ABOUT AYA LEADERSHIP
ABOUT AYA LEADERSHIP
Your Specialised Leadership Development Partner
Aya Leadership is a specialised leadership development partner for STEM and Security organisations. We are passionate about helping STEM and Security organisations expand their leadership diversity and develop the leaders they need for their organisation to thrive. Aya Leadership amplifies organisations’ ability to attract, retain and develop outstanding STEM talent, and achieve sustainable leadership diversity, in order to realise business sustainability, growth and innovation.
With more than 50 years’ experience and professional qualifications in STEM and security professions, education and leadership development, Aya Leadership up-levels organisations globally through developing enduring leadership capabilities that create impact, via:
- Tailored, industry-leading Women in STEM and Security leadership development for women at all leadership levels – informed by research, leadership theory, neuroscience, practical tools and strategies, coaching and lived experience.
- Engaging, gender-inclusive leadership programs and workshops grounded in leadership theory, neuroscience, practical tools and strategies, and coaching.
- Executive leadership coaching, supported by diagnostic tools that empower leadership expansion, including the Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Tool (MSCEIT) and Strengths Profile.
- Working with STEM and Security organisations to co-design diversity-focused strategies to attract and retain talent, build a diverse leadership pipeline, and create a culture that supports leadership diversity at all levels.
- Keynote speaking.
Aya Leadership takes a holistic and strengths-based approach to leadership, ensuring the leadership skills individuals and organisations need are developed for enduring success and effectiveness. Our motivating approach addresses the theory and tools for effective leadership. Through our coaching foundation we adapt to the needs and motivations of the individual to ensure they apply their learning, so it becomes second nature.
Aya Leadership services STEM and Security organisations across Australia, Asia, Europe, North and Central America and the Middle East.
Our Purpose is to transform the profile of leadership in STEM and Security to uplift women into leadership roles, enable diversity and equity, and achieve innovation sustainability
YOU
Strong leadership that unites and inspires
YOUR TEAM
Tools and strategies to manage change and adversity
YOUR BUSINESS
Self-awareness and clear goals to propel you forward with purpose
Gain self-awareness to understand your goals and vision – your leadership DNA
The steps you need to take to equip you to fulfil your purpose
Gain self-awareness to understand your goals and vision – your leadership DNA
The steps you need to take to equip you to fulfil your purpose
The Organisations We Support
The Story of Aya Leadership
As a leadership strengths coach and founder of Aya Leadership, my passion and expertise is working with emerging female leaders and their organisations. My goal is to develop enduring female leadership that has impact, generates growth and creates new realities. I am passionate about increasing gender diversity in leadership; and love working with women to master their leadership purpose, skills and experience.
I believe female leadership can create powerful, positive and far-reaching impact. My mission is to change the status quo for women as leaders and transform the profile of leadership through uplifting and empowering more women into leadership roles. I feel great joy and pride supporting amazing women on their leadership journey.
The word Aya carries so much significance for the passion and purpose of Aya Leadership. In old German it means sword, in Hebrew it means ‘to fly swiftly’ and in Akkadian mythology Aya was a goddess. However, the inspiration for Aya Leadership is the African Adinkra symbol called an Aya. A fern symbolising endurance and resourcefulness, two foundational qualities we seek to instil in female leaders as their leadership strengths coach.
About Our Founder
I’m Susan McGinty, Founder and Principle Leadership Strengths Coach of Aya Leadership. As my career developed and I progressed into my first leadership positions, I encountered first-hand the struggles female leaders face. I was unable to find the support, guidance, resources and training programs I needed to become the leader I knew I could be and create the change I wanted to see. Without strong female role models, it was a challenge to have confidence in myself as a leader or a clear picture of what a good female leader looked like.
Over the last twenty years, as I have found the right support and strategies, read the research, learnt the skills and developed the experience, I was able to become a confident leader of people, build my capabilities and foster strong relationships. I didn’t start out wanting to be a coach and mentor, however through my own leadership journey I discovered that the change I wanted to create was empowering other women to become the best leaders they could be.
I was inspired to change the status quo for women in leadership positions and transform the profile of leadership. My particular focus is on STEM and national security environments where women are under-represented in leadership and I understand through experience the barriers to leadership that exist.
