Female CEO a Historic First for ASO

Ms Ronne, who previously served as ASO’s General Manager of Policy and Strategy, replaces Kerry Gallagher AM.

Mr Gallagher will remain with the ASO as Executive Vice Chair of its Board of Directors.

ASO President Dr Peter Sumich paid tribute to Mr Gallagher’s legacy “for bringing the ASO to the forefront of medico-political advocacy in Australia”.

“For the past 16 years, Kerry has been an advocate and champion of the issues impacting Australian ophthalmologists and their patients – and most, if not all of those battles, were won,” Dr Sumich said.

Mr Gallagher said the appointment of Ms Ronne as his replacement reinforces that the ASO continues to evolve and grow.

“Katrina has been at my side and contributed significantly to the development of the ASO this past decade,” Mr Gallagher said.

“Time and again, she has been responsible for developing policy and submissions to effectively communicate the ASO’s position on critical issues affecting Australian ophthalmologists and their patients.”

I feel that it is important to be a source of inspiration to other women, and I am proud of that

A Time of Change

Ms Ronne said being the first female CEO in the 43-year history of the ASO is a “reminder to the ophthalmology community that we, as an organisation, are evolving and growing with our members in the modern era”.

“It has been my privilege to be an advocate and actor in this growth over the last decade. And now, to step into the role as CEO, ASO has a leadership team that will deliver the society into a new era of medico-political advocacy.

“I’m proud that we’ve recently expanded our Board of Directors to appoint more women and also our first vision-impaired Director alongside other specialists, ophthalmologists that have interests in areas that are beginning to trend and evolve internationally, such as [Victorian ophthalmologist] Dr Rahul Chakrabarti with his research and practice in eye injuries in sport.

“I feel that it is important to be a source of inspiration to other women, and I am proud of that,” Ms Ronne told mivision.

Ms Ronne said International Women’s Day was an opportunity for the ophthalmology profession to be an “agent for change”.

“Start small and join the conversations this week on ASO socials, where we have been celebrating and recognising the achievements of women in ophthalmology, as nominated by their peers.

“If you want to be more proactive, encourage your female peers to become members of the ASO and contribute to our growing voices.

“Without their support, we cannot achieve true gender parity.”

This is the organisation for ophthalmologists and it’s their organisation. So, I would encourage those who are not members to reach out

Key Focus Points

Ms Ronne said that membership would be a key priority in her new role.

While the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) is the body that sets the clinical standards and training for ophthalmologists, the ASO provides medico-political advocacy as well as business education and support.

Ms Ronne said she comes into the CEO role with a specific intention to educate and mentor trainees and new fellows in the business skills required to run an ophthalmology practice.

“This is the organisation for ophthalmologists and it’s their organisation. I encourage those who are not members to reach out and learn how we represent their profession and the value that we can bring in terms of membership.”

She said being able to pass down skills in business development and advocacy was “vital to the continued success of the ophthalmology profession… and so in my first 12 months, I’ll be working to ensure the development and delivery of an online learning platform that will support the transfer of this knowledge in an accessible and inclusive way for all our members, regardless of where they live and work”.

For further information visit: asoeye.org.