Wendy McCarthy AO began her professional life as a secondary school teacher and remains passionate about the power of education. She has an eclectic portfolio of interests and thinks of herself as a tribal elder and company director.

Wendy has been a teacher, educator and change agent in Australian public life for over four decades. Her national consulting business McCarthy Mentoring specialises in providing mentors to major corporations, the public sector and not for profit organisations.

She is the author of seven books including her memoirsDon’t Fence Me In published by Random House in 2000. In 2005 she was nominated by the Sydney Morning Heraldas one of Australia’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals and in 2011 she was featured in the IWD publication The Power of One which profiled 100 women who have shaped Australia.