As the first full time staff member of UN Women Australia at the age of 23, Julie McKay set about raising awareness of the United Nations’ work to improve the lives of the millions of women struggling against poverty, violence and discrimination. In her five years leading the organization, more than $1 million has been raised for projects which directly affect the lives of women and girls in the developing world and hundreds of thousands of Australians have engaged with the organisation’s work. Julie’s role includes speaking publicly about the need for businesses to engage in ending violence against women, the importance of women’s access to safe and affordable health care and women’s equal access to economic security. She was recently selected to be part of the global thought leadership forum Ted Talks, through TedX Canberra. Julie was appointed to the Defence Gender Equality Advisory Board and sits on the board of the United Nations Association and Advisory Council of the Australian Institute of Management (ACT). In her spare time, Julie mentors a number of young women to help them reach their full potential.