Westpac
Company: Westpac
Company Description: Westpac Bank is Australia's First Bank with a range of innovative financial packages to suit your needs.
Nomination Category: Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Asian Executive
Nomination Title: Gail Kelly, CEO
Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated executive during the eligibility period (up to 500 words):
Recent Accomplishments:
In 2011, Forbes ranked her the 32nd most powerful woman in the world, she was ranked 8th in 2010. (2)
She commenced as CEO in January 2002 - at the time, St. George was seen as a possible takeover target (especially after the purchase of Colonial State Bank by the Commonwealth Bank) but Kelly has increased the bank's profitability and achieved much higher levels on return on assets. In November 2004, St. George Bank gave Kelly a pay rise and extended her contract indefinitely with the capitalization of the bank having risen by $3 billion since the start of her term as CEO. The Australian Banking & Finance magazine gave her an award for Best Financial Services Executive in 2003 and 2004
The chief executive of Westpac, Gail Kelly, threw down the gauntlet to rival banks on October 11, 2001, saying she wants half of all the bank's senior management positions to be filled by women within six years. Speaking last night at the Global Banking Alliance For Women Summit, which Westpac is sponsoring, Mrs Kelly said she had 'recently upped the target without telling anyone' to 50 per cent by 2017. The bank has a formal target of 40 per cent of management positions, from bank manager above, to be held by women by 2014. (3)
List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:
1. http://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/the-westpac-group/board-of-directors/
2. http://www.forbes.com/profile/gail-kelly/
3. http://www.smh.com.au/business/kelly-sets-out-diversity-challenge-20111011-1lj24.html
Provide a brief biography of the nominated executive (up to 100 words):
Gail Kelly is the CEO of Westpac Group, one of the largest banks in Australia. Kelly started work at the Nedcor Bank in 1980 as a teller but was fast-tracked into an accelerated training program. In 1990, she became head of HR at Nedcor (after having given birth to triplets ). From 1992 to 1997 she held General Manager positions at Nedcor, including cards and personal banking.
In June 1997, she flew to Sydney where she interviewed and started work as the General Manager of Strategic Marketing in the Commonwealth Bank. By 2002, she was head of the Customer Service Division. She was recruited as CEO of St. George Bank.