Today on the Take on Board Podcast, in celebration of Take on Board’s first birthday, the microphone is turned towards Helga! She sits down for an across the world chat with producer, Buffy Gorrilla. Helga shares how she caught governance fever, her decision to leave law and what her hopes are for the podcast in year two. Spoiler: grow the community. So, be a Helga, use your joining gene and come be part of the active and supportive Take on Board community today! Come to a Take on Board event, j...
Jul 07, 2020•30 min•Ep 54•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Sara Faivre about social unrest, COVID-19 and the board's role in setting the tone. Sara has a background in agriculture and biotechnology, Her own transformative journey from the research lab to the boardroom has led to a career devoted to helping others integrate profit and purpose. Sara is a public and private company board director and business evolution coach from Austin, Texas. She is on the boards of Farmer Mac (NYSE:AGM), One More Clo...
Jun 30, 2020•27 min•Ep 52•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, things are a little different. On May 20th, people from around the world congregated on Zoom to meet, network, laugh and share insights with like-minded people as part of the first Take on Board Breakfast. These are the highlights. Plus, you get to meet Claudia Fatone, who was one of the guest speakers at the event. Claudia is a board member of the Victoria Law Foundation, the Federation of Community Legal Centres and a Director of Cricket Victoria, Melbourne ...
Jun 23, 2020•23 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, things are a little different. You will hear from Susan Staples, a governance and risk specialists with extensive experience in sustainability, health and NFP. She’s interested in how governance supports better risk management including supporting “better” decision making, i.e. decision making that takes into account a range of competing stakeholder interests. Her specialties include Risk Management, Board advisory and Corporate governance; Stakeholder engagem...
Jun 16, 2020•33 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on board podcast, Helga is speaking with Jan Molino about how getting on a board starts with you. Jan is on the Aging Life Care Association Advisory Board and is an active member of both the International Women's Forum and the DC chapter of International Women's Forum. She is also an emeritus member of the George Mason University Women in Business Advisory Board. Jan is the President and CEO of Aspire Ascend, a consulting firm that provides a comprehensive portfolio and board c...
Jun 09, 2020•28 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga is speaking with Rhonda Brighton Hall about culture, diversity change and what makes a good chair. Rhonda is a director of Making Work Absolutely Human. And she writes and speaks for the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In fact, Helga heard her speak at the AICD Governance Summit and couldn't get near her afterwards because there was so many people surrounding her wanting to ask questions. So she sent her a tweet and voila - she’s here today to...
Jun 02, 2020•34 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, I'm speaking with Dr. Melinda Muth about how effective relationships are built on effective conversations and how effective conversations are built on positive language. Melinda is on the boards of Harvard Club Australia Philanthropy and Curious Works and she has previously been on the boards of Indigenous Community Volunteers, Heart Kids New South Wales, Union University and Schools Club and Quest for life Foundation. Melinda is an educator and consultant who...
May 26, 2020•31 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Jocelyn Furlan. Jocelyn has returned to cover some of the topics she and Helga didn’t have time to get to in their first chat, such as governance challenges and the establishment of and her role on the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal Advisory Council. Her passion is an Australian community empowered and confident about their financial affairs. She works with financial service providers to maximise member and customer centricity in their pr...
May 19, 2020•34 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga’s speaking with Babette Bensoussan about strategy and competitive intelligence. Babette is on the board of Volunteering Sunshine Coast, and she's formerly been a director of the National Australia Day Council, the New South Wales Board of Adult and Community Education and Eastside Radio. As a decision making maverick. Babette assists organisations to make better competitive decisions and assist individuals to make better decisions about their life, caree...
May 12, 2020•31 min•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga's speaking with Dr. Emily Moore about being an effective board member and the role of a board in a crisis. Emily is on the boards of Metrolinx, which is a provincial crown corporation providing regional commuter rail and bus services for Toronto and Chemtrade logistics, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed industrial chemical organization. She's also finishing up on HalTech Regional innovation and she's formerly been a director of St. Mildred's-Lightbourn Sch...
