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Organisations are more likely to achieve gender and intersectional equity when their leaders understand their own privilege and power, according to an award-winning executive who's witnessed these moments of enlightenment first-hand.

Women's Health in the South East CEO Kit McMahon says that while much still needs to change, there are some "incredible" examples of progress in workplace equity.

Those examples involve initiatives that are founded on deep knowledge and respect, and centred on lived experience, she tells HR Daily. Progress occurs when leaders are genuinely engaged, and when there's "congruence up and down" – which includes middle management resourcing, and space for change within.

McMahon, who is today being named the 2026 national recipient of the Australian awards for excellence in women's leadership, says a game-changer is when leaders have conducted "that deep reflective work" on their own equity path – specifically their own privilege and their own power...