International Women’s Day Lunch 2025
Join us for a special lunch on Friday 7 March, as we embrace the 2025 global theme: March Forward
Esteemed female leaders and distinguished Monash University alumni will convene for this annual event. This year we are honoured to be hosting Olympic Champion Cathy Freeman OAM.
Cathy, a proud Kuku Yalanji and Birri Gubba woman will take us through her journey from local athlete to Australia’s Golden Girl. Cathy faced many challenges throughout her journey, overcoming adversity, racism and many other setbacks to become the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic Games gold medal in an individual event. Cathy has been an inspiration to so many, she was the winner of the Australian of the Year in 1998 and has made a meaningful impact to countless indigenous children via the Cathy Freeman Foundation. Please join us this International Women’s Day to hear the truly inspirational story of ‘Our Cathy’.
Keynote Speaker
Cathy Freeman OAM, Olympic Champion
Cathy Freeman is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Birri Gubba woman. She is also an Australian Indigenous Olympic champion. She ran her first race when she was five and realised that she loved the way racing made her feel. She won her first gold medal at a School Athletics Championships when she was eight years old.
Cathy Freeman was a member of the gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games, and in so doing became the first female Australian Aboriginal to win a gold medal at an International athletics event. She was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 1991 and a year later in Barcelona became the first Australian Aboriginal to represent Australia at an Olympic Games. Two years later, Cathy won gold in both the 200m and 400m at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada. At the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, she won silver with a personal best time of 48.63s in the 400m. She was crowned World Champion in the same event at the World Athletic Championships the following year, was awarded Australian of the year in 1998, and was again World Champion in the 400m in 1999.
Cathy's most notable achievement, however, came in 2000 at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Her image was beamed into millions of homes around the world when she became the first competing athlete to be invited to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. She then went on to win the gold medal in the 400m, realising a life-long dream.
Cathy also spent 15 years building the Cathy Freeman Foundation, which commenced in 2007, where the focus was on supporting Indigenous children experience their potential in school and beyond and realise their dreams.
Host
Professor Michelle Welsh, Senior Deputy Dean, Faculty Operations, Monash Business School
Prof Welsh undertakes research in the public enforcement of corporate law, the role of the public regulator and the impact of enforcement on corporate compliance.
She was a chief investigator on an ARC Discovery Project with colleagues from the Melbourne Law School: ‘Phoenix Activity: Regulating Fraudulent Use of the Corporate Form' (2014-2016). Currently, she is a member of the Monash University Network of Excellence project: ‘Enhancing Corporate Accountability’. She is also working on a project that investigates optimal methods of regulating debt management firms. Prof Welsh has published her research widely and has been invited to present at national and international workshops and conferences.
Prof Welsh was the Head of the Department of Business Law and Taxation, Monash Business School from 2015 – 2020. She served as President of the Australian Corporate Law Teachers Association in 2015 and 2016, is a European Corporate Governance Institute Research Member and a current member of the Corporations Committee, Business Law Section, Law Council of Australia.
Event Details
- Date:
- 7 March 2025 at 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm
- Venue:
- Hotel Chadstone, 1341 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone, Melbourne, Victoria
- Categories:
- Alumni; General
Description
Join us for a special lunch on Friday 7 March, as we embrace the 2025 global theme: March Forward
Esteemed female leaders and distinguished Monash University alumni will convene for this annual event. This year we are honoured to be hosting Olympic Champion Cathy Freeman OAM.
Cathy, a proud Kuku Yalanji and Birri Gubba woman will take us through her journey from local athlete to Australia’s Golden Girl. Cathy faced many challenges throughout her journey, overcoming adversity, racism and many other setbacks to become the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic Games gold medal in an individual event. Cathy has been an inspiration to so many, she was the winner of the Australian of the Year in 1998 and has made a meaningful impact to countless indigenous children via the Cathy Freeman Foundation. Please join us this International Women’s Day to hear the truly inspirational story of ‘Our Cathy’.
Keynote Speaker
Cathy Freeman OAM, Olympic Champion
Cathy Freeman is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Birri Gubba woman. She is also an Australian Indigenous Olympic champion. She ran her first race when she was five and realised that she loved the way racing made her feel. She won her first gold medal at a School Athletics Championships when she was eight years old.
Cathy Freeman was a member of the gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games, and in so doing became the first female Australian Aboriginal to win a gold medal at an International athletics event. She was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 1991 and a year later in Barcelona became the first Australian Aboriginal to represent Australia at an Olympic Games. Two years later, Cathy won gold in both the 200m and 400m at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada. At the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, she won silver with a personal best time of 48.63s in the 400m. She was crowned World Champion in the same event at the World Athletic Championships the following year, was awarded Australian of the year in 1998, and was again World Champion in the 400m in 1999.
Cathy's most notable achievement, however, came in 2000 at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Her image was beamed into millions of homes around the world when she became the first competing athlete to be invited to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. She then went on to win the gold medal in the 400m, realising a life-long dream.
Cathy also spent 15 years building the Cathy Freeman Foundation, which commenced in 2007, where the focus was on supporting Indigenous children experience their potential in school and beyond and realise their dreams.
Host
Professor Michelle Welsh, Senior Deputy Dean, Faculty Operations, Monash Business School
Prof Welsh undertakes research in the public enforcement of corporate law, the role of the public regulator and the impact of enforcement on corporate compliance.
She was a chief investigator on an ARC Discovery Project with colleagues from the Melbourne Law School: ‘Phoenix Activity: Regulating Fraudulent Use of the Corporate Form' (2014-2016). Currently, she is a member of the Monash University Network of Excellence project: ‘Enhancing Corporate Accountability’. She is also working on a project that investigates optimal methods of regulating debt management firms. Prof Welsh has published her research widely and has been invited to present at national and international workshops and conferences.
Prof Welsh was the Head of the Department of Business Law and Taxation, Monash Business School from 2015 – 2020. She served as President of the Australian Corporate Law Teachers Association in 2015 and 2016, is a European Corporate Governance Institute Research Member and a current member of the Corporations Committee, Business Law Section, Law Council of Australia.