2 years ago I had the incredible privilege to host The Hon. Julia Gillard AC (Chair of Wellcome Board of Governors, inaugural Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and former Prime Minster of Australia) at the Sanger Institute for a dedicated visit focussing on equity and inclusion. Such an honour!!! It was a jam-packed day – starting with a thought-provoking “In Conversation” with Julia and Dame Cilla Snowball, DBE, with lots of enthusiastic audience participation. Of course we invited Julia to share her reflections on her iconic misogyny speech from 2012: “Not Now, Not Ever” – [side thought: I feel that whilst some progress has been made, there is still more to do. Perhaps this is a blog for another day] – we filled every single precious minute with impactful conversation and discussion that was laced with bucketloads of humour and optimism.

It was so joyful being able to introduce Julia to some of the fabulous Campus EDI community, including members of the staff engagement networks, Excellence Fellows, Janet Thornton Fellows and the special people I worked with who always went the extra mile to catalyse change (ykwya).  We also grasped the nettles with the more thornier aspects of research and scientific culture, including unpacking what can drive negative behaviours across the research ecosystem and what funders can do to lead positive change. Julia was so generous with her time – warm, inquisitive and laser-focused – she missed nothing!

3 personal take-ways from my time with Julia:

1. Stay true to your values and principles. There are things that we are entitled to feel angry about – sitting comfortably with that anger can be empowering.
2. Be aware of superficiality – it’s important to get beneath the froth and bubbles on the surface (and not get distracted by them) in order to be able to see the tides and movements underneath to really understand what is happening.
3. Authentic inclusive leadership is demonstrated through every day actions and behaviours (doing it, role-modelling it, bringing it to life – not just talking about it). When Julia became Australia’s first female prime minister, I read that she accepted the role with the “greatest humility, resolve and enthusiasm”. This is the person who I met – genuine, committed and humble.

To have this time with such an inspirational leader was just a dream. Until next time (fingers crossed…!)