Each year, the Maybanke Lecture brings together advocates, scholars, policymakers and changemakers to reflect on the legacy of Maybanke Anderson – writer, feminist, education pioneer, and tireless campaigner for the rights of women and children.
For another year, the 13th Annual Maybanke Lecture was held at the Union, University & Schools Club in Sydney. The night marked another powerful example of the legacy of the Maybanke Fund, which was established to carry her vision forward.
The program was introduced by Jane Spring AM, the the Maybanke Fund Coordinator and great-great-great niece of Maybanke Anderson. Yvonne Weldon AM then delivered a deeply reflective and moving Welcome to Country, acknowledging the powerful women, recognised and unrecognised, who came before her, and called on the audience to create a legacy of what can be done, rather than lament what wasn’t.
Loredana Fyffe, CEO of Sydney Community Foundation, offered a beautiful reflection on compared structured and legacy giving as acts of optimism for future generations.
This year’s lecture was introduced by Lucinda Brogden AM, who celebrated Maybanke’s legacy of action and change — invoking Maybanke’s own words that “indifference was a much more difficult enemy than open opposition” — before welcoming her friend Romilly Madew AO to the stage as a woman of “incredible heart, energy and love.”
Changing Systems, Not Just Careers
Romilly Madew AO’s lecture wove together personal story and systems thinking in a way that was both grounding and galvanising. Her central argument: systems aren’t something out there. They are us — the people, decisions and moments that accumulate over time.
Romilly traced her own career across the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, the Green Building Council of Australia, Engineers Australia, and years of volunteering as a surf lifesaver. It was never a straight line, she reflected, but a process of adaptation, testing, and steady improvement — much like the engineering mindset she described: understanding complexity, sitting with uncertainty, and pressing on when things don’t go to plan.
Throughout her lecture, she drew on the influence of women who had shaped the way she sees and moves through systems.
Seeing systems clearly. Jane Montgomery taught her not to rush to solutions — to ask what’s really going on, and to look below the surface before acting.
Understanding constraints. Her sister Nicola Wakefield Evans dedicated herself to increasing women’s participation in boardrooms. Jane Spring AM modelled what it looks like to approach a challenge without a fixed mindset — accepting constraints, making decisions without perfect information, and treating criticism as an opportunity to grow.
Iterating without a perfect plan. Julieanne Alroe showed her that you don’t need to have everything figured out from the start. You iterate, adapt, and keep going.
Stewarding, not owning. Sam Mostyn’s approach to leadership stayed with her: not owning, but stewarding. Contribute, build, strengthen — and then hand it on.
Leadership, Romilly reflected, is ultimately about service. A commitment to something larger than yourself. Her own sense of that came from her mother and mother-in-law. Systems change happens, she concluded, because people choose to engage — imperfectly, iteratively, and with heart.
Celebrating the Maybanke Scholarships
The evening also marked the continued growth of the Maybanke Scholarships at The Women’s College within the University of Sydney. It was wonderful to hear from Sofia Wardman, the second Women’s College scholar to benefit from the fund.
We were also delighted to acknowledge this year’s Maybanke Anderson Education Scholarship recipients at Macquarie University: Indiana Munro and Sophie Zanardi, both studying Primary Education. Their stories are a living reminder of what Maybanke Anderson’s legacy continues to make possible.
To support the Maybanke Fund, click here.
Read a transcript of Romilly Madew AO’s speech here.
