Panel Discussion: Women in Transportation

Join us in celebrating International Women's Day 2026 with a powerful conversation on the future of women in transportation

ITLS is bringing together an inspiring panel of leaders who are shaping the sector from every angle. Hosted by Cecilia Warren, Deputy Chair of the ITLS Board of Advice, this event offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from women driving innovation, policy, and change across transport.

Our panellists

Emily Bobis, Co-Founder, Compass IoT

Emily is a co-founder of Compass IoT, a multi-award-winning Road Intelligence company that uses Connected Vehicle data to build better, safer transport and city infrastructure. She has many years of experience operating tech-enabled mobility startups with a focus on vehicle-generated data and CAV-led innovation. Emily was also a finalist for NSW Young Women of the Year 2022 and winner of Women in Digital's Innovator of the year 2022.

Kara Cheung, National Chair of WiLAT Australia

Kara is a Charted Fellow of CILTA and a Certified Professional Logistician with deep expertise in Asia-Pacific trade. Holding multiple professional qualifications, including a postgraduate certificate from the University of Sydney, she brings extensive experience in international logistics, supply chain management, and omni-channel solutions. A committed advocate for women's leadership, Kara actively nurtures emerging talent across the logistics, transport, and supply chain sectors. Through her collaboration with WiLAT and CILT, she works to drive meaningful impact for members, strengthen the industry, and support the communities it serves.

Julie Gee, Expert, Transport Strategy, Planning, Policy and Research

Julie has over 30 years' experience in the transport sector gained through a variety of planning, policy, advocacy and research roles across state and local government, consultancies, universities and the community sector. She has expertise in transport and land use planning and a strong personal interest in transport disadvantage. Until recently Julie led the Transport Strategy team in Transport for NSW whose accountabilities included setting the long-term vision for an integrated, user-centric transport system for NSW, creating guidelines and practical tools to support the implementation of this vision (including Movement & place), and place-based multimodal network strategies across NSW. She is now an independent consultant.

Sara Haider, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies

Sara is a PhD candidate at ITLS with a passion for efficient, sustainable, and equitable transport. As a Civil Engineer at Transport for NSW, she has contributed to several transport infrastructure projects across planning, design, and construction phases. At ITLS, Sara draws on her enthusiasm for research, engineering, and sustainability to develop behaviour- driven solutions for active transport infrastructure.

Expect a dynamic, insightful discussion exploring leadership, technology, equity, and the evolving landscape of transport. Whether you're a student, researcher, or industry professional, this is a chance to engage with trailblazers and contribute to the conversation shaping tomorrow's mobility.

Seminar snapshot

By Jinadari Prabodhika, ITLS PhD student

The Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) launched its 2026 seminar series with a panel discussion on “Women in Transport” at the University of Sydney CBD campus commemorating International Women’s Day.

The evening began with a themed mocktail celebrating female trailblazers in transport- the “Nancy-Bird-Spritz” creating a warm and welcoming vibe for the attendees before the session commenced.

The session bought together four distinguished speakers from diverse yet interconnected areas of transport, logistics and supply chain. The panel included Emily Bobis (Co-Founder, Compass IoT), Kara Cheung (National Chair, WiLAT Australia), Julie Gee (Transport Strategy, Planning, Policy and Research Expert) and Sara Haider (Civil Engineer and PhD candidate, ITLS).

Moderated by Cecilia Warren, Deputy Chair of the ITLS Board of Advice, the session explored the challenges and opportunities for women in the traditionally male dominated transport sector. Panellists shared personal insights from their professional journeys and highlighted the importance of leadership, passion and skills in shaping the future of the industry for women.

Emily Bobis encouraged the audience to always “assume upwards” when it comes to women’s professional lives noting that people often underestimate women’s roles compared with those of their male peers. Another key message she shared was the importance of sponsorship over mentorship and emphasised that having sponsors who champion your work and open doors to new opportunities can be critical for career advancement.

Julie Gee reflected on the challenges she faced as a professional woman about twenty years ago and how policies and support systems for career women have improved over time. Julie also highlighted the importance of surrounding yourself with people who believe in your abilities, regardless of gender and encouraged the audience to focus of what genuinely interests them and pursue that with passion, rather than being blinded by job titles.

Kara Cheung shared her experiences of balancing professional and personal responsibilities and shared some of the challenges she faced early in her career. She also shared a light-hearted but memorable fact from the world of freight: Discovering that 'ping pong balls' are considered a dangerous good in terms of freight and shipping!

Representing the perspective of a young professional in the transport sector, Sara Haider shared how having a strong support system has played an important role in her journey. She also highlighted the importance of developing both technical expertise and people skills in an inherently diverse and multidisciplinary sector like transport.

The audience actively engaged with the panel with insightful questions, leading to discussions like transport policies, culture and sustainability.