Laura Benger, an Icon of Change from Australia

Icons of Change International Awards 2025

Laura Benger
Chief Executive Officer, Maroomba Airlines
Non-Executive Chair, Miners’ Promise
Non-Executive Director, SensesWA
Former Senior Executive, BHP, Gelflex, Black Swan Health, Fertility North
Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt | Prosci Change Practitioner | GAICD | Executive Leadership Program, Saïd Business School (Oxford)

SDG Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Changemaker in Safety Leadership, Aviation Transformation, and Human-Centred Organisational Design (Australia)

Laura Benger is an accomplished chief executive, governance leader, and transformation strategist whose cross-sector career—spanning aviation, healthcare, manufacturing, resources, and the nonprofit sector—has positioned her as one of Australia’s most forward-leaning champions for safe, efficient, and resilient systems. Her leadership consistently mobilises innovation, people capability, and organisational discipline to deliver sustainable performance uplift across complex, high-stakes environments.

As Chief Executive Officer of Maroomba Airlines, one of Australia’s most trusted charter aviation providers, Laura has activated a strategic modernisation agenda that puts culture, safety, and workforce development at the centre of operational excellence. Under her leadership, Maroomba launched enterprise-wide training and mentoring programs that have elevated technical proficiency, strengthened pilot leadership capability, and enhanced safety maturity across the organisation. These initiatives propelled the airline to finalist recognition in the 2025 Australian Aviation Awards for Airline of the Year, Training & Mentoring Program of the Year, and individual honours in safety and leadership—demonstrating a people-first approach that translates directly into operational resilience.

Aligned with SDG 9, Laura’s work reinforces the essential infrastructure backbone of regional Australia. Maroomba delivers bespoke air charter services across some of the country’s toughest terrain, supporting mining operations, government agencies, community services, and corporate partners. Her focus on innovation, streamlined processes, and risk-intelligent decision-making enables the organisation to provide safe, reliable, and flexible aviation support to remote communities—strengthening connectivity, economic activity, and service access where it matters most.

Beyond aviation, Laura’s governance and advisory footprint shapes strategic progress across the social impact landscape. As Non-Executive Chair of Miners’ Promise, she steers an organisation providing critical trauma-informed support for families affected by mining fatalities and life-changing incidents. Her leadership helps sustain a model of care that blends compassion, structure, and long-term family wellbeing—a mission deeply relevant to the safety priorities of Australia’s resource sector.

Her governance contributions extend to SensesWA, a leading disability services provider with over a century of service delivery. Here, Laura applies systems thinking and contemporary governance practices to strengthen capability, enable growth, and help expand support for people living with complex sensory and developmental conditions. Her previous board role with Samaritans WA, one of the nation’s key 24/7 crisis counselling providers, similarly demonstrates her commitment to mental health, community resilience, and equitable access to support.

Across earlier executive roles—including senior leadership positions with BHP, Black Swan Health, Gelflex, Fertility North, and Sanofi Genzyme—Laura has consistently delivered enterprise-level transformation in strategy, planning, governance, compliance, and operational performance. Her achievements include leading global regulatory functions, shaping commercial strategy and benchmarking for large multinationals, modernising quality systems, and designing governance frameworks that lift organisational maturity. With credentials spanning Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Prosci change leadership, and governance expertise through the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Laura brings a rare blend of scientific rigour, people-centred leadership, and strategic acumen.

Across every chapter of her career, Laura has demonstrated that strong institutions—whether in aviation, healthcare, manufacturing, or community services—are built on transparent communication, empowered teams, and structures that enable people to thrive. Her leadership accelerates innovation not for innovation’s sake, but to create safer, more resilient, and more capable organisations that can meet the needs of the communities they serve.

As an Icons of Change International Awardee 2025, Laura Benger is honoured for her far-reaching contributions to SDG 9, advancing the strategic capability, safety culture, and operational infrastructure that underpin Australia’s aviation ecosystem and its most vital industries. Her career exemplifies how disciplined leadership and human-centred innovation can elevate entire sectors—and help communities flourish through stronger, smarter, future-ready systems.

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