Co-founder and Co-chair, High Resolves; Design Director, Alchemy Growth Partners

Presentation:
‘The Boy Effect on the Girl Effect: How young people can drive gender equity’ (November 17, 2.30pm)

Roya has used her professional and educational experience in architecture to inject a strong dose of design thinking into her philanthropic and professional work.

As a social entrepreneur, Roya is co-founder and co-chair of High Resolves, the most engaging and effective leadership program for young people in Australian high schools. High Resolves is a not-for-profit, non-religious educational program that seeks to motivate high school students to view themselves as purposeful global citizens and to acquire the skills they will need to lead their communities, and the world, to a brighter future. It has grown from a pilot program at International Grammar School in 2005 to over 50 schools in NSW and Victoria reaching over 15,000 students. Roya was the co-director and producer of a documentary about the transformation of some of the students in the program.

Roya has a special interest in the arena of gender equity. She was selected to attend TED Women in Washington in 2010 on the basis of her innovative “boy effect on the girl effect” approach. She has engaged senior business executives and high school boys in projects to raise awareness and stimulate action in this field. She is also adept at using the media of film and “epipheos” as a means of spreading this message. This work is currently getting a lot of attention from the media and policymakers in Australia and overseas.

Roya is the Design Director for Alchemy Growth Partners. Her latest achievement was the design and visual identity behind the As One project including the cover of the book “As One” which was recently on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Amazon best-seller lists. In a book review, it was described as “one of the most beautifully designed books on organisational leadership ever.”