Meet our line-up of renowned governance experts

Steven Bowman is Managing Director of Conscious Governance and brings a great depth of experience facilitating Board reviews and strategic planning processes.

Steven has held numerous senior executive, CEO and Board positions in USA and Australia, as well as authoring and co-authoring over 14 books on governance, strategy, risk and executive leadership

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Giselle McLachlan is a governance specialist, with an eye on the strategic horizon as well as on the ground just ahead. Giselle is all about down to earth governance and business advice, and thrives on building sustainable businesses alongside healthy leaders and lives..

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Lynda Carroll is CEO of Align Group. Lynda has over 20 years’ governance experience combined with over 30 years’ experience working with Boards, CEOs and senior managers aligning strategy, governance, culture and performance. Lynda’s experience spans the wider state sector and not-for-profit sector boards and she is also an accredited Foresight Practitioner through the Institute fo.r the Future, California, USA

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Georgia Henry is the Founder and CEO of HENRY REED, a specialist culture and leadership advisory business that supports Boards, CEOs, Executives and Business Owners to optimise their organisation’s effectiveness through their people and drive positive change for meaningful and measurable impact. Georgia draws on her 30 years’ experience supporting organisations to navigate the complexity of culture impact, leadership and employee behaviours, compliance issues, resistance to change, M&A integrations and changing social expectations.

Graeme Nahkies co-founded BoardWorks in 1997, Australasia's first specialist governance consultancy. Since then the company has worked with over 600 clients across all sectors. Graeme came from a series of senior roles in local and central government. He is now BoardWorks Practice Leader ensuring BoardWorks stays at the forefront of contemporary practice.

John G. Courtney is the founder and CEO of multi award-winning BoardroomAdvisors.co, which provides fractional c-suite and part-time directors to growing businesses. 

With over 40 years of experience as a board director, John has started seven businesses across various sectors, including digital marketing and management consultancy. His extensive background includes serving as a mentor for Microsoft Ventures and Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator. 

John has been recognised as one of the Top 100 UK Entrepreneurs in the UK by City AM, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from techSPARK as well as Global Entrepreneur of the Year from Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Fiona McKenzie is a negotiation and conflict specialist. She teaches negotiation skills to government and industry, coaches leaders in conflict management, and facilitates collaborative agreements with boards and leadership teams. Fiona draws on proven frameworks as well as her own models of negotiation and conflict-resolution, which have been developed through training, research, and practical experience.

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Julie Garland McLellan is one of very few women to have a portfolio of boards including chairing an ASX listed company and is respected for her practical experience. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and a prized reference for journalists. She has developed and delivered director education for the Governance Institute of Australia, The Australian Institute of Company Directors, and leading international institutions. Julie works with company directors and chairs to help them to build the success they desire in the boardroom. 

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Lisa Cook is the Founder and Managing Director of Get on Board Australia, supporting aspiring, new and existing board members and boards to thrive. She has thirteen years of experience serving on boards from a range of organisations in the private, public, and not for profit sectors in Adelaide, Sydney, and across Australia, including Shooting Australia, Inclusive Sport SA, West Beach Community Bendigo Bank, and Australian College of Professionals. 

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Dauniika Maclean is an experienced and award-winning Company Secretary with experience in legal, health, and financial services. Dauniika is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and sits on the Board of Takapuna School and is the founder and Director of Board Administration Services. 

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Leaning on 20 years of international governance and board appointment experience, Simon offers practical, real world governance advice. He has served on multiple privately owned business boards across sectors including construction, hospitality, software, digital and pharmaceutical. Simon is founder of the 18,000+ member Appoint Better Boards community and has made over 180 board appointments via Stimulus Consulting. 

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Alexie O’Brien is a seasoned Chair, Non-Executive Director, and AI Transformation Expert with a passion for integrating AI to enhance governance, productivity, and innovation.
As the founder of Leadership Academy.AI, Alexie helps boards and executive teams leverage AI to drive better decision-making and operational efficiency. Her leadership in AI stems from pioneering efforts in organisational transformation and executive coaching, and she continues to be a thought leader in using AI to unlock human potential and build future-ready organisations.

Brett Herkt is Cofounder and Director of BoardPro Brett is a serial entrepreneur, building several high growth businesses over the last 20 years. He's created $10M exit value in an ICT business, persevered through to a modest exit on his first startup and carried the lessons into BoardPro's burgeoning success. Brett brings tenacity, a strategic mindset, strong generalist business skills and enduring curiosity to the table.

Kerryn Newton is the CEO of Directors Australia, a national board consulting and non-executive director recruitment firm. In this capacity, Kerryn advises a wide range of businesses on how to improve board and organisational performance through strategy, board structures, board composition, risk and governance systems and practices.

Debra Hall is an independent director, an angel investor, and a mentor of entrepreneurs. A successfully exited business founder herself, she now applies her strategic insights to guiding companies to build effective governance, that supports future success.

Jen Butler of Absolute Gems is a professional board secretary in both the public and private sectors. Working across a variety of industries, business types and organisations of all sizes, Jen brings a fresh and collaborative approach to governance organisation, planning and administration.

