Keynote speaker
Keynote speaker
Sydney I Thursday 13 March 2025
Jamila Rizvi
Diversity and inclusion expert and Deputy Managing Director of Future Women
Jamila Rizvi is an Australian author, presenter, and diversity and inclusion executive. She graduated from the Australian National University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws. During her studies, Jamila served as student president and university council member; she was awarded Young Alumnus of the Year in 2016.
Even before her graduation, Jamila landed a job with then-new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. She worked in various roles for the Rudd and Gillard governments for nearly five years, advising on media, gender equality, youth affairs early childhood education and employment participation.
Jamila’s profile grew when she joined the Mamamia Women's Network, an independent Australian media company, as editor-in-chief. She played a defining role, in shaping the platform’s editorial offering, which covered feminism, current affairs, parenting, and more. Jamila expanded the Network’s influence, growing audiences by 2000 per cent in four years, simultaneously establishing herself as a prominent voice in the media.
A best-selling author, Jamila published the critically acclaimed "Not Just Lucky” in 2017, “The Motherhood” in 2018 and the children’s picture book “I’m a Hero Too” in 2020. She has also edited and contributed to anthologies “Untold Resilience” and “Work. Love. Body”. Her books have sparked conversations and furthered debates around motherhood, valuing older women, workplace discrimination and gender equality.
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Jamila is a co-host of The Briefing podcast, a top-20 show that breaks down complex news for a millennial and Gen Z audience. She is also a regular guest host on various Australian television and radio programs, including The Project, The Drum, ABC News Breakfast and Q and A. Jamila is a dynamic, entertaining contributor who blends humour with her insightful analysis of current affairs and social issues.
As an experienced MC, facilitator, and passionate speaker, Jamila has worked with diverse organisations from Visit Victoria to UN Women, Industry Super Australia to the Sydney Opera House, and Westpac Bank to Witchery. She is an enthusiastic, infectious, and intelligent host, with an uncanny ability to quickly comprehend the nuances of an industry, or complex subjects.
Jamila has been named in the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence and was a 2020 Women and Leadership Australia award winner. In 2022 she was an HBC International Gold Award Winner, recognising her managerial, leadership and advocacy achievements. She has an active and engaged social media following of more than 125,000 across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Jamila is the Deputy Managing Director of FW, a growing media and training organisation that advocates for gender equality in Australian workplaces. FW supports women who face barriers to paid work to find employment and coaches emerging leaders to advance their careers. She works with corporate and government leaders to achieve diversity and inclusion goals and address unconscious bias.
Jamila writes regularly for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, contributing to issues of gender, economics, identity, and social change and is working on a new book with co-author Rosie Waterland, to be published by Penguin in 2024.
She is a board member of the Wheeler Centre and an ambassador for PLAN International and the Royal Melbourne Hospital Neuroscience Foundation.
Jamila Rizvi appears by arrangement with Saxton Speaker Bureau.
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Join us as we celebrate together this International Women's Day
