Rachelle Towart OAM

Rachelle Towart is a proud Wonnarura woman, born in Blacktown in Sydney, NSW.

As an Indigenous woman with a powerful personal story of the effectiveness of leadership development, Rachelle has elevated awareness of the importance of Indigenous leadership and governance capacity to the national stage.

Moving to the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre in 2004, Rachelle was appointed CEO in 2007 and transformed the organisation, tripling revenue and more than doubling enrolments while putting Indigenous leadership firmly on the national agenda. In 2016, Rachelle formed Pipeline Talent to build support for emerging Indigenous leaders after recognising the need for an improved range of tailored support programs for Indigenous executives.

Rachelle Towart has been recognized with a wide range of awards, including the prestigious Westpac Community CEO of the Year (2014), as well as being named one of Australian Financial Review's Australian Women of Influence (2014). In 2018, she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in recognition of her service in nurturing Indigenous leadership across the nation.