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Driving change and achieving the impossible

Melbourne CMF
In the latest instalment of our Davidson XChange series, Managing Partner Clare McCartin spoke with the Melbourne Football Club’s first female president to discuss her personal crusade to drive change and achieve the impossible.


After a 57 year drought the Melbourne Demons took home an emotion-charged 2021 AFL premiership, with Kate at the helm.


The win was the result of significant change at long-time underdogs, the Melbourne Football Club. Kate is renowned within the sporting, government and corporate worlds, for her transformational, inclusive and no holds barred leadership. 

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Your event speakers:

  • Clare McCartin

    Clare is the Managing Partner, Search & Advisory at Davidson Search & Advisory team  and is a corporate member of IPAA, where she sits on its people & culture committee. 


    She is also a National Trustee of CEDA, a Member of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce and actively involved with LG Pro, MAV, IPWEA and Procurement Australia. She has a completed a Bachelor of Behavioural Science, a Post Graduate Diploma in HR and a Masters of Commerce, majoring in HR and Employee Relations.

  • Kate Roffey

    When not as president of Melbourne Football Club, Kate is the Director of Deals, Investments and Major Projects at Wyndham City. 


    Her professional career has seen her as the CEO of the Committee of Melbourne, CEO of Vicsport, and Manager of the Melbourne Park Redevelopment for Tennis Australia. 


    Kate was formerly a Biomechanist at the AIS, and an athlete as a volleyballer and rower

Kate Roffey - Melbourne Football Club’s first female president
In this Davidson XChange, Kate unpacks:


  • ·her path from board member of eight years at her beloved Melbourne Football Club to stepping into the president position in April this year
  • ·building trust and authentic working relationships for total alignment in the leadership team
  • her caring and unique style which looks at each member of the team as a person, rather than a player, and how to manage them and their network
  • how to install cultural change in an old and traditional institution
  • ·how to build a team of high performers who are ‘unconsciously competent’
  • how to read plays in the corporate world and hold people accountable

Watch this inspiring Davidson XChange

Learn more about Kate’s journey to become the club’s first female president, the club’s recent premiership win after a 57 year drought and her incredible work in the corporate and government sector in infrastructure and major projects.
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