Jeanette Cheah (moderator)

Co-Founder and CEO, The Hacker Exchange

Melbourne

Jeanette Cheah is co-founder and CEO of Hacker Exchange (HEX), a tertiary-accredited organisation connecting the next generation of startup founders to Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, Singapore and beyond. Through HEX and her other projects, Jeanette is dedicated to helping young leaders grow as global citizens – developing entrepreneurship and innovation skills, and bridging the gap between academic curriculum and the future of work.

Jeanette also leads tech diversity programs and female founder events; has been an EIR and mentor for accelerators like RMIT LaunchHUB and Catalysr; and co-created the Gingerbread Demolition fundraiser for Save the Children Australia. A regular speaker, Jeanette has picked up the mic at SXSW for G'Day USA, Women's Economic Forum: London, Melbourne Knowledge Week, ABC radio, Future Work Summit, and SingularityU Australia – to name a few.

Jeanette has previously been listed as a woman of influence in Smart Company and represented Australia at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance in Argentina. In 2019, she received the ‘Women In Tech - Global Ally’ Award in Portugal for her work driving diversity into tech, and was a Finalist in the Telstra Business Women's Awards for ‘Public Sector & Academia’.

Before founding HEX, Jeanette spent 14 years building innovation, marketing and digital products for ANZ, AXA, AMP and Origin Energy. Jeanette holds qualifications in Economics, Sociology, Marketing and User Experience Design.