Leading with Heart: a Community Conversation
Lead with compassion, connect through story.
As part of the 2025 Regional Writers Rise Festival, Leading with Heart: A Community Conversation brought the community together for an open, reflective discussion about leadership, care, and courage, not as formal titles, but as quiet, often unseen acts that shape our lives and communities.
Inspired by A Different Kind of Power, the memoir by former Aotearoa New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the conversation explored leadership through service, empathy, and presence. Guided by local guest speakers, we reflected on themes of self-doubt, grief, cultural repair, and the quiet strength of doing things differently.
Our panel featured three inspiring Gippsland women, each demonstrating leadership in their own way. The discussion centred on how compassionate leadership often begins quietly: in caregiving, in truth-telling, in holding space for others, and in honouring the unseen work that strengthens families and communities.
We were also grateful to hear from a member of the Tough Guy Book Club, who shared how their group fosters connection, reflection, and vulnerable conversations, particularly among men: a powerful reminder that compassion and leadership show up in many unexpected spaces.
Meet our Guest Speakers
Michelle Stanway is a proud Trawlwoolway-Awabakal woman living on Boon Wurrung country, and has spent over 30 years caring for family and fostering children. With a background in out-of-home care and arts-based therapy, she is studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Writing and Indigenous Studies, while also facilitating cultural awareness tours that support collective healing for Indigenous and non-Indigenous community.
In 2014, Maree McPherson OAM founded her coaching and training company, and her path as an author began with the publication of two impactful books. Notably, her 2021 book, ‘Worthy’ was listed as a finalist in the Australian Business Book Awards the following year. With a career spanning nearly 40 years, including tenure as a Chief Executive in a Victorian peak body, today, Maree is an executive leadership coach and mentor. In short, Maree helps leaders think.
Marilyn Obersby has been, variously, a secondary teacher, a secondary state school chaplain and an Anglican priest, as well as a wife, mother and grandmother. In all these roles, she has tried to be a nonjudgemental, compassionate listener before anything else. It is still an ongoing journey, learning to be kind.
Listen to the event here:
Thank you to everyone who joined us, shared their voice, and helped make this conversation such a warm and meaningful part of the festival. Whether through quiet care, cultural advocacy, spiritual leadership, or personal reflection, your presence matters.
Welcome to Regional Writers Rise 