Meet our 2026 Great Debate Affirmative Team

Women of Influence’s The Annual Great Debate 2026 will get you thinking, laughing and learning…

This year’s topic: That Confidence is More Important than Competence in the Workplace

Meet our Affirmative Team – Melissa Donnelly, Briony Low and Emily Scanlon who will support the notion that confidence is what you need!

Melissa Donnelly

Director, Affinity Communications

Strategic Counsel | Sense Maker | Board Chair

Lime green suit. Shoulder pads to the gods. Big hair. Killer heels. It’s the 1980s. No, Melissa Donnelly isn’t auditioning for drag. She’s putting her armour on to take every room by storm.

The shoulder pads are still there. But these days she wears them. They don’t wear her.

Melissa has spent 35 years advising boards, C-suites and family enterprises across Australia, Asia and the Middle East through moments of leadership transition, ownership change and the kind of decisions that keep people awake at night. Today she works with a deliberately small number of individuals, families and family enterprises at these pivotal moments, holding the full picture and creating space for structured decision-making.

In addition to founding her first agency at 21, Melissa has built and led several businesses, served on a number of boards, and is currently inaugural Chair of Brand Gold Coast.

She has seen confident people move mountains. She has watched competent people wait for permission that never came. Arguing the affirmative, Melissa knows exactly which one costs more.

Briony Low

Head of People and Culture, National Trust of Australia (Queensland)

A multi-faceted, multi-tasker, glass half-full, mum of two, wife to one, lifelong learner, full time Executive HR Leader, part time community theatre actor and a casual theme dresser…and former Year 8 Debate Captain (watch-out!)

Briony brings energy, pragmatism and authenticity to everything she does, balancing a senior leadership career in People & Culture with a genuine passion for people, performance and continuous improvement. Holding an MBA and with a background in executive HR across hotels, hospitality, tourism and the not-for-profit sector, she is known for her ability to navigate complexity with a positive mindset. She thrives on building strong relationships, bringing sharp, critical thinking and finding practical, people-focused solutions, whether in the boardroom, on stage, or anywhere in between.

Emily Scanlon

Event Sales Manager, RACV Royal Pines Resort

Gold Coast–born and bred, Emily has over 20 years of experience in event management and sales, shaped by years of travel and living abroad in her 20s.

A theatre enthusiast at heart, she enjoyed a creative chapter performing stand-up and improv comedy across London, including an appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2011.

After returning home in 2014 with her English partner —who gladly traded the UK for sunshine—they spent six wonderful years pet-sitting across the Gold Coast, caring for beautiful homes and animals before settling into their own home in 2020.

In her current role as Sales Manager at RACV Royal Pines Resort, Emily is fortunate to work alongside an exceptional team of event and hospitality professionals each day.

Now a proud mum to Leo (5) and Lily (2), she is balancing career and family life with energy, humour, and resilience—embracing her newest chapter as a self-declared “survival specialist.”

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