Think about just how reliant you and your colleagues are on digital communications, and the extent to which you and your family rely personally on all your hardware devices. Cyber criminals (threat actors) are aware of this, and they continually evolve their practices. EAs, leadership teams and boards are particularly attractive targets, and so the extent to which you’re cyber aware can benefit you both professionally and personally.

Learning Objectives

• When data goes astray: potential implications of a cyber breach
• What hackers don't want you to know about their strategies to extract personal and business data
• Cyber awareness: how to recognise and mitigate cyber risks

Date: Wednesday 4 February 2026

Time: 12.30PM AEST

Format: 45-minute webinar + 15-minute live Q&A

Registration: Online registration here (zoom link provided day prior to webinar)

Ticket Prices:

    Members - No charge.
    Non-members - $15.00 per person.
    ZOOM opens 5 minutes prior to the commencement time.

Meet Your Speaker: Shelagh Donnelly

Highly regarded for the training she delivers on resilience, communications, relationship management and more, Shelagh brings insights that are both pragmatic and uplifting. She’s been referred to as a cybersecurity whisperer, and has delivered cyber awareness training for assistants and leaders around the globe, including sessions for EAs of the USA’s National Basketball Association (NBA). Shelagh will bring practical tips to help you recognise and reduce cyber vulnerabilities in both your career and personal life.

Authentic, expert and inspiring, Shelagh (pronounced "Sheila") Donnelly walked your walk for almost three decades. She spent much of that time in the C-Suite, and wrapped up her office career after a decade as a governance professional. Assistants around the globe have been turning to Shelagh’s Exceptional EA website since 2013 for future-focused career insights and Shelagh’s interviews with assistants from 22 countries.

With a career spanning economic booms and recessions, a corporate merger, the dissolution of a public institution and its successor’s emergence, Shelagh’s career has been one of resilience, ambition and adaptability. As an EA, she established internal networks, led teams and multiple projects, initiated annual staff conferences, spoke at national and international conferences, and chaired a national board of directors. She’s also had the benefit of having her own assistants. Now, Shelagh travels internationally to challenge, educate and inspire assistants who want to thrive while performing at a high level. Some AIOP members have already experienced Shelagh’s training style firsthand, when she spoke in Sydney in 2023. Her presentations are grounded in firsthand experience, research and governance expertise, and reflect a healthy sense of fun.

Rachel Hall FAIOP

National President