Siobhan Toohill

Architect, Business leader, Designer, Finance professional, Parent, Policy maker

I started out in architecture and urban design. Today I work in finance, leading sustainability at Australia's Westpac Banking Group with responsibility for sustainability and community strategy - including climate and human rights policy, sustainability risk, environmental performance, community programs and Indigenous engagement. My role also includes responsibility for Westpac's foundations - backing social enterprises scaling employment opportunities, and providing scholarships to those who have the drive to shape the future of Australia. I previously established the sustainability function and strategy at Stockland Property Group. Both Westpac and Stockland are amongst Australia's largest companies and both are currently rated as #1 globally (for banking and real estate respectively) on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). I honed my design and advocacy skills through working in urban design and architecture with Lendlease, and prior with the Urban Design Advisory Service - a government-based consultancy. I am passionate about creating value by strengthening business purpose, responding to emerging risks and opportunities and crafting 'community-centred' solutions. Sometimes this means helping businesses make difficult decisions - accepting short-term impacts to create long-term value, to 'do the right thing'. I work collaboratively - engaging internal and external stakeholders and enlisting board and executive support so that sustainability practices are embedded into everyday business activities. Over the past 15 years I have built high-performance enterprise-wide sustainability teams enabling businesses to realise and report on measurable environmental, social and financial outcomes - and brought to life through compelling stories. I recently participated in the Design Thinking program at Stanford's d-School. And I remain passionate about cities, as a board director of the Committee for Sydney. I've been a trustee of Sydney Living Museums, former deputy chair of the Green Building Council of Australia, and was a director of the Australian Building Codes Board. I believe in supporting the next generation of sustainability leaders - and can be found most weekday mornings having coffee with mentees. With my husband Adrian, I produce (an intermittent) podcast called Out the Front. We have a school-aged son, raise guide dog pups, have a little street library - and don't own a car.

Working with people within and beyond large organisations to create long-term positive social and environmental change.

Big business, through the power of its people, suppliers and customers, can be a driver of substantive social change. It just takes courageous leadership.

Cities, Climate change, Corporate sustainability, Financial inclusion, Human rights, Inclusion and diversity, Indigenous engagement/inclusion, Social enterprises, Social impact measurement

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