St Margaret’s was delighted to welcome back past student Amanda Lacaze (’76) for her third speaking engagement at the school! Amanda provided some highly entertaining and thought-provoking insights into life as a female CEO. Amanda observed that for women, to prove their worth in senior positions often means to accept a higher degree of risk, and when Amanda was appointed CEO and MD of Lynas Rare Earths in 2014, it was certainly not without risk. At that stage, there was not a lot left in the Lynas tank; however, she successfully led the company through a challenging turnaround, elevating it to the world’s second largest producer of rare earths and the only producer of scale outside China.
With the current global political climate and some nations seeking to weaponise industry/market dominance, Amanda joked she should be taking out an advertisement in the New York Times saying: “If you want Rare Earths, call 1800 Lynas!”
And we all should be wanting rare earths, which are 17 reactive metals, 8 of which can be found in your iPhone, and the energy, electronics, appliances, automotive and defence industries all rely on them. Every single vehicle on the road contains some rare earths.
Amanda also spoke of Lynas’ core values and duties: their primary duty is to the people who work in the business, to ensure they have a job and go home safely every day; to ensure they can learn and have more skills when they leave than when they joined; to share in the prosperity of the business; and to treat everyone fairly to support opportunities for all.
Next year is Amanda’s 50-year school reunion. She says the lessons she learnt almost 50 years ago at St Margaret’s remain true:
“I learnt here that hard work always pays off. That you should strive for excellence in everything you do – ‘Per Volar Sunata’. You can and should meet challenges head on with an open mind, gathering information, critically analysing that and then forming a view. I learned that teamwork and friendship – and I made friends for life at St Margaret’s – will allow you to achieve a lot more than heroic solitude. And if you want the best from others, you need to engage with empathy as our teachers did with us.
“I was fortunate to attend St Margaret’s which is and always has been at its core a feminist institution devoted to assisting girls to achieve their best, to preparing young women so they can address the world with confidence unencumbered by notions of gender.
“I sometimes wonder if I would have had the audacity to dream of being a CEO without that experience.”
We thank Amanda for a most entertaining and educational address. We also thank our series sponsors: Major Sponsor - Pitcher Partners and Supporting Sponsors - Wolff Coffee Roasters, Clear Insurance, The Bathhouse Albion and Resource Innovations.
Thank you to Sime Industrial and Ernst and Young for taking up corporate tables at the event and Number Worksn’Words, Clayfield, for supporting a table for students to attend the event. And of course, thank you to all our attendees.