Diana Taylor (businesswoman)

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Diana Taylor AM is an Australian lawyer, business owner, and company director from Geelong, Victoria. She occupies various positions on the boards of charity and community organisations. Taylor became the first woman to be appointed as the president of the Western Region Football League (WRFL), as well as the first woman to join the VFL tribunal. In 2019, she made history once again by becoming the first woman to be appointed Vice President of the Geelong Football Club [1] [ citation needed ]after serving as a director and chair governance committee.

Contents

On March 1, 2023, Diana Taylor launched her debut book, titled The Playbook.

Law career

Taylor was one of the first graduates from Deakin University Law School. After graduating, she worked as a workplace relations and corporate lawyer at Clayton Utz. [2] [3]

Politics

In 2016, Taylor was in contention to be parachuted into the Australian Senate to fill Labor’s six-year casual vacancy, but she lost out to former Melbourne city councillor Kimberley Kitching. Taylor was strongly backed by MP Richard Marles and some members of the Victorian Right’s federal parliamentary caucus. [2]

Football administration

Geelong Football Club

After being a lifetime long Geelong supporter Taylor was appointed to the Geelong Football board in 2010, taking over for Doug Wade. [4] "As a lifelong Geelong supporter, I am excited about the opportunity to apply my football, commercial and legal skills to the challenge of ensuring that the club continues to achieve both on-field and off-field success." [5]

After her director appointment Taylor was appointed chair of Nine Lives Geelong, an organisation designed to support and create experiences for the women supporters of the Geelong Football Club. Because of her work within the AFL community she was nominated for the AFL Women of the Year Award in 2012.[ citation needed ]

AFL

Community

In 2008, Taylor became the first female president of a Senior Men's Metropolitan Melbourne Football Competition. After being appointed she commented "The WRFL (Western Region Football League) is a major community sporting organisation which not only provides people with the opportunity to be involved in our great game, but also serves to strengthen community participation and enhance the health and wellbeing of everyone involved. I am grateful for the opportunity to guide the WRFL and its competition over the next 3 years and to represent the WRFL's interests in the western region of Melbourne." [9] During her time as president, Taylor started the 'Light Alcohol' campaign. The 2009 finals were established for the first time as a light alcohol event and the game was conducted without incident. [10] The campaign was a huge success and was later adopted by VicHealth and AFL Victoria. [11] Taylor has done charitable work with the Alli Murphy Scholarship alongside the late Frank Costa. [12]

Board appointments

Since 2007, Taylor has been appointed to and become a board member of several organisations outside of the AFL. After obtaining a Graduate Diploma[ citation needed ] from the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Taylor has since worked with numerous organisations in the Geelong area and the Victorian Government.

Previous board appointments

Recognition

In 2016, Taylor won the Victorian Telstra Business Woman of the Year (Category - Corporate & Private). [23]

Taylor was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for her "significant service to Australian rules football, and to the community of Geelong". [24]

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References

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