Audette Exel AO is the Founder of the Adara Group, which is an acknowledged leader in bridging the worlds of financial services at the highest levels with the world of international development.
Audette is the Chief Executive Officer of Adara’s two corporate advice businesses, Adara Advisors and Adara Partners. The Adara businesses were established to help fund Adara’s health and education work with women and children in extreme poverty in some of the world’s remotest places. To date, the Adara
Group has had a profound impact on hundreds of thousands of people in poverty.
Audette is a lawyer by profession specialising in international finance. She was formerly Managing Director of one of Bermuda’s three banks, and Chair of the Bermuda Stock Exchange. She is one of the youngest women in the world to have run a publicly-traded bank. Audette is a Non-Executive Director of Westpac,
Australia’s oldest company and first bank. She was previously a Non-Executive Director of ASX20 Suncorp and Vice Chair of the Board of Steamship Mutual, one of the world’s largest protection and indemnity clubs for the shipping industry.
Audette is the recipient of numerous awards. In 1995 she was elected a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. In 2012, she was NSW Telstra Businesswoman of the Year and was one of the AFR 100 Women of Influence. In 2013, Audette was awarded an honorary Order of Australia for service to humanity and in 2014 was recognised by Forbes as a Hero of Philanthropy. In 2015, Audette was inducted into the Australian Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame and was a recipient of a World Class New Zealander Award. In 2016, Audette was named Australia’s Leading Philanthropist by Philanthropy Australia. She received the YPO Global Impact Legacy Award in 2019.