Creating Sustainable Social Impact Through Business with Audette Exel AO, Chair & Founder, Adara Group & Former Director, Westpac & Suncorp

Creating Sustainable Social Impact Through Business with Audette Exel AO, Chair & Founder, Adara Group & Former Director, Westpac & Suncorp

Author: Boardcycle January 11, 2026 Duration: 15:01

"Purpose and profit collide. Now in a beautiful world, they work together. But they require a series of choices and trade-offs, and they require enormous integrity." - Audette Exel AO

Audette Exel, Chair and Founder of Adara Group and former Director of Westpac and Suncorp, explains how to build a purpose-driven business model where purpose and profit coexist. Drawing from her experience creating Adara's structure where an investment banking business funds international development work, Audette explains why traditional not-for-profit funding models create asset-liability mismatches and how she designed an alternative that's survived nearly three decades. She discusses the practical challenges of balancing commercial and development priorities, why purpose must trump profit when they conflict, and how to avoid the trap where purpose becomes marketing rather than operational reality.

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Author: Language: English Episodes: 46

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