corporate governance training programs.