The Drinks Association’s 2025 Inclusive Leadership Mentoring Program came to a close on Tuesday, 11 November with a lively panel and networking event hosted by Diageo. The afternoon brought together mentees, mentors and industry leaders to celebrate shared learning, growth and the relationships built over the course of the program.
Jodi McLeod, Head of Pre-Mix at Diageo was a mentor on this year’s program. She opened the event with reflections on what it meant to be involved.
“I feel genuinely privileged to have been part of the program as a mentor. Every person I’ve met, whether it be old friends or new friends, has shown a real passion, commitment and a genuine desire to make our industry not only better, but also a really rewarding place to build a career.”
Meaningful connections at the core
The panel discussion was moderated by Alec Judd, National Business Manager at Pernod Ricard.
“For me, the program is all about making meaningful connections,” he shared. “It accelerates your leadership journey and it brings together multiple perspectives and experiences that ultimately grow our organisations, our industry and our people.”
The mentees on the panel – Alice Frayne, National Business Manager, Suntory Oceania and Liam O’Connell, Senior Marketer, Pernod Ricard – both shared that the program had a positive impact on them personally and professionally.
“I’m at the stage of my career where I’m thinking about team management roles,” explained Alice. “Having the ability to reflect through the coursework and having a sounding board in the form of a mentor helped me to build confidence in my leadership style and demonstrate that at work.”
“I really valued having access to talented peers from different businesses to broaden my contacts across the industry,” added Liam. “I also appreciated the insights about the role of inclusivity as something that really drives performance and engagement within a team culture.”
The power of mentorship and shared learning
For Sam Pulsford, Regional Sales Manager NSW at Lion, being a mentor in 2025 was a full circle moment after participating in the program in 2022 as a mentee. He valued the opportunity to continue his growth as a leader thanks to the nature of the mentor/mentee relationship.
“We’re always learning and we’re all on our own journey of leadership and growth,” he shared. “For me, it was a great forum to hold a mirror up to my own leadership.”
Ty Menzies, Executive Director - Sales ANZ at Samuel Smith & Sons, agreed that the program is a two-way opportunity with mentors also gaining valuable learning and insights to take back to their roles and organisations.
“I learned a lot from Liam as my mentee,” he explained. “It made me reflect on how I’m holding myself to account on things like inclusiveness in my own role as a leader. It’s been an eye opener for me to identify gaps or things we need to do more of.”
A shared commitment to the future
The message from the panel was clear: continue the conversations, keep championing inclusive leadership and bring others along on the journey. The call is to keep learning, keep growing and intentionally embed inclusive leadership into everyday habits, from how meetings run and decisions are made to how teams are built, recognised and supported across the industry.
“If you want to attract the next generation of talented young people into the industry, it’s a non-negotiable for them that inclusion is front and centre of any business,” said Liam.
“It starts with us,” added Sam. “Take what you’ve gained back into your organisations. Share it. Advocate for it. The impact multiplies when we all pull in the same direction.”