Gail Kelly is a well-respected leader in the financial services sector. Her executive banking career spanned 35 years, split equally between South Africa and Australia. She served as the Group CEO and Managing Director for two banks in Australia, St George Bank (2002 to 2007) followed by Westpac Bank Corporation (2008 to 2015).
Highlights of her CEO career included the effective navigation of Westpac through the challenges of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 / 2009 and the successful merger with St George Bank in 2008, the largest in market financial services merger in Australia. Westpac market capitalization more than doubled over her tenure as CEO.
In her post executive career, Gail holds a portfolio of roles, leveraging her experience and insights as a global leader.
Current roles include:
- Member of the Board of Directors of UBS Group AG Director of Singapore Telecommunications
- Senior Advisor to McKinsey
- Director of the Bretton Woods Committee Member of the Group of Thirty
- Member of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue Advisory Board Director of Australian Philanthropic Services
- Adjunct Professor at the University of New South Wales Chair of the Council at Ravenswood School for Girls
- Patron of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia
- Ambassador for Women’s Empowerment for CARE Australia
Past roles include:
- Senior Global Advisor to UBS Group AG
- Founding Member of the Global Board of Advisors at the US Council on Foreign Relations Vice President of the International Monetary Conference
- Member of the McKinsey Advisory Council
- Member of the PLuS Alliance Advisory Board Chair of the Australian Bankers’ Association
- Member of the Australian Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council Director of the Woolworths Holdings (South Africa)
- Director of the Business Council of Australia
- Member of the Northern Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission
Gail is the author of Live Lead Learn: My stories of life and leadership which was published in July 2017 in Australia and New Zealand by Penguin Random House and in November 2017 in South Africa by Pan Macmillan. In the same year she established ‘The Gail Kelly Global Leaders Scholarship’ between the University of New South Wales and the University of Cape Town.
Gail holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and Higher Diploma of Education from the University of Cape Town, a Masters of Business Administration (with Distinction) from the University of the Witwatersrand, and she has also completed the INSEAD Advanced Management Programme in Fontainebleau.
Gail has been awarded three Honorary Doctorates of Business, by the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University and Charles Sturt University. She has also been conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Science in Economics by the University of Sydney.