Alison Smith

Group Executive External Affairs, The Star Entertainment Group

Why communication is key

Since scoring a journalism cadetship at the age of 17, Alison has charted a career through newsrooms and political offices, and for the past decade has led corporate affairs for ASX-100 heavy weights Rio Tinto (Energy) and The Star Entertainment Group.

Alison is passionate about using stakeholder engagement to create an environment for a business to achieve better outcomes and successfully meet corporate responsibility commitments.

In November she will make her next career move, as Head of Advocacy for the Local Government Association of Queensland – the state’s peak body for Queensland’s 77 councils.

Key takeaways

  1. The importance of building social capital
  2. Walking in the shoes of your stakeholders and customers
  3. Having a no surprises policy
  4. Turning adversity into opportunity