What makes an effective leader and what makes for a good board? Should executives and directors run for the hills or can leadership roles be fulfilling? These are some themes I’ve been mulling over, spurred by recent questions from Women on Boards (WOB) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT). As a longtime WOB member, I was delighted to be asked by their team to share my governance perspectives and experiences as part of WOB’s 20-year anniversary celebrations. The WOB

I’ve recently noticed a shift to grassroots engagement and philanthropy here in Australia and globally. Gone are the days of traditional mass-market engagement and giving. Around the globe, audiences now seek one:one relationships, pressuring organizations to connect differently. We’re seeing this in various countries in their high social media use and transformation of “ghost malls” into community spaces as well as in their donor participation and volunteering trends. For in

This year has been transformative. It’s truly been a time of positive change in finalizing my PhD study on nonprofit innovation, sharing the study’s findings at seminars and conferences across the globe, having two more studies published, and gaining new practitioner roles where I’ve been able to directly apply my research insights. In addition to my ongoing position as Charley’s Chocolate Advisory Board Member, in early 2024, I became a Queensland University of Technology (Q

As Plato put it “Our need will be the real creator” (c. 375 B.C.E.). This aphorism reflects enduring themes of today’s society, challenging us to bring together critical ideas of innovation, growth, and social progress; and, certainly, such notions have been interrogated in their interconnectedness in for-profits. Yet despite the nonprofit sector’s recognized significance and particular hurdles, these concepts remain largely understudied in an integrated way in the nonprofit

Milton Friedman famously opined that the firm’s social responsibility is to maximize its profits (while engaging in open, free, and fair competition). The role and conduct of organizations in society has fascinated me for decades. For example, I have referenced competition theory throughout my corporate and nonprofit executive and board roles. In 2020, early in my doctoral program at The University of Queensland, Australia, I refreshed my knowledge of this influential concept

Recently appointed to Charley’s Chocolate Advisory Board, my third food tech start up board, and after an immersion tour in their sunny far north Queensland operations, I began thinking about some common themes of my SME consultancy and my for purpose board roles: innovation and why some organisations do well and others not so well in this space. First of all, far north Queensland is such a delightful mix of scenery, agriculture, tourism … My ‘tour’ started with a drop by ac

Earlier this year, thanks to a Harvard Social Enterprise Scholarship and Sport Australia Women Leaders Grant, I had the pleasure of completing the Harvard Kennedy School of Government/Harvard Business School Performance Management in Non-Profits program. Similar to the AICD Company Directors Course a decade prior, I relished the opportunity to undertake some serious relevant study and to network with inspiring leaders. Similar to the AICD Course, the pre-reading materials we

As part of my board appointment to Australian University Sport I recently attended a two day university sport sector conference. I knew I would learn a lot about the sports education environment, gain valuable perspective on the organisation’s challenges and opportunities, meet some interesting folk across the sector and get to know my board colleagues. I didn’t anticipate, though, how stimulating, refreshing, strategic and more broadly relevant (to my other board roles and f

Not-for-profits are realising the need to put the customer at the heart of their service, in response to the recent health, disability and aged care reforms. Tied to this customer centricity is a new language with terms floating around including person centred care or consumer directed care. Focusing on the customer is something corporates have learnt early in their organisation’s life. More than just marketing theory, they have experienced firsthand the results of being ou

In recent years I’ve noticed an emphasis on operational excellence. Maybe it’s just my exposure to the not-for-profit sector or a decade working with small to medium sized businesses? Or maybe it’s a newish focus across organisations. Whatever the case, I’m not convinced it’s the right focus. As much as I believe operational processes must be seamless and efficient, I’ve found time and again that the most successful organisations are those that embrace strategy – and I’m talk