Kelly’s appointment brings the total number of women on the 11-person board to four, where she joins Christina Ong, Chua Sock Koong and Teo Swee Lian.
Kelly was the first female CEO of a big four bank in Australia, leading Westpac from 2008 to 2015 and published her book on leadership in 2017.
She is currently also on the board of Woolworths Holdings Limited in South Africa and locally, the Australian Philanthropic Services. She also holds a number of advisory positions, including with UBS. Kelly is also on the steering committee of the Group of Thirty (G30).
Recently, she co-authored a new report for the G30 regarding the Banking Royal Commission, saying that Australia’s banks are on a “long journey to repair conduct and culture”. She helped launch the report at a press function, declaring that employers need to ensure their staff don’t feel like they’re receiving conflicting messages from what’s coming from the board, the values and purpose of the firm, and what their direct manager is asking of them.
Also towards the end of 2018, Kelly shared with ABC 7:30 advice to her younger self. See the video below.
Kelly joins Google’s vice-president of product management Bradley Horowitz as new additions to the SingTel board, with both having started in late December.