The 2012 Australian Census of Women in Leadership found that two-thirds of ASX 500 companies had no female executives and only 12 had a female CEO. These stats are alarming if you believe female executives have a lot to contribute to the business world. But what about the Christian world? Where are the female CEOs and executives in Christian organisations?

Eternity spoke to a number of women of influence sitting on boards or working as executives in Christian organisations to discover how they got there and what helped them stay. One such woman is Michelle Dorey.

Although Dorey has never flown a plane, nor constructed, maintained, or owned one, she is the CEO of Mission Aviation Fellowship Australia.

Appointed in 2012, Michelle was the first woman to head up the mission organisation in Australia. “If you’d told me two years ago that I’d be leading MAF I just would’ve laughed. It just came across as such a blokey mission—pilots and engineers and planes. But the season was ripe for MAF Australia, and our board and staff have really embraced me.”

With a background in missions, fundraising and management, Michelle was considered the best person to revitalise MAF and shape it for future generations. The fact that she was a woman didn’t come into it. However, she admits that unless the board had been ready to appoint a female she would’ve struggled in the role.

“MAF was just ready. They knew where they wanted to go, and I was ready to run with that vision and expand on it.”

With three kids between 7 and 15, one of them with autism, Michelle knew when she took on her first executive position (Director of Mission without Borders, back in 2006) husband Gary would have to do the lion’s share of looking after the kids. A former pastor, Gary now works 25–30 hours a week as an accountant, which enables him to care for his family.

“We’re best friends and we’re partners, and this is how we’re doing our life,” says Michelle.

More and more women are seeking ways to use their leadership gifts in Christian organisations without compromising family life. Eternity spoke to a number of women in executive roles for this story, and the trend among those who were married with a family was clear: they had supportive husbands and supportive employers who gave them flexible hours and conditions. Without these things, it seems married women with leadership gifts struggle to find a place in Christian organisations.

It’s a particular concern of Christian businesswoman Wendy Simpson, recently listed in the top 100 Influential women in Australia by the AFR and winner of the Inaugural Faith and Work Award, which will be presented next month in Melbourne. Involved in the team that helped bring the internet to China, Wendy is no stranger to being a woman in a ‘man’s world’. As Chairperson of Wengeo Group (a private investment group) she negotiates business deals daily, while in her position as Chairperson of Springboard Enterprises she oversees the coaching of hundreds of female entrepreneurs.

It’s been Wendy’s passion to see women succeed in business, but she has a particular desire to see more women in executive roles in Christian organisations.

“In places like the Police Force and the Armed Forces, where people have said you can’t possibly stay on the job if you’re a mother, they’ve found ways that you can.

“I think the leaders of Christian organisations might have to just think differently about how they affirm the leadership gifting in a woman, and make it everyone’s responsibility to keep that leadership gift going if she is a mother. And I think that’s a very interesting conversation to have, because of all the groups in the community the Christians value family very highly.”

Someone else with a passion for seeing women in leadership is Melinda Tankard Reist. A self-employed speaker and advocate for women, Melinda is a working mum and a Christian. She says that without the support of her husband and the support of her former employer (Senator Brian Harradine, for whom she was media advisor) it wouldn’t have been possible for her to remain in the workforce while raising a family.

“In a number of ways I feel quite privileged. I’ve had a supportive husband who’s been a significant caregiver to the children, and I worked for Brian Harradine for 15 years and was able to breastfeed in the office.

“We had a cot set up in Brian’s office so they could sleep in there. He was just so pro-family.”

Arrangements like these require negotiation, something many women are afraid to do. Melinda believes it comes down to women actually believing in themselves and the contribution they can make.

“Women just undervalue themselves,” says Melinda. “I see it all the time…It seems to have been embedded in the core of their being from the earliest of ages.”

For Zosia Ericksson, Executive Officer with Genr8, a school ministry provider in NSW, negotiating a suitable salary and flexible working arrangement was make or break for her taking on the role.

In order to allow Zosia to take the job, husband Will cut down his hours to spend most of his time caring for their two children. Because of the drop in overall income Zosia knew she’d need to negotiate with her employer.

“From the outset I was pretty clear that I had a family, and anything I did needed to work within that.

“In taking this leadership role, the first thing was that I knew that we couldn’t both be working full-time, so one of the things I said to our executive team was the salary I needed to take on the executive role.

“Secondly, I needed the flexibility to work from home. I explained that it would work better being available to my family, particularly during the time when most people are travelling to and from work. So it’s the practical things.”

Another place where women are now being represented in greater numbers is on boards. Wendy Simpson, who also sits on the World Vision board, says that while more women are on boards than ever before, there is still more work to be done among Christian organisations. With this in mind, she’s come up with the idea of creating “Deborah’s List”, a list of women who are capable, gifted Christian leaders, and are willing to sit on boards and speak at events.

“When people want to have speakers, run conferences, or put women on boards, they often say, ‘Oh I don’t know where the women are’. And this is so we can say, ‘Right, well here’s a list.’”

It’s a concept Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision, supports. With five women on his board, Tim told Eternity he’s a firm believer in the contribution women make to executive teams.

“Women have specific and powerful contributions to make across all sectors in life, and this is no less true of the Christian sector… no doubt there is much in this which means we miss out if we’re not able to experience it. But men and women also have different life experiences, and such experiences are critical in leadership roles.”

Some might find the idea of a list too akin to setting a quota or a temporary solution which fails to change deeply ingrained attitudes. As the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”.

The women Eternity spoke to seem to believe that change is occurring in Christian organisations (horses are drinking), but for those who are resistant to change it’s no good simply parachuting a woman in.

“I think it’s incredibly difficult to have women in leadership if an organisation is not willing and ready,” says Dorey. “There needs to be a willingness and a readiness. If there’s a nervousness—like you’ve never done this before—that’s fine. But there needs to be a willingness at a board level.

“Organisations just need to sit down and think about the direction they want to head in, and they need to be willing to challenge any existing stereotypes which say women can’t do this. They need to honestly ask what they’re looking for.”

Read this article and others about Christians and work in the latest edition of Eternity, which will be in churches this Sunday. Don’t subscribe to Eternity? Subscribe here.