Our speaker next week is Karyn Sobels who was elected President of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (formerly VECCI) in November 2019, following three years as Deputy President and is the first woman to hold that office in the 169 year history of the business group.
Karyn has almost 40 years’ experience in the Retail, Telecommunications and Banking sectors.
Karyn is a Director of publishing company Riskinfo in both Australia and New Zealand, a Director of the Telstra Licensee Association, and Principal of business advisors SKS Hub. Karyn also serves on the Board of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairs that organisations’ Economics and Industry Committee.
As a business owner and Chair of Victorian Chamber’s Small Business Taskforce, she has a significant appreciation for the challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs.
Born in South Australia, Karyn has lived in Camberwell for almost 30 years and is now happily classed as a Victorian, having raised 2 children, 2 dogs, a cat and a half decent garden here.
Rotaract was Karyn’s first foray into community contribution, having just missed out being a foundation member of the Rotaract Club of Burnside in 1981 as she was too young by just a month. Her many years of involvement with Rotaract included board positions as well as the RYLA experience and a Rotaract Japanese exchange. Eventually though, she had to leave the Rotary family as in those days, women were not allowed to join Rotary. As an enduring bonus though, she also met her husband at Rotaract.
Karyn holds a BA, a Masters in Commercial Law and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.