Women on Boards has been working for more than 12 years to address gender inequity in the boardroom and across leadership roles, with an aim for 40% of board roles to be occupied by women by 2025.
WOBSX is a director-led peer-to-peer support program
developed in 2018 to assist women achieve ASX Board roles. The aspirational goal of the program is that more than 25% of participants will have secured listed company ASX directorships (or equivalent) within two years of completion.
Executive Chair of Women on Boards said, “I am delighted to announce James as our first WOBSX ambassador. James brings a wealth of corporate experience, covering a variety of roles including successful business owner, Board Director, Chairman and investor.
“As someone who has successfully run a am ASX listed company, his knowledge, combined with his genuine enthusiasm for mentoring and supporting others, makes him a perfect fit for this role.”
said, “It is an absolute honour to be appointed as the first ambassador for the Women on Boards WOBSX program. Having spent a lot of time, both on boards and dealing with boards it has become obvious to me how important diversity on boards is to the success of an organisation.
“I am passionate about empowering positive change in the country’s corporate boardrooms, one of the more obvious changes is including more women in leadership and board roles and I look forward to working with Ruth, Claire and the team, over the next two years.”
As an ambassador for the program Spenceley’s role will be for a minimum two year tenure and include speaking at events, one on one mentoring and introducing board opportunities for members where appropriate.
Spenceley is an accomplished deal maker, investor and non-executive director. He has been widely recognised for his achievements as the founder of Vocus Communications, which he launched in 2007 and led to a $25million listing in 2010. When he stepped down as CEO in February 2016 Vocus had 1,500 staff, annual revenues of $1.8billion, and a market capitalisation of $5billion.
James is a two-time EY Entrepreneur of the Year winner, a former BRW Young Rich-lister and former owner and Chairman of the Illawarra Hawks NBL team.
A thematic investor and regular speaker, James is keen to support the ideas and trends likely to reshape the economy and have relevance into the future, from sustainability and superannuation to technology and generational change. He has a growing philanthropic focus on children’s health and poverty relief.