NSW Council celebrating International Women’s Day

Balance the Scales the official theme for 2026, highlights the urgent need to ensure fair, inclusive, and accessible justice for every woman and girl. Balance the Scales is a promise for every woman and girl to be safe, heard, and free to shape her own future. Together, we have the power to dismantle discriminatory systems, unlock transformation, and deliver justice, safety, and dignity for all women and girls.

Our panellists exploring this year’s theme are Christina Igasto, CDO, Service NSW, Narelle Underwood, Executive Director Digital Strategy, Sourcing & Assurance Digital NSW and Kylie De Courteney, MD, NSW Telco Authority.

Tickets are limited, so get in early to secure your spot.

Christina Igasto is a seasoned Digital and ICT professional with over 25 years of experience in Digital Business Transformation. She has led significant transformation journeys to meet consumer expectations and address complex business requirements. Christina's expertise spans customer services, governance, culture, business processes, technology, and strategic and operational management. She holds a PhD in Computing Science and has experience in digital and analytical technologies and AI.

Since joining Service NSW in July 2024, Christina has been responsible for advancing digital capabilities, enhancing customer experience, and delivering innovative digital products. She collaborates with public and private sectors to design and execute a digital and data vision for NSW. Additionally, Christina is an honorary affiliate Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney.

Before her current role, Christina held senior executive positions, including Chief Digital Health Officer & CIO for Western Sydney Local Health District and Executive Director of Program Delivery at eHealth NSW. She also has international experience in innovation and technology solutions and was honoured in Sweden as one of Medtech’s 100 ‘Most Powerful People in the Nation’ in 2016 and 2017.

Narelle Underwood is the Executive Director Digital Strategy, Sourcing & Assurance in Digital NSW, part of the NSW Department of Customer Service. Previously Surveyor-General and Executive Director Spatial Services, Narelle has worked at the intersection of technology and regulation, delivering foundation spatial data services and transformation initiatives such as the NSW Spatial Digital Twin. Passionate about collaboration and innovation, she champions data-driven decision-making and capability uplift to enable trusted, future ready digital services for communities, business, and government.

As the first female to hold the role of Surveyor-General in NSW and the youngest in over 200 years, Narelle was featured in the 2018 BLAZE Working Women, Public Leaders exhibition and was also listed in the inaugural NSW Top 50 Public Sector Women. In 2019 she was announced as a winner of the Emerging Leader in the Government or Public Sector category of the national Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards for her influence, leadership, and contribution to the community.

Having worked in the land surveying profession where the average age is 53 and women account for less than 4%, Narelle is passionate about women in leadership and improving the diversity of STEM based careers. As a Superstar of STEM alumni and brand ambassador for the Get Kids into Survey program, she is working to increase the public visibility of women in STEM to encourage the next generation.

Kylie De Courteney is Managing Director of NSW Telco Authority, overseeing a $1.5 billion portfolio of government connectivity projects. Her leadership has been instrumental in the considerable progress towards delivering a single, interoperable communications network for emergency services via the Public Safety Network in NSW.

With over 30 years’ leadership experience spanning the public and private sectors, she is renowned for her expertise in customer and digital strategy, organisational transformation, and program delivery. Kylie is widely recognised as a strategic and transformative leader adept at navigating complexity.

Previously, Kylie held senior executive roles at Service NSW, where she played a pivotal role in transforming the face of government services. Her career also includes consultancy work and strategic roles across the finance, banking, infrastructure, and telecommunications sectors.

Kylie also contributes her expertise as a volunteer board member, including current roles with the Connectivity Innovation Network and the Public Safety Mobile Broadband Advisory Board. With a deep regard for care work, she previously served on the board and as Chair of a not-for-profit supporting people with disability, people with mental illness, older people, and their carers.

Driven by a desire to have an influence, Kylie is enthusiastic about ensuring those tasked with protecting the community have the critical communications they need to do their jobs safely and effectively. She is committed to building diverse, high-performance teams and is often described as driven, direct, and collaborative – a data nerd with a sense of humour.

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