Holly Ransom

Holly Ransom

Global Strategist on Change and Leadership
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About Holly

“Holly Ransom is the CEO of Emergent, a company specialising in disruptive strategy and building the capacity of leaders to execute change. She is renowned for generating innovative solutions to ...”

Holly Ransom is a global voice on leadership, change, and high-performance cultures.

As CEO of Emergent Global, she advises Fortune 500 companies, governments, elite sporting teams and trailblazing brands like Microsoft, Virgin, and P&G on building future-ready teams and navigating disruption.

A sought-after keynote speaker, dynamic emcee, and master interviewer, Holly has captivated audiences across 25+ countries—and been trusted by brands like Coca-Cola, Google, Mastercard, and EY to elevate their most critical events.

She’s interviewed icons like Barack Obama, Sir Richard Branson, Brené Brown, Venus Williams and Matthew McConaughey—turning every exchange into a leadership masterclass.

Holly is a Fulbright Scholar, a Harvard Kennedy School graduate, and the bestselling author of The Leading Edge—a must-read for leaders navigating disruption and driving meaningful change. She is also the co-founder of Energy Disruptors: UNITE, a three-time Best Conference winner.

Offstage, Holly loves sunrise runs, baking for friends and family, and putting her Spanish to the test—having recently delivered a full keynote entirely in Spanish.

What people say about Holly

Brilliant, Holly grabbed the attention of the audience. Her approach and material was spot on.

– Queensland Secondary Principals Association

Great topic, well versed, very organised.

– Eyecare Plus

Perfectly on message!

– Australian Boarding Schools Association

Holly was outstanding. She was an ideal speaker to speak about Preparing Students for the Future to teachers and leaders in the School. Her knowledge and ability to convey important information in a clear, engaging and accessible manner was very impressive. Staff are still talking about Holly’s presentation and the implications for educators with enthusiasm. We are very fortunate to have access to such a remarkable young woman.

– Camberwell Girls Grammar School

Holly was amazing. She was well prepared, and referenced the Leadership report that we had released throughout her presentation (something that we request of all speakers and vary rarely occurs. We had a male skewed audience that were not aware of Holly’s profile, and they were blown away be her. Some of the feedback was “the best speaker they had seen in years.” Holly received one of our highest ever speaker ratings, and our NPS score for the whole event was well above our usual scores. I would not hesitate in recommending Holly, she is fantastic.

– Bank West

A huge thank you to Holly for her collaboration for our event. We have received a fantastic response from Holly’s contribution that morning and what she had to say.

– Private Media

Holly was brilliant and the highest rating speaker at our conference.

– Professional Conference Organisers Association

I cannot commend Holly enough. Holly presented an interactive leadership workshop for 70 high school students at UNICEF Day for Change: A Children’s Rights Conference for Young Leaders. Her presentation was the highlight of the day and combined her expertise in the youth-led sector with her exceptional interpersonal and public speaking skills. She connected with the students via a range of media and inspired them individually to take action for a cause they cared about. I recommend Holly to anyone looking for a skilled, informed and passionate speaker – her presentation will be one to remember.

– UNICEF Ambassador for Australia

Holly was an exceptional speaker who captured the audience’s attention from the very first word she spoke. Her interaction with the crowd was exceptional and her stories were intriguing and inspirational. Holly is a confident speaker and she has achieved so much in her short time. It was very interesting to hear how she has achieved it all. Holly was one of the key speakers at the Worldly Women lunch with over 900 attendees to celebrate International Women’s Day. We would definitely recommend her as a keynote speaker to inspire anyone and everyone.

– Every Woman Business Events

Holly is the most amazing young person I have ever come across in my whole life! I often scratch my head and wonder how it is possible that this human dynamo has managed to cram so much into her 22 years and create such lasting, sustainable change in the community while remaining so humble and graceful. There are too many organisations and achievements to mention. But Holly Ransom is a name synonymous with hard work and results.

– United Nations Association of Australia

A presentation that starts and ends with a standing ovation & can maintain the energy and engagement of an audience of 500 of America’s most talented high school & college students is no mean feat! When Holly presented for us at the LEAP Foundation Los Angeles, her high-energy and informative session delivered exactly that. Holly commands the stage with such a presence and gains instant respect from her audience for her track record of achievement. She walks the walk of what she talks about. Her ability to break topics like goal-setting and leadership down into pragmatic steps meant students had practical takeaways

– LEAP Foundation Los Angeles

Thank you for being such a fantastic part of our inaugural International Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum in Istanbul. Your insights and experience were invaluable and our very international audience, comprised of women from 80 countries, benefited enormously from your engaging and informative presentation.

– International Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum

Thanks must go to Holly. I felt it vitally important we include the voice of a young woman in the Governor General’s [100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day celebration] event. And not just any young woman, but someone who has got something to say – that we all need to hear. My hunch was right – that person was clearly Holly. Holly’s speech, message and delivery were exceptional. Holly is someone I have no doubt that we will be hearing a lot more from in time – which gives me great optimism about the future.

– Virginia Haussegger

We have been inundated with positive feedback about Holly’s presentation. Our guests have found it informative and inspiring and it has set the tone perfectly for what Women of Adelaide want to achieve. We are incredibly happy with the quality and outcomes from the event and this is largely due to Holly’s eloquence and professionalism.

– Adelaide Crows Football Club

I invited Holly to speak at the Melbourne launch of the Emerging Leaders for Social Change group in Melbourne. Holly spoke alongside a number of CEO’s and senior business leaders to a packed room and connected with each of us. People were so impressed by Holly that I received many emails praising her (even from the other speakers) and I would be only too happy to recommend Holly for future speaking engagements. Holly has the ability to connect with her audience on an emotional and personal level. She is a reminder that we are all capable of anything we put our mind too and that each of us can make a positive difference in the world.

– Melbourne Emerging Leaders for Social Change

Holly Ransom is a superstar! Holly spoke to more than 200 Melbourne business leaders at our sold out Tipping Point event and her unique perspective, insightful observations and passion for making a difference captivated the audience. We have never had more follow-up enquiries after an event than after our event with Holly. As Charles Macek, Wesfarmers Board Director and our event MC said, ‘you’re watching a future leader of this country in action’.

– Kwan

Holly totally smashed her keynote out of the park. It was the session everyone was talking about as their highlight. Holly is such an impressive individual, at the same time, is able to communicate and connect authentically with the audience.

– University of Adelaide

Holly's books

The Leading Edge

The Leading Edge

Leadership is within everyone’s reach, everyone’s ability and everyone’s power. It’s time to step up, and Holly Ransom will show you how.

What does it mean to ‘be a leader’?

What does true leadership look like in the 2020s, when we’re facing complexity and challenges in every direction – from climate disaster to political division, and inequality to consumer mistrust?

And how can we be part of the solution, while crafting a meaningful and satisfying career?

The answers aren’t simple, but Holly Ransom is closer to finding them than most. Barely into her thirties, since chairing the G20 Youth Summit in 2014, Holly has been working with and learning from the heads of countries, companies and charities to help them disrupt what they do and change the world for the better.

In her fearless and widely-researched manifesto, this innovative young thinker shows how it is within everyone’s reach, everyone’s ability and everyone’s power to be an effective leader – in business and beyond.

Through three principles – mindset, method and mastery – you’ll discover how to first lead yourself, then others. And you’ll benefit from the wisdom of the luminaries Holly has interviewed, from Susan Cain and Condoleezza Rice to Barack Obama and Malcolm Gladwell.

This is the path to the leading edge – and becoming the leader the world needs you to be.