Dr. Emma Fulu
Founder of the Equality Institute, Feminist Activist, Diversity & Inclusion Expert
Profile
Dr Emma Fulu is a feminist activist and has dedicated her life to advancing the rights of women and girls around the globe. A highly-sought after public speaker, she has a unique ability to combine her personal story with the latest data and evidence, to bring complex ideas to life and touch hearts and minds.
She is one of the world’s leading experts on ending violence against women and girls and has led some of the largest and most impactful global studies and programs, including for the United Nations. In 2015, she founded the Equality Institute, a global feminist agency working to advance all forms of equality, which has grown to work in over 30 countries, conducted over 50 studies, and trained thousands of people. Emma is a strategic advisor to the world’s leading organisation including national governments, UN agencies, corporates and philanthropy; supporting them to deliver holistic and meaningful solutions to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.
A TEDx presenter and writer, with a PhD from the University of Melbourne, Emma has been featured on numerous platforms including Q&A, The Project, the 7:30 Report, The Huffington Post, The Saturday Paper, The Conversation and multiple podcasts.
Current Work:
Emma is the Founder and Executive Director of The Equality Institute, a global feminist agency working to advance gender equality and end violence against women and girls (VAWG).
She is also the Co-founder of VOICE, a non-profit that partners with women and girls in conflict and disaster settings to amplify their solutions to violence in their own communities, and Co-Chair of the Gender and Rights Advisory Panel of the World Health Organization and Vice President of Women of Colour Melbourne.
Emma is a Member of the Global Women’s Institute’s (GWI) Leadership Council, made up of leading experts on gender issues from across the country and around the world.
Media
Feedback
Emma is one of Australia’s leading thinkers on gender equality, and we were incredibly fortunate that she joined us for a panel discussion, which was live-streamed to our top 250 leaders across our business. Emma had our team hanging on her every word - she is an engaging storyteller, who is able to break down complex and challenging topics in a clear, insightful and engaging way. She is generous in sharing her own experiences, and she does so with humility, vulnerability and warmth. Emma’s superpower is her ability light a spark within her audience and inspire them to become change makers in their own way. We love working with Emma and we’re looking forward to having her back to speak to our team again very soon.
Last February, Dr. Emma Fulu graciously spoke for the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health’s Women in Global Health: Exploring Academic Careers seminar series. The purpose of the series is to expose students and early career professionals to non-academic careers in global health, and to provide insight for navigating a path as a woman in the field. Dr. Fulu shared her personal career and leadership journey with our audience, opening up about both triumphs and failures along the way. She is an exceptional storyteller and her vulnerability to share her own story so transparently resonated with and captivated our international audience of over 200 people. The Zoom chat was filled with positive feedback and thanks to Dr. Fulu for her presentation, and we received multiple comments from audience members about her impact after the event. Dr. Fulu set a tone for our events that has carried forward to this day; we consistently refer back to her presentation and ask all of our seminar speakers to focus on interweaving their professional and personal stories to share with our audience.
UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific has invited Dr Emma Fulu on several occasions to speak at events reaching wide audiences inclusive of government, civil society, United Nations officials, researchers, and the wider public. She is an engaging and warm speaker, clear with steady pacing, and provides deep expertise on areas of substance related to gender equality, women’s empowerment, and ending violence against women and girls. She interacts with audiences comfortably and is a pleasure to work with. We recommend her fully as a public speaker.
Emma was an excellent MC. We received very positive feedback from attendees.
In the lead-up to International Women’s Day 2024 we had the privilege to have feminist activist and The Equality Institute Founder Dr Emma Fulu as our event Keynote Speaker.
Through her presentation, Gender Equality Starts with You, Emma captivated the audience by intertwining her personal journey with expertise on equality, delving into the intricacies of patriarchy, gender-based violence, and inequality. Emma outlined five steps that everyone can take to pave the way for a future where fairness, equality, and respect are universal.
While we knew there was a need for the conversation around gender equality, the positive discussions during and after the event, have been unprecedented. We've never seen such interest from our community (Gippsland Women in Business) to take this topic on and continue to progress it within the community. Emma has truly left an impact on our community through her passion, purpose and a sincere authenticity that left all of us in awe. Inspiring us all to do more.
