Elevating Women’s Voices in Audit Leadership: 5 Key Insights

While audit has made big strides toward closing its gender gap, there’s work to be done to ensure women are supported in their careers and fully represented in the rooms where decisions get made. Women’s voices must be elevated to be heard.

This conviction motivated AuditBoard’s first-ever Women Leaders in Audit roundtable, held during the 2025 Great Audit Minds (GAM) conference. This article shares key insights from our discussion — valuable not only to women, but to the teams they support, lead, and strengthen. 

Representation is crucial 

Women role models at all levels of the organization inspire and pave the way for future women leaders. When I began my career at Deloitte, what drew me in was seeing so many women in leadership. As I shared during the roundtable, when you see someone like you in a position of influence, you realize, “I can do that too!” You can’t be what you can’t see. Role models matter.

Executive teams that prioritize inclusion drive systemic changes in hiring and promotion. SoFi Head of SOX and Financial Data Governance Nancy Yuen remembers one interview where her panel was 100% men — a giant red flag. It became her mission to change that. Now, Nancy focuses on building high-performing teams with diverse leadership. Nancy observed, “When women have a seat at the boardroom table, it creates a ripple effect for leadership representation at all levels.”

Female CAEs were rare 30 years ago. Fortunately, as shown by The Institute of Internal Auditors’ 2025 North American Pulse of Internal Audit survey, we’re seeing a strong shift toward female audit leadership. An impressive 47% of all CAEs are female in 2025 — and 62% of 30-something CAEs are women. 

Creating opportunities to shine

Women become leaders by bringing their strengths to the table. Accordingly, as AuditBoard CMO April Crichlow explained, “It’s not just about identifying talent — it’s about creating opportunities for them to grow and to shine. Let them take the lead in key conversations, present their own work to the executive team, and build confidence in their voice. Leadership is about shining a light on others.”

This requires investing time in identifying and developing women’s strengths and giving them the platforms — as well as the confidence — to add their voices to the conversation. AuditBoard’s Regional VP of Sales Lauren Ball recommended, “Understand what makes a person tick — what drives them and what holds them back. Give them the opportunity to craft their own message and deliver it to a leader. I’ll have their back, but they need to use their own voice.” 

Advocate for yourself

Women typically don’t self-promote as often as men. “A lot of women think, ‘If I just keep my head down and do a good job, someone is going to notice.’ But the reality is, you have to advocate for yourself, speak up about what you want, and make sure your contributions are seen,” said April. 

The roundtable yielded several tips:

• Find your voice. Own your space in meetings, refine your tone, and project confidence.
• Ask for what you want. Managers won’t know what you want unless you tell them. Verbalize your goals. If a promotion is denied, ask for feedback. 
• Write self-performance reviews like a PR agency would. Detaching emotion helps you frame accomplishments clearly and confidently.
• Build executive presence by building a personal board of directors. Find mentors, sponsors, and advisors who push you forward.
• Challenge yourself. “Do the scary thing,” Nancy suggested. “Take one interview a year, even if you’re not looking, to validate that you’re still where you should be.”
• Stop apologizing. Women often say “I’m sorry.” Apologize only when specific actions require it.

Bring your authentic voice

Women often feel pressured to adjust what they say and how they lead to fit male-dominated spaces. As one participant asserted, however, women provide more value by bringing their authentic selves to work. “You are a mother, you like pink, you have a voice — none of that should be diminished to fit in. The more we support women in stepping out of imposter syndrome, the more we change the game.” 

Elevating women’s authentic voices requires women to approach their roles with confidence, courage, and a willingness to take calculated risks. “I have a slogan: Be uncomfortably uncomfortable. Growth happens when you push yourself outside your comfort zone,” said Lauren.

Support other women

Panelists and participants strongly encouraged all women to “pay it forward” by mentoring, sponsoring, and supporting other women in their careers. Mentors guide you; sponsors advocate for you. Melissa Pici, Global Director, Governance, Risk, and Compliance at a major telecom company, asserted, “If we’re digging the trenches, let’s make sure we leave them open for the next generation to follow.” 

Many participants had male mentors early in their careers, but they agreed: More women mentors and sponsors are needed. Denise Dombay, an audit executive at a financial regulator, reflected, “When I started, leadership was overwhelmingly male. Progress has been made, but real change happens when we actively mentor, sponsor, and open doors for the next generation of women.” 

April encapsulated the call to action: “Be generous with your wisdom, your knowledge, and your time. Investing in the next generation of women leaders is one of the most important things we can do.” 

Keep the conversation going

The GAM roundtable was just the beginning. AuditBoard will continue to foster these discussions, including a bigger initiative at Audit & Beyond 2025. Together, we’ll shape the future of women in audit leadership, ultimately elevating our entire profession. 

About the authors

Claire Kriegshauser is AVP, Product Solutions for North America at AuditBoard. She joined AuditBoard from Deloitte, where she specialized in audit services.