It’s time to MOVE FROM TALK TO ACTION.
How I Work With Organisations
Michelle moves organisations from conversation to action by fixing the systems that hold women, teams and organisations back.
Establish. Accelerate. Remediate.
Whatever stage your organisation has reached, I work through the same four steps: Diagnose, Define, Design and Deliver. Some organisations are establishing their approach to gender equity for the first time. Others have momentum and want to accelerate it. Others need to remediate a gap that is already visible to the executive or the board.
01 Diagnose
Ground every decision in evidence. I run my own diagnostics or work from the data you already hold, including workforce data, existing diagnostics and your Workplace Gender Equality Agency reporting, to identify the risks and opportunities across your people, policies and practices.
02 Define
Set the direction, the risk appetite and the measures. Through a co-design workshop and executive and board briefings, your leaders agree the priorities and targets, and who owns each outcome by when, so accountability is settled before the strategy is written.
03 Design
Translate the findings into an equity strategy, a leadership program and a governance framework matched to your risk profile and operating model, designed so your own people can run them.
04 Deliver
Build the capability and capacity to keep going without me. I facilitate the programs, establish the accountability (equity committees, board reporting, leadership scorecards) and step back. I then remain available as an independent advisor to your equity or DEI steering committee, to audit progress against the measures your leaders set and contribute to your governance cadence.
Establishing
You need a clear view of your starting position and a credible plan.
Accelerating
Progress has begun and you need leadership capability and governance behind it.
Remediating
A finding, a complaint or a reporting gap has placed the issue before the executive or the board, and you need a defensible, evidence-led response.
I create the capability and capacity inside your organisation for an enduring and sustainable implementation.
The Delivery
Each of these sits at one or more of the four steps.
Advancing Women @ Work Diagnostic
Diagnose and Define. I close the gap between how leaders believe women experience the organisation and what is happening, using your existing HR and culture data, a Women @ Work assessment and executive listening sessions. An executive workshop then sets direction, priorities and accountability.
Gender Equity Strategy and Operating System
Define and Design. I turn workforce analysis and predictive modelling into board-ready targets and a three-year operating system: governance, executive ownership by pillar, leader accountability and a reporting cadence that changes decisions.
The Road to Inclusion
Design and Deliver. Leaders at every level learn to embed inclusion in their decisions, recognise resistance and design sustainable solutions. A version for HR teams builds their capability to coach and influence leaders.
Dealing with DEI Resistance
Design and Deliver. Line managers, DEI and ERG leaders and HR professionals learn to identify, categorise and respond to resistance, through scenario-based learning and a community of practice that sustains momentum.
The Advancing Women Formula
Deliver. A women's leadership program that builds the business, emotional and social intelligence that put women in line for senior roles. At IAG, 12 cohorts of more than 200 women led to 31 promotions and 25 lateral moves.
The Hothouse
Deliver. I pair women in the leadership pipeline with executive sponsors and prepare both. Nearly 60% of the skills for executive roles relate to Business Intelligence, yet on average 4% of the career advice women receive addresses them (Susan Colantuono, The Missing 33%).
Unlock the Power of Mentoring
Deliver. A strategic mentoring program that prepares mentors and mentees for high-impact relationships, dispels common myths and aligns mentoring with your talent and succession frameworks.
Independent Equity Governance Advisory
Deliver. I act as an independent advisor to your equity board or steering committee. I align effort and spend to strategy, hold spend to account, support the people delivering the work and bring an outside-in view. Advisory, not operational.
I work with ambitious organisations that treat gender equity as a business imperative, not a box to tick.
Michelle Redfern delivers our flagship program for our talented female leaders which has a great deal of credibility and visibility within IAG and has achieved great success in helping women learn, grow and reach their potential. Michelle is not only an outstanding, engaging facilitator, she is an active advocate for women in business and sport and has the commercial experience to back it up. As the executive program sponsor, I am grateful to be part of an organisation that is serious about closing the gender gap and to work with Michelle and our talented group of leaders on this program.Carol Ann Gough, Executive Program Sponsor, IAG
Michelle is a leading voice in diversity, equity and inclusion. Michelle ran a highly successful event for Vicsport and our community sport members on creating and sustaining gender equity in sport. The event gave participants a clear understanding of gender equity, the issues, their potential bias and tools to improve equity in their sport. Michelle's style is friendly and inclusive and the content is backed up by data, examples and immersive activities.Lisa Hasker, Former CEO, Vicsport
My mission is clear: to fix the systems that prevent women, teams and organisations from reaching full potential.
Speaking, MC, and Facilitation
I don’t deliver fluffy keynotes. I deliver truth bombs that move audiences from awareness to action. Whether I’m in a boardroom, on stage, or with a sporting organisation, I bring research, real-world experience, and a healthy dose of humour to spark change.
Key Speaking Topics
I speak about the issues that matter: fixing the systems that hold women back, building inclusive leaders, and creating workplaces that work for every human.
Inclusive Leadership for a Competitive Edge
I show leaders how inclusion isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a competitive advantage. Inclusive leaders unlock performance, innovation, and retention across every level of the organisation.
Fix the System, Not Women: Closing Leadership Gaps That Last
I challenge outdated approaches that focus on “fixing women.” The real solution is dismantling the systems that hold women back and embedding structures that sustain gender equity.
From Conversation to Action: Embedding Gender Equity in Workplaces
I take audiences past the rhetoric into real, measurable change, with strategies, governance, and accountability that make equity business-as-usual.
The Confidence Conundrum: Why Women Don’t Need Fixing
I call out the myth that women lack confidence and show how systemic barriers, not personal failings, are the real issue. Women don’t need fixing. Systems do.
Network Like a CEO: Building Influence That Accelerates Careers
I show women how to build, enhance and leverage a strategic network that accelerates their careers.
Women’s Leadership Mastery: Accelerating Careers with Impact
I share the strategies women need to rise with clarity, confidence, and credibility, and what organisations must do to support them systemically.
The Future of Work is Inclusive: What Every Leader Needs to Know
I show how inclusion is the essential leadership skill for building resilient, future-ready organisations, and why it can’t be left to chance.
Advancing Women in Sport: Independent Insights and Playbooks for Change
I draw on my independent, self-funded research and a practical playbook for creating gender-equal sporting workplaces, on and off the field.