Diana Taylor AM’s experience and achievements have spanned the breadth of the legal, business, community and sporting worlds for over two decades.
A fearless community builder whose life purpose is to create better outcomes for others, Diana’s integrity-based pursuit of leadership to support great outcomes is clear in her actions and in all her speaking engagements.
A female pioneer as an Australian Rules Football (AFL) administrator, Diana’s experience is unmatched as the first female president of a men’s metropolitan football league, the first woman appointed to the Victorian Football League Tribunal and the first female Vice President of the Geelong Football Club in the Club’s 165-year history. Diana’s 25 years of service to Australian rules football, alongside her service to Geelong, was recognised by the Australian Government in 2024 with Diana being made a Member of the Order of Australia.
Diana is a lawyer, business owner, company director and author and has been recognised as a Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award winner. She is also passionate about community development, and has established a world-class community based palliative care centre at Deakin University, Geelong.
As a leader, Diana does not believe in maintaining the ‘status quo’ and works with her audiences to understand their key drivers, provide clear guidance to inform ideas and new ways of looking at opportunities and to encourage audiences to always strive for their own greatness.
For two decades Diana has been speaking to audiences about what it truly means to lead, sacrifice, care for people and community and how to achieve greatness both individually and collectively.
Diana engages with audiences on a very real level about what it takes to turn today’s hard yards into tomorrow’s triumphs, and how to effectively plan and executive for that success.
"As keynote speaker for our community networking event in Geelong, Diana spoke meaningfully about the importance of finding a personal definition of ‘community’, and how an enduring commitment to that notion can assist us all in our personal and professional pursuits to build meaningful and impactful lives. Diana spoke with a great intuitive sense as she engaged with our audience, such that irrespective of age or gender, her words carried great impact and encouragement for all.
"10 out of 10! Diana is an inspirational, strong leader who is open in sharing her experiences and passions with others. The audience were engaged and the conversations that flowed afterwards were insightful and demonstrated the value of the messaging coming through. For me personally, I felt inspired and confident to continue in my own leadership journey.
"Diana is inspiring and authentic in her storytelling. She shared the highs and the lows of her professional journey, and highlighted that although each individual's story may differ, we all have the opportunity find success with the right supports, people and foundations in place. Diana is genuine in her delivery, and engaging with an audience, we thoroughly enjoyed hosting Diana to open the Female Athlete Network Education event.
"Diana speaks from the heart and is an inspiring and engaging speaker. Her very personal style makes it feel like she is having a direct conversation with you. Diana’s core beliefs, experience, and values cross over into business, not-for-profits, and the sporting community. She leaves you with a sense of empowerment.
"Diana understands what her audience wants from the presentation; an understanding of their key drivers, clear guidance to inform their ideas, and new ways of looking at their opportunities.
"Diana was very generous in sharing her insights as captured in The Playbook. By sharing her experiences and what she has learnt over many years, Diana was clearly able to articulate strategies that can be applied to succeed in both a personal and business sense. I highly recommend Diana for your next event as an authentic guest speaker who can capture the room and deliver a thought-provoking presentation that everyone can relate to.
"Diana was engaged by FRV to deliver a series of workplace behaviour training sessions for senior operational and corporate leaders including FRV’s Executive. Diana has a confident, assertive and inclusive speaking style when presenting to senior operational and corporate leaders and has the ability to read the room and make adjustments in the moment to engage with participants and to enable input and full participation. Diana’s deep subject matter expertise, delivery and approach has fulfilled the FRV brief and the relevant strategic objectives and outcomes for the workshops.
"Diana’s presentation was excellent; the content was pitched at the right level for the audience and her personal reflections as a leader resonated strongly with the group. Diana is a highly experienced professional that has the rare quality of being able to combine strong expertise with the ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds.
"Diana’s presentation not only provided insights into how to strategically plan for success, it challenged all in the room to look within their own lives to find their purpose and a clear direction to make every post a winner! Once again, the community benefits from Diana’s continued goal of adding significantly to her community.
"Our event benefited greatly from Diana’s expertise and passion for the greater Geelong region. Diana is very qualified to speak on a range of topics owing to her impressive professional and governance roles. She brings a warmth in her delivery of her message that stems from her experience with engaging with people from all walks of life. I look forward to having Diana speak at a future UDIA Victoria event.
"The Playbook is akin to Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ but instead, it’s ‘The Art of Business and Life’. I wish I’d read it 40 years ago!
"I have known Diana for many years and watched her career develop into a rich tapestry of family, community, sport and business. The Playbook will be of value to anyone who is wrestling with whether to pursue a goal in...
Read More
I have known Diana for many years and watched her career develop into a rich tapestry of family, community, sport and business. The Playbook will be of value to anyone who is wrestling with whether to pursue a goal in life and to take that next step of ‘crossing the white line’. I know that every reader will benefit from the lessons that Diana shares: lessons gleaned from not only Diana’s many successes but also the important lessons learnt from disappointment. The book provides insightful, practical advice about issues that are sure to arise and its wisdom will undoubtedly help the reader avoid many common hazards. I only wish that I had had The Playbook as a navigational aid as I was charting my own course.
Read Less
Diana Taylor Legal Consulting provides strategic, commercial and human centred solutions for complex workplaces and business related matters.
With the ability to act in both a legal and consulting capacity, an appropriate and cost effective approach will be tailored for every client.