May 05, 2020•31 min•Ep 44•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga is peaking with Jo-Anne Moorfoot about integrity governance. Jo-Anne explains what it is and why it's important. Jo-Anne is on the boards of the West Gippsland Healthcare Group and Best Chance Child and Family Services. With a career spanning over 30 years Jo-Anne has extensive experience in the health sector, with particular expertise in risk management, clinical governance and effective consumer engagement. Jo-Anne is experienced in transformational or...
Apr 28, 2020•33 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Ingrid Svendsen about communicating in a crisis. Ingrid is the co-founder and chair of the East Timor Hearts Fund, and she's also the past president of the Darebin Parklands Association. Her first board was the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance Victorian Branch Councillor. Ingrid is a crisis communication professional who has specialised in the age, disability and health sectors for around 10 years. She's the co-owner of Grounded Communic...
Apr 21, 2020•31 min•Ep 42•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga is speaking with Julie Green about getting on a board and building a board portfolio around your areas of influence and passion. This alignment of your skills to a board role is key. Helga explores how to highlight your own points of difference in her conversation with Julie. Julie is a board member of the RACV which is the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, RACV Finance, Bendigo Health, Maldon Hospital, Loddon Mallee Waste and Resource Recovery , Greeni...
Apr 14, 2020•29 min•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga is speaking with Samantha Kinsey about some of the new Australian laws relating to directors arising out of the Covid=19 pandemic. First, let me tell you about Samantha. Samantha is a restructuring and insolvency partner in the Melbourne Office of King and Wood Mallesons. Samantha acts for diverse stakeholders in relation to distressed situations including finances, shareholders, insolvency practitioners and potential acquirers. Samantha explains there c...
Apr 07, 2020•22 min•Ep 41•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Sheila Ronning about using your network and your personal brand to help you get on boards. Sheila broke the mould in 2002, launching Women in the Boardroom as the first to form such an organisation with customised executive training programs and networking opportunities. She has created a proven program and process to get women their first second or third corporate board seat. Her first board was the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce in the lat...
Mar 31, 2020•35 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Jocelyn Furlan. Initially we had planned to speak about being an effective board member, governance challenges and the establishment of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal Advisory Council and where that led - and we’ll get to that in a future episode, I promise. But we changed the focus of this conversation, because Jocelyn worked with one of her boards this week on something many businesses, schools and non-profits are going to have to f...
Mar 24, 2020•31 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga recaps the Australian Institute of Company Directors conference. So here is what Helga heard during the two-day conference peppered with some of her thoughts on topics that were raised and things for you to think about. You might also want to have a look at Helga’s Twitter feed ( https://twitter.com/helgasvendsen?lang=en ) from this period, she live tweeted most of the sessions that she attended and managed to remember the details It was a jam packed con...
Mar 17, 2020•34 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Sally Davis about the relationship between the CEO and the board. Sally's a consultant and she specialises in strategic planning, leadership and organisational development. She works with clients in a range of sectors including the arts, universities and the not for profit sector. She’s got a fascinating background, Sally started out as a ‘connie’ on the trams. Of course, Melburnians will know what that means, but for those of you not in or f...
Mar 10, 2020•27 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Jodie Willmer about board portals. Some boards have adopted this tool to make sharing information easier and more secure. Depending on which platform you use, you could be saying farewell to paper for good. Imagine going into your next board meeting armed with just a tablet, confident that everything you need will be there - and there’s nothing to shred at the end. Jodie is co-founder of Happy Changemakers, an organisation that helps social e...
Mar 03, 2020•31 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga sits down with Jennifer George to cover how you can make a valuable contribution in discussions around technology, even if you're not a technology whiz, in the boardroom. Jennifer is Head of Growth at Bay City Labs at Australian Computer Society (ACS). Jennifer has a background in finance. She's made several companies (a concept she explains) and worked in more than 50 industry sectors, including new energy, biotech, telecommunications, digital twins, bl...