My Journey So Far
Dr Susan McGinty
CEO and Founder, Aya Leadership | Board Member Women in STEM Leadership | Leader of the Year | Winner 2024 Women in Security Awards, Best Industry Initiative That Supports Diversity, Inclusion and Equity
I’m Susan McGinty, the CEO and Founder of Aya Leadership. I am an award-winning scientist and global STEM leadership development expert, speaker and author, who is inspired to transform the profile of leadership in STEM and Security to achieve innovation sustainability, uplift women in STEM and Security into leadership roles, and enable diversity and equity in these sectors. I was awarded the 2023 Women in STEM Leadership Leader of the Year Award for my work supporting the leadership development of women in STEM globally.
As my own career in STEM and Security developed and I progressed into my first leadership positions, I encountered first-hand the struggles female leaders face. I was unable to find the support, guidance, resources and training programs I needed to become the leader I knew I could be and create the change I wanted to see. Without strong female role models, it was a challenge to have confidence in myself as a leader or a clear picture of what a good female leader looked like.
Over the last twenty years, as I have found the right support and strategies, read the research, learnt the skills and developed the experience, I was able to become a confident leader of people, build my capabilities and foster strong relationships. Through my own leadership journey I discovered that the change I wanted to create was empowering other women to become the best leaders they could be; and helping organisations to develop the leaders they need to create the diverse, inclusive and sustainable workforces required to keep up with rapid technological change and deliver ethical and responsible innovation.
I am inspired to change the status quo for women in leadership positions and transform the profile of leadership. My particular focus is on STEM and national security environments where women are under-represented in leadership and I understand through experience the barriers to leadership that exist.
I am a member of the Advisory Board of US-based Women in STEM Leadership, and a strategic partner of the Australian Women in Security Network and the Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers. In 2022, as part of my Master of Leadership, I undertook research into Female STEM Leadership, for which I won the Deakin University Dean’s Prize.
In 2023, I co-authored the #1 international best-selling book ‘Women Transforming the Landscape of Science and Tech’. In 2021, I was identified by The Australian Business Journal as one of the 20 Australian leadership experts to watch.
I was a finalist in the 2023 Women’s Agenda Awards Emerging Leader in Tech and the 2023 Recalibrate Gender Equity Awards, CEO/Board. Aya Leadership’s tailored female leadership development programs have been recognised as the 2024 Australian Women in Security Awards Winner for Best Industry Initiative That Supports Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and a finalist in the 2024 Australian Defence and National Security Workforce Awards, the 2024 Australian Defence Industry Awards, and the 2023 Australian Women in Security Awards.
My Background & Qualifications
Susan has a PhD in Medicinal & Organic Chemistry, a Master of Leadership, and over 25 years’ experience in STEM, Defence and National Security, and STEM leadership development. Her thought leadership and tailored leadership programs have global impact. She authors leadership articles and undertakes research in female STEM leadership. She speaks globally about the challenges for women navigating STEM leadership, tailored leadership development approaches for STEM women, and how organisations can increase the diversity of gender representation in their leadership.
A certified coach, Susan has over fifteen years’ experience in adult education, coaching and mentoring across a range of STEM and Security sectors. She is a certified NLP Practitioner, accredited in the MSCEIT Emotional Intelligence Test and Strengths Profile, and completed the Australian School of Applied Management’s Women in Leadership Advanced Leadership Program.
Susan’s tailored leadership development for women ranges from foundational to expert leadership, working with women individually and in groups at all stages of their career. She focuses on those areas that amplify women’s key leadership strengths and leverage the protective factors that negate barriers to leadership for women: emotional intelligence, strengths-based leadership, resilience, strong leadership mindset, communication, visibility and influence, and resource networks and mentoring. She also works with STEM organisations to identify and deliver the development strategies that will build leadership gender equity within their organisations.
Keynote Presentations & Speaking Events
I love to share my purpose to nurture lasting growth in female leaders as a keynote speaker at business events and conferences. I have experience in addressing a broad range of topics relating to female leadership, emotional intelligence and resilience.
Please contact me to discuss the focus of your event. I would be very happy to develop an appropriate keynote presentation to engage, educate and inspire your audience.
