Vanessa Vershaw, an Icon of Change from Australia

Icons of Change International Awards 2025

Vanessa Vershaw

CEO & Workplace Psychologist - Vanessa Vershaw (formerly Reinvention Consulting Group)

Former Executive Coach - Harvard Business School Executive Education
Former Senior Lecturer (Organizational Psychology) - Murdoch University
Former Executive Associate - Nous Group
Former Executive Associate - Executive Selection, Development & Board Effectiveness Specialist - Heidrick & Struggles
Former Vice-President Business Development - Lee Hecht Harrison Knightsbridge
Former Television Journalist - Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

SDG Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Gender Equality
Changemaker in Conscious Leadership (Australia)

Vanessa Vershaw is an award-winning Australian Organisational Psychologist, Strategic Advisor, and High-Performance Coach whose work redefines how leaders think, act, and evolve. Recognized globally for her pioneering contributions to leadership, innovation, and social transformation, she has spent over two decades advising Fortune 100 and ASX-20 organizations, helping them build adaptive cultures, elevate performance, and align business transformation with human potential.

As the Founder and CEO of the Vanessa Vershaw Group, a global organisational development and strategic advisory practice based in Western Australia, Vanessa integrates psychology, neuroscience, and leadership strategy to help individuals and systems thrive in complexity. Her approach transcends traditional consulting — cultivating conscious, future-ready leaders capable of driving sustainable change across sectors and societies.

Vanessa’s influence extends from the corporate boardroom to the global stage. In 2025, she represented the Asia-Pacific region at the World Woman Foundation in Davos, Switzerland, held alongside the World Economic Forum, where she spoke on advancing gender equality and accelerating women’s leadership. Her advocacy has positioned her as one of Australia’s foremost voices on inclusive growth and women’s empowerment.

Her work has been recognized through numerous honors, including the Momentum Trailblazer Award (2022), the Innovation in HR Award (Canada), and a nomination for Telstra Businesswoman of the Year (2019). Beyond these accolades, Vanessa’s thought leadership continues to inspire courageous conversations around power, equity, and transformation in leadership ecosystems worldwide.

As an author, Vanessa brings psychological insight and candor to complex issues of leadership and gender. Her latest book, The Sisterhood Paradox (2025), explores the psychological and cultural barriers that hinder women’s progress in the workplace. It serves as both a wake-up call and a roadmap — empowering individuals and organizations to dismantle internalized bias and build environments rooted in trust, inclusion, and collective rise.

A former Harvard Business School Executive Coach and Non-Executive Director for qChange in the U.S., Vanessa has worked at the intersection of technology, human behavior, and performance — championing tools and frameworks that blend data, empathy, and design thinking to drive measurable impact.

Vanessa’s life work reflects the principles of Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality, proving that authentic leadership and social transformation are inseparable. By mentoring emerging changemakers, advising global corporations, and amplifying women’s voices worldwide, she is redefining what it means to lead consciously in the 21st century.

As a recipient of the Icons of Change International Award 2025, Vanessa Vershaw exemplifies the power of psychological insight, strategic vision, and inclusive leadership in shaping a more equitable and conscious world — a world where performance is human-centered, purpose-led, and profoundly transformative.

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