She Leads Tech
She Leads Tech connects researchers and research professionals with Australian and international industry leaders, startup founders and professional networks in tech, business and academia.
Our speakers share real strategies and insights in entrepreneurship and research commercialisation, including:
- Building influence
- Visibility strategies
- Career progression
- Pitching ideas
- Leadership sustainability
- Sponsorship, mentorship, and networking
Why is this important?
Women remain underrepresented in engineering and IT, making up just 13% of Australia’s engineering workforce. Women are also significantly underrepresented in senior and management roles –with 29% of ASX 300 executive and 9% of CEO roles filled by women. In addition, women face persistent gaps in career pathways, leadership visibility and long-term career sustainability.
Join us at She Leads Tech to build the networks, skills and profiles that turn research excellence into career momentum and leadership, and help shape more equitable, innovative futures in tech.
Events
She Leads Tech: Career Development of Women in Academia
Friday 23 October
2.45pm to 5.30pm
Manhari Room, Level 7, Melbourne Connect
To get invites to upcoming She Leads Tech events:
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Previous events
She Leads Tech: Women in entrepreneurship
May 2026
This interactive pitch session focused on women’s entrepreneurship in technology. Our speakers were founders, investors, and startup leaders excited to share insights on how to identify, shape, test, and translate ideas into ventures with real-world impact – in practical, accessible, and collaborative ways!
Thank you to our speakers:
- Leila Oliveira, Senior Investment Manager, Antler Australia
- Tick Jiang, Founder & CEO & CTO, NUVC.ai, Founder & Director MONOL™
- Jeanette Cheah, CEO & Co-Founder, HEX
- Marie Connett, Business Development Manager, Faculty of Engineering and IT, Account Manager, Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, University of Melbourne
She Leads Tech: Women in Industry
March 2026
This panel focussed on women’s progression in tech, with practical insights on growth, visibility, leadership, and navigating cross-functional environments.
Thank you to our speakers:
- Dr Lisa Fu, Associate Innovation Director, AKQA, Melbourne
- Rose Harvey, Rose Harvey Consulting, Melbourne
- Dr Fei Liu, Senior Research Scientist, Google DeepMind, US
- Dr Aili Shen, Applied Scientist, Amazon, US
- Dr Jing Zhu, Sales Engineer – Megapack, Tesla, Melbourne
- Natalia Orel, Research Software Engineer, MDAP, Melbourne
Learn more about your hosts
She Leads Tech is supported by the 2026 Faculty of Engineering and IT Diversity & Inclusion Grant and the 2026 Faculty of Business and Economics and Melbourne Business School Diversity & Inclusion Small Grants Program.
Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics
CAIDE aims to build cross-disciplinary research, teaching, policy and regulatory expertise at the University of Melbourne and across the wider community.
Melbourne Data Analytics Platform
MDAP are a team of research data and academic specialists enabling data-intensive, data-informed and collaborative research across the University of Melbourne.
Melbourne Venture Club
MVC are dedicated to empowering ambitious students and early stage entrepreneurs who possess great vision yet lack market experience and insight. Guided by an investor's perspective, we equip them with a clear and accurate understanding of early stage investment principles, laying a solid foundation for their future entrepreneurial endeavours.