Kylie Ward was born and bred in the outer western suburbs of Sydney. Life was simple but Kylie wasn’t. She was a dreamer. What she didn’t know then, was that she was destined to become one of the most influential health professional leaders of her country and a formidable, passionate advocate for women, health and equality.

Kylie is tireless in her plight to advocate for women’s voices to be heard and respected in all areas of life.

Kylie currently serves as the CEO of Australian College of Nursing (ACN). She has led a program of transformation at ACN, turning around membership numbers to increase revenue and tripling student numbers.

She has done this by leading the ACN community to find their relevance through policy leadership, political and industry influence. ACN is now Australia’s beacon for Nurse Leadership.

Kylie holds honorary academic appointments with five leading Australian Universities and was ministerially appointed as a Director to ADHA (Australian Digital Health Agency) and NHMRC Health Translation Advisory Committee (HTAC) whilst holding numerous other board positions. In 2020 Kylie was named as one of the Top 100 Health Voices for LinkedIn worldwide and in 2021 was recognised as a National Influencer by AuSAE, the leading body for Association Executives.

Kylie has served on Senate and Parliamentary Inquiries and gave evidence at the Aged Care Royal Commission.

In 2017, Kylie won Telstra Businesswoman of the Year in ACT for Purpose and Social Enterprise.