Chief Executive Women

The organisation began in Victoria in 1985 as an offshoot of Women Chiefs of Enterprises International (WCEI), or (''Les Femmes Chefs D'Enterprises Mondiales'', or FCEM), which was founded in Paris, France, in 1945. The formation of both groups was inspired by the need to mentor and support women entrepreneurs and in senior roles in organisations, and those to aspire to either. (Industry Taskforce on Leadership and Management Skills, Enterprising Nation: Renewing Australia's Managers to Meet the Challenge of the Asia-Pacific Century, Canberra: AGPS, 1995) on women and diversity in management and leadership in the next century. Victorian director of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Alliance . ==Description==

CEW supports women entrepreneurs and those in leadership positions and those aspiring to be senior executives. It provides a network of women in these positions, as well as funding leadership scholarships. It has been registered as a charity by the ACNC since 2015. Lisa Annese has been CEO of CEW since January 2025. Helen Conway was appointed 20th president of CEW in July 2025, and remains president . Past presidents include: • Barbara Cail AO (1985–1989) • Imelda Roche AO • Ita Buttrose AC OBE • Wendy McCarthy AO • Helen Lynch AM • Sandra Yates AO • The Hon. Annabelle Bennett AC SC • Karen Wilson • Diane Grady AO • Jillian Broadbent AC • Catherine Livingstone AO • Naseema Sparks AM • Belinda Hutchinson AC • Christine Christian AO • Diane Smith-Gander AO • Kathryn Fagg AO • Sue Morphet • Sam Mostyn AO (Governor-General of Australia from 1 July 2024) • Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz ==Programs and functions==

The main functions and operations are focused on the CEW Scholarships and CEW Leaders Programs. This provides the opportunity for women working in a mid to senior executive role in the retail sector to study at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, in the US. The inaugural winner of the scholarship in 2022 was Wesfarmers finance general manager Virginia Lead, with Coles GM of non-food business unit Debra Galle winning it in 2023. In 2022 CEW partnered with Jane Hansen AO to create two new scholarships for women who lead in the arts community: the Hansen Executive Leader CEW Scholarship and the Hansen CEW Leaders Program for the Arts Scholarships. The former is for one recipient, to study a leadership course of their choice anywhere in the world, while the latter offers five recipients to participate in the CEW Leaders Program. CEW also analyses data created by the federal government's Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) each year, and makes submissions to parliament on the gender pay gap and related issues. In recent years it has put the spotlight on the untapped resources in migrant women, calling on leaders to examine their organisations' cultural and racial diversity and stressing the value of having diverse teams. It also committed to increasing its own data-gathering within its membership, and setting meaningful targets. ==Publications==

In July 2023 CEW published a report called Unlocking Leadership: Conversations on Gender and Race in Corporate Australia 2023. ==See also==