This September, Olympic Dam Asset President Jacqui McGill will take part in the Executive Development Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School thanks to a scholarship from Chief Executive Women (CEW).

CEW’s mission is ‘women leaders enabling women leaders’, and the scholarship program aims to remove the barriers to women’s progression.

Jacqui is already an active mentor for women in the resources industry. Under her leadership, Olympic Dam has the first ever gender balanced Asset Leadership team in BHP Billiton.

‘I encourage regular conversations between senior leaders on the role of diversity in delivering high performance,’ Jacqui says.

‘Not only do these discussions often have a profound impact on people’s views, they also give permission to bring the issue into the lunch room in a way that makes it safe to engage constructively.’

The Executive Development Program hopes to increase the business skills and leadership capabilities of managers who lead key parts of businesses and could become top leaders in the future. Jacqui expects the scholarship will help her lead the business through a time of transition in the industry.

President of CEW, Dianne Smith-Gander, says CEW will continue to provide scholarships enabling more women to join the C-Suite until equality of opportunity is a reality.

‘Achieving 50/50 representation in senior roles requires system change,’ Dianne explained. ‘Women need to have equal opportunity to attend career-transforming courses.’

More than 100 women have been awarded scholarships to business schools since CEW began its executive program for female leaders in 1992.