Feb 25, 2020•31 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga’s speaking with Corrinne Armour about fearless leadership in the boardroom and from the other side of the board table and executive perspectives. Corrinne is the former Deputy Chair of Wintringham and a founding chair for the Torch Project where she helped the organisation move from a project auspiced by the not for profit to an independent structure. She's a speaker, trainer and coach who helps leadership teams develop fearless leadership and delivers t...
Feb 18, 2020•32 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Zoe Wainer about being an effective board member, governance challenges and in particular about value based health care. Zoe is the chair of the board of Dental Health Services Victoria and also a board member of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. She was formerly on the boards of the AMA Victoria and Tobacco Free portfolios. She is a medical doctor with a clinical background in cardiothoracic surgery, and the head of Public Healt...
Feb 11, 2020•31 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Jennifer Duncan about women leadership and how imposter syndrome sometimes holds us back from seeking roles such as directorships. Jennifer is Deputy Chair of Justice Reinvestment, South Australia, Deputy Chair of the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia and a member of the Living Stories advisory board. She was formerly on the South Australian Council of Social Services, the Australian Youth Affairs coalition Australian Red Cross South A...
Feb 04, 2020•36 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga speaks with Ruth McGowan about getting elected to government, after all, local, state or federal governments are just another form of Board. They’ll be talking about the governance challenges in elected positions, how to get elected, office politics and more. This interview was recorded in late 2019. Since then, Australia has been in the middle of a ferocious the bushfire season. Since Helga has been doing this series on climate change bushfires, and its...
Jan 28, 2020•43 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga talks with Nicola Pero about bushfires, board obligations in considering climate risk, and the balance of operational versus strategic in times of crisis. Nicola is a Gippslander and a board member of Destination Gippsland and Food and Fibre Gippsland. She has a lot to share with us since Gippsland has been at the center of one of the devastating bushfires in Australia. The impact on both the tourism industry and agriculture will be enormous. She was for...
Jan 21, 2020•33 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga talks with Henriette Rothschild about bushfires, climate change, emergencies and the impact that this has in the boardroom. Helga was in Adelaide during the Christmas period. During that time, the Adelaide Hills experienced devastating fires. Two people died and others were injured. More than 80 homes were lost, as well as about 500 outbuildings, hundreds of vehicles and extensive losses of livestock, pets and massive crop damage and vineyard damage. In ...
Jan 14, 2020•29 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga brings you 20 board tips to take into 2020. In doing so, I acknowledge my good friend Jackie Cooper who helped me bring this together – there’s no way I would have been able to pull out all the key themes and my favourite bits as it would be a bit like having to choose your favourite child. I love all of it! So Jackie was key in pulling this together. So let’s go back to the start. The first Take on Board episode aired Wednesday 2 July 2019 with the fabu...
Jan 07, 2020•32 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga reflects on 2019 and provides some tools for you to do the same. Reflection has popped up in many of Helga’s Take on Board conversations, so it’s only fitting that in this final episode before a two week pause that Helga outlines an exercise for you to incorporate this into your life. But don’t just stop at reflection, look ahead to what you want to accomplish as we roll into a new decade. You’ll want to RSVP to this episode. Have a wonderful festive per...
Dec 22, 2019•13 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Dr Dominique Hes is back for another on air coaching session. Helga has spoken with Dominique on two separate occasions. Once they covered preparing an application for a board role. Next, they tackled the interview process and how to present yourself with confidence. Well, Dominique has returned to give us an update - how did the interview go and did she land a seat at the board table? Today, you get to sit in on this wrap-up session and pick up some of the in...
Dec 17, 2019•16 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the Take on Board podcast, Helga talks with Alex Newton. Helga and Alex talk discuss human rights and business and what directors need to know and what to ask. Alex is a lawyer and specialist in business and human rights. She consults with corporations, governments, and non-governmental organizations on a wide range of matters relating to responsible business, human rights, anti discrimination, Public Policy and Governance. She's previously worked as director and executive in Australia'...
Dec 10, 2019•28 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast 
