Sam Turner - Leadership - Cultural Leader Driving Inclusion and Innovation

Travels From New South Wales

Speaker Topics

Gender Equality in Business

Learn how to set targets, practical strategies and what really works as well as leadership must dos. Read less

Inclusion 101: Where do we start?

Sam gives audiences practical initiatives and tools including leadership training, employee networks, action plans and targets/measurements Read less

LGBTIQ Inclusion

Discover how to create a truly inclusive workplace for your LGBTIQ employees and customers, including inclusive language and how to build a strong employee network. Read less

Sam's Personal Story and Insights

Hear Sams story of authentic leadership and being an out female senior leader in a large organisation. Read less

We Think We're Inclusive. What Next?

How inclusive are your leaders? How do you shift middle management? What is inclusive leadership anyway? Includes a Q&A for senior leaders. Read less

Sam Turner

Cultural Leader Driving Inclusion and Innovation

Sam Turner is a dynamic People & Culture Executive and renowned inclusion and cultural reform leader with over 25 years of experience across a diverse range of sectors, including financial services, technology, higher education, arts, community, and natural resources. As the Chief People Officer at Allens Linklaters, one of Australia’s leading law firms, Sam drives transformational change and champions a culture of inclusion and innovation.

Her career highlights include serving as Chief of Staff for Microsoft Asia and Head of Inclusion & Diversity for Westpac Group. Sam has also held senior commercial roles at Microsoft, Westpac, NAB, BHP, and Deloitte. Notably, she has been instrumental in developing data-driven HR and organisational development strategies that have garnered industry recognition for their impact and effectiveness.

A passionate advocate for positive change, Sam’s expertise spans culture and people strategy, gender and race equality, LGBTIQ+ inclusion, and organisational transformation. She has led influential culture reviews, including the recent Australian Music Review into sexual harm and harassment, and has collaborated with the Australian Human Rights Commission and Elizabeth Broderick & Co in their profound reviews of workplace culture.

Recognised for her leadership, Sam was the winner of the 2016 Women of Influence Awards. Additionally, she received recognition as one of Australia’s 50 Most Influential LGBTIQ Leaders by Deloitte/Google in 2018 and was honoured with a Winston Churchill Fellowship the same year. She is also the Chair of The Aurora Group, a major Australian LGBTIQ+ not for profit foundation.

With a career characterised by strategic innovation, impactful change, and an engaging and authentic leadership style, Sam is dedicated to fostering environments where everyone can thrive and belong. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Business (Hons) and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology. Sam continues to inspire with her commitment to driving meaningful and sustainable change across all her endeavours.

Testimonial

"Sam was our featured speaker for our Wear it Purple Day event in 2018. In providing an on point, tailored and inspiring speech that met the brief we gave her Sam exceeded our expectations. Her combination of personal story, demonstrated business impact, and vision for the future generated an ongoing conversation and impetus for working for inclusion. I recommend Sam highly to those looking for an insightful, engaging and visionary speaker who can inspire commitment to change."

Department of Social Services

"A big thank you for meeting with our Ford Executive today. Dave Webb and Sam Smith (both Assistant Treasurers) along with Melissa Rothert (Director, Global Banking) appreciated the discussion and were really energized afterwards to raise this up further within the senior Finance and Management team. You are such an engaging, passionate and knowledgeable speaker – thanks again."

Westpac Institutional Bank

"Feedback was very strong and that it was a great couple of days, in particular your session! It’s clear that D&I is becoming an increasingly important matter, and hopefully we can grow the event in coming years."

Aventedge

"Thank you so much for your time and wonderful engagement on the panel at Down Under Dreaming yesterday. I had so many people come up afterwards and say how inspiring and open Sam was and how much they enjoyed the session. Thank you for taking time out of your day to make it a success."

Salesforce

"Sam, you were a very big hit at the panel lunch today. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to support this event. I know your input was greatly appreciated."

KPMG

“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to you to Sam for being one of our guest panelists at our Twilight Seminar ‘Champions of Change – The Pursuit of Diverse Leadership’’ held at Uber last night. We have had wonderful feedback from those who attended, and we were delighted to have her as part of the evening. The energy and buzz in the room was sensational.”

YMCA NSW

"I have been absolutely pumped from the panel session. On paper, I knew we had a great panel, but it was the openness and engagement from you that really brought this session to life. Thank you for the experience and personal perspective that you brought to this Sam. We have already had a lot of great feedback on the session, particularly on the calibre of the speakers. Thank you for opening my eyes further to the fact that as an ally, I can be doing more to move us there."

Suncorp Group

"Just a quick line to say on behalf of myself and the entire Misfits team we wish to thank you so much for participating in our 3% Conference for 2017. You did an amazing job at speaking on the first Talent/HR Tack panel – your discussion on diversity in the industry was thought provoking and invaluable for the event. Thank you again for your involvement and we hope to see you involved in the event next year!"

The Misfits Media Company

"I wanted to send a quick note to say thank you so much for your participation at the National HR Summit 2017. Your presentation was extremely well received by the audience and we are very grateful for your contribution. I hope it was an enjoyable and valuable experience for you as well. • Great presentation--Sam was also conscious that not all of us had the resources that larger organisations had & that was appreciated! • Great insight into inclusion program. • Some good "take-aways" even for smaller organisations • Wow so engaging, Sam provided practical tools and ideas we can all implement."

National HR Summit 2017