Penny paves the way to help others “See Brilliantly”

To commemorate International Women’s Day (8 March) this year, we called for members to recognise and celebrate your peers and have taken a closer look at the women driving innovation and advancing ophthalmology in Australia.

Among our ophthalmic leaders is Penny Stewart, Country Manager Australia and New Zealand at Alcon, who stepped into the role last year.

Prior to realising her dream as a Country Manager, Penny acquired important skills and knowledge as a medical scientist with extensive pathology laboratory experience before branching into sales, marketing and business leadership roles within the medical technology industry.

Penny reflects with the ASO on her first year in the top job as “incredibly rewarding” and shares her aspirations for Alcon and ophthalmology in Australia.

“It is humbling to lead an organisation with such a clear purpose to help people see brilliantly”, she said.

“Our team have incredible expertise in ophthalmology, with a long history in the industry, and are passionate about supporting our clinicians to deliver the best possible outcomes for their patients.”

Since Penny joined Alcon — the largest eye care device company in the world — the team has been delivering on several key fronts. 

“We have been focussed on bringing leading innovation to our customers through product launches, such as Clareon PanOptix and Vivity; improving our supply chain through collaboration with our third-party providers; accelerating our purpose through equitable access to healthcare for first nations peoples in our region; and taking meaningful actions towards sustainability.”

When it comes to driving gender parity, Penny notes that Alcon has “made many advances towards women’s inclusion” and “we are now seeing many medical technology companies with amazing female leaders at the helm” — a club, we argue, she should be counted in.

At the ASO Skills Expo last year, Penny participated in the Ophthalmology Industry Insights town hall panel discussion that unpacked prostheses and health funding; pipelines, profits and problems; and who really needs who.

Being the sole female representative on a panel may be a common experience for Penny, but change is in motion.

“At Alcon, we have had a strong focus for many years on driving gender equality, not only in our team, but through the development of female Ophthalmology Key Opinion Leaders,” she explains.

“We have strived to always have equal gender representation at all of our Alcon-led medical education and events, and are strongly aligned to RANZCO’s Women in Ophthalmology tick targets.”

Sharing her aspirations for Alcon in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), the priority is simple, “to always delight our customers and deliver a brilliant patient outcome”.

“We strive to do this through leading innovations, depth of ophthalmology experience and service delivery,” Penny said.

“Internally, it is my hope to foster a diverse and inclusive culture that ensures all our team feel safe, supported to be their true self at work and deliver their best performance.

“In addition to this, we are committed to making a meaningful impact in our communities across ANZ.

“We are excited to have launched our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in January. 

“As part of our commitment to ensuring we make a meaningful impact, we are thrilled that RANZCO communicated to its members about Alcon’s support of the ANZEF First Nations Ophthalmology Scholarships Program. 

“We look forward to this partnership leading to the development of first nations ophthalmologists and improving access and equity of care for our first nations people.”

Only wanting the best for both practitioners and patients, Penny shared two hopes she has for 2024.

“In an ever-challenging regulatory and reimbursement environment, that the needs of surgeons and patients remains paramount, and the focus stays on quality and access to care,” she said.

“It is also my hope that the hospitals and day surgeries that our ophthalmologists operate in continue to invest in innovations that improve the safety and efficiency of the procedures they perform.”

With more than 30 years’ experience in healthcare and medical technology and admirable visions for the future of ophthalmology in Australia, join us in celebrating Penny this International Women’s Day.

Alcon has been an Alliance Partner of the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists (ASO) since 2017, enhancing the support and services provided to our members.