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Chris Mene brings over 25 years’ experience as a board member, chair, independent facilitator, and engagement practitioner. Chris is a director of Mene Solutions and has held governance roles across governmental, commercial, not-for profit and philanthropic sectors. Chris is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and a Licensed Trainer for the International Association for Public Participation Australasia.

Sonya Beyers is Director of Governance by Design, a leading consultancy and advisory firm guiding boards to evaluate the governance, processes and legal frameworks in their organisation, redefine the director-board relationship and foster leadership from the boardroom.

Dr Susan Mravlek is a Principal in Insync's Board Advisory Practice, whose career objective is to help boards and top teams realise their organisational aspirations. Susan's expertise is in deep qualitative research that gets to the heart of what destabilises board/organisational culture.

Lloyd Mander leads DOT Scorecard, a consultancy that works with boards, executive teams and other decision-making groups to understand potential for wide-ranging diversity of thought and develop the decision-making culture that is required to realise diverse thinking

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Jo Kelly is a highly experienced Company Secretary who has worked across a range of industries including private companies, publicly listed companies, public-sector, not-for-profits, and several of New Zealand’s largest major sporting events. Jo is also a Director of University and Tertiary Sport New Zealand (UTSNZ).

Margot Foster has experience on a wide range of boards, principally not for profit, bringing her knowledge and insights to governance education with a highly practical focus. She is a board governance specialist through her consultancy Boardroom Excellence featuring her signature program The Boardroom School  Margot is Vice President Motorsport Australia, Chair of Sports Environment Alliance, chair of two nomination committees and chairs committees for both World Athletics and World Sailing. She is a mediator and a happy ex lawyer. At the Olympic Games 1984 and Commonwealth Games 1986 Margot won bronze and gold medals, respectively, in rowing. In 2015 she was became a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to sports governance, women’s sport and as an elite athlete.. 

Sarah Taylor has more than 25 years’ experience in meeting attendance and in particular, expertise in board and committee-level meetings. Sarah started her company Meetings Into Minutes Pty Ltd in 2016 and provides professional, independent minute-taking services to a range of companies across Australia. She also holds the position of Company Secretary with several of these organisations.

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Helen is a seasoned Board Director, Entrepreneur, and AI expert with extensive boardroom experience, chairing multiple boards, including Answer Services Ltd, and serving on boards including The Co-operative Bank Ltd and Centrix Group Ltd.

As the owner of Directorly, a consulting business that helps boards and executive teams optimise their Boardroom performance, Helen specialises in integrating AI to enhance governance and decision-making. Her leadership in AI began with pioneering digital humans and RPA initiatives in her Exec days at Vodafone, and she continues to be a thought leader in using AI to drive boardroom innovation and operational efficiency.

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Mike is a multi-company director and chair who specialises in helping owners and executives grow organisations. Mike is the MD of Point16, a business growth think-tank and consultancy charged with unleashing the next generation of business brilliance. They help businesses grow quickly and sustainably through elegant strategy and next level management principles.

Mike also coaches’ business owners, management, and C-Level corporates on strategy, leadership, management, and workplace performance.

Gordon has extensive experience in governance, serving as chair of Audit & Risk and Remuneration Committees and as a Chartered member of the NZ Institute of Directors. With over two decades of expertise in sectors like transport, consulting, technology, health, and government, he provides valuable insights and advisory services. Additionally, Gordon is active in local business communities, chairing the Mapua and Districts Business Association and sharing his governance knowledge through facilitation and consulting roles. Besides his professional roles, he enjoys blending his culinary skills with his professional insights, making governance more relatable and engaging.

Steven’s experience in bomb disposal in the New Zealand Army gave him a good understanding of decision making under conditions of uncertainty.

Since then, Steven has created a global consulting company AGLX with offices in New Zealand, Singapore, and the US. He has developed globally acclaimed methodologies, including the AGLX Adaptive Strategy Process and ICE Innovation® Framework and is a sought-after facilitator and speaker on strategy, innovation, and risk.

Steven has worked with organisations across the globe to challenge old thinking and create a strategy that allows them to be adaptive and resilient.

David has worked with hundreds of organisations across the schools and not-for-profit sectors globally in the areas of governance, leadership development and financial management.  

David has co authored the book Community Governance (impacting more than 57 countries), authored a large number of published articles and developed international training curriculum in school and not for profit business management and governance.  David is a presenter conducting governance education programs and seminars across the not for profit sector.  David has undertaken national and international consulting projects, is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and has several tertiary business and training qualifications.  He also an experienced practitioner having held director, company secretary, CFO, chairman and public officer roles.

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Tracey is a professional Independent Director and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors. With over 25 years of experience in financial services regulatory compliance, corporate governance and strategy Tracey is passionate about governance with purpose and good conduct and culture key to competitive and sustainable businesses.

Tracey’s passion for purpose drives her interest in empowering women. She was the founding Chair of DLA Piper New Zealand’s Leadership Alliance for Women for seven years and is the current Co-Chair and founder of the Financial Services Council's Empower Women initiative. Tracey is also the co-chair and founding member of the FSC’s Diversity & Inclusion committee. She regularly presents at financial services industry conferences and collaborates with Grounded Governance to provide tailored governance training to boards and management teams. 

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