SheLeads Conference 2026
By: Genevieve Barter
It is astounding to sit in a room full of amazing, brilliant women. Not just the speakers, but the women sitting at the tables next to me all had astonishing achievements. Chris Ryan, the MC of the ‘SheLeads Conference’, started off by uniting all the women in the room. This conference was one of the only times I have ever been in a space of only women, and it was liberating.
We heard first from Dr Michelle Dickinson, a nanotechnologist and award-winning science communicator, also the founder of Matter Workshop and Nanogirl. She was inspirational for all girls who felt like school was not for them but still had a curious brain. Dr Dickinson said something that stuck with me, “you can’t be what you can’t see.” This is important for young girls to remember, but also for women who feel they do not deserve to be where they are; there will be young girls looking up to you, wherever you are. She taught us that you can do anything if you are passionate about it.
After a beautiful morning tea (waffles, scones and fruit!), we heard from the beautiful Sophie Delezio, who was in two car accidents when she was little. She is so much more than those accidents. She talked about what courage means to her, and encouraged us to write a list of everything we wanted to do, and give ourselves no timeline. Sophie was uplifting, and talked about how both of her parents helped get her through her hard times, and how different their approaches were. Her mum helped Sophie reach her ‘happy place’ before each surgery and her father helped her scream out the fear.
We got to choose which panel we went to and I chose “Celebrating the Many Faces of ‘Difficult’ Women” run by journalist Andrienne Francis. Five women sat on the stage, Genevieve Krienke, Heather Reid AM, Frances Crimmins and Hala Batainah, all women who have been called ‘difficult’ in one way or another for trying to make a change. We were asked at the start “who here has been called difficult?” and all the women around me had their hands in the air, and it made me realise to make a change in the world, you have to make ‘trouble’ and be ‘difficult’. A few key phrases caught my attention through this panel; Genevieve Krienke stood out to me as she left her football club after no action was taken against sexism and racism. She said “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept”. Heather Reid AM made it possible for women to play football in Canberra and Australia, and said, “You don’t make trouble; you don’t make change”. An important thing to remember when women are called too ‘outspoken’ or ‘bossy’.
The next panel I went to was “Forge your Voice” with Annelise McCarthy. This was about using your voice and being comfortable with giving yourself permission to use it. Annelise got us to write an ‘Evidence List’ of 5-10 things that prove we have earned a seat at the table. This is an important confidence booster, she said you can write compliments people have given you. There are 3 delivery tropes that are costing your influence, upspeaking (sounds like a question rather than a statement), projection (confidence, doesn’t mean louder) and fluffy fillers (words like maybe, sorry, um, just and does that make sense?). When you take those words out of your vocabulary, you sound more sure of yourself and people are more willing to listen. Annelise also shared an Authority Toolkit, 3 questions to determine influence. 1. Why should they care? 2. How do I want them to feel? 3. What do I want them to do? Stopping and asking yourself these questions can help people understand what you are saying.
After more delicious food (churros and mini pies), we heard from Dr Hannah McGlade who gave a keynote speech about the work she does as a human rights advocate and lawyer, she said something that stuck with me. “Without hope, we have nothing” and this is important to remember when we give up on something we believe in. Such as, fighting for the rights of Indigenous Women, we can’t lose hope. Lastly, we heard from Kylie Kwong AM, a chef, as well as entrepreneur. I heard about her journey with food through different countries and languages. “Food became our language, our bridge”. It was a beautiful, sad and uplifting speech.
The SheLeads Conference, hosted by the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), was an amazing experience to be a part of. I will never forget the feeling of being around incredible women, and not just the ones who were on stage, the ones that were also sitting next to me.