Resume
With over 20 years of global experience, I am a strategic executive driven by transformative change. I excel in complex business environments to deliver impactful outcomes.
My career is built on a foundation of strategic planning, leadership, and financial management, marked by a commitment to excellence, innovation, and fostering meaningful relationships.
A diverse background enables me to see challenges and opportunities that others do not.
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Adept at identifying and capitalizing on business opportunities. Proven track record of driving strategic initiatives that deliver tangible results, including a global $2 million cost-saving initiative and developing a consistent 'way of work' for international teams.
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A collaborative approach that unites teams and drives them towards shared goals, enhancing productivity and satisfaction. Achievements include unifying four independent services into an international high-performing team and leading global teams across diverse cultures.
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Expertise in managing significant budgets and financial models, ensuring strategic and fiscal alignment. Developed and coordinated annual operating budgets over $1 million with expenditures within 2% of projections.
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Building and nurturing strategic partnerships is at the core of my professional ethos, resulting in robust networks and enhanced business opportunities. Consulted over 500 business founders, CEOs, and leaders and forged high-level partnerships for New Zealand globally within the private sector and globally.
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Leveraging a creative mindset and a data-driven approach, I implement innovative solutions that resonate with stakeholders and drive organizational change. Achieved a 76% engagement rate in an awarded global DEI research program using design thinking and data.
Professional Experience
New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE)
Los Angeles, California
At NZTE, I built a world-leading advisory program, implemented process and technology solutions that saved millions of dollars, led international cross-functional teams, and spearheaded an award-winning DEI program.
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Mission: Promoted to expand strategic partnerships and advisory, bring operational excellence across service programs to an expanded client base (700 – 1,400), and achieve a $1 billion regional target.
• Doubled network output within 12 months from <500 to >1,000 engagements annually through technology-driven process enhancements, education, and artifacts, resulting in a 70% reduction in operational burdens.
• Globalized advisory program by creating a central digital platform enabling rapid contextual search and access to advisors across 50-plus countries, a 500% relative increase in network size.
• Executed a distributed team strategy across the US to fit the business needs and changing priorities, increased decision speed by 500%, accomplished $2 million in savings, and deployed globally to nine regions and 50 teams.
• Outperformed targets in growth and satisfaction, growing the budget to over $1 million and closing within 2%.
• Partnered with senior executives and cross-functional teams to ensure technical and operational needs were aligned globally, providing detailed reports, scorecards, and relevant data.
• Increased advisory recruitment success by more than 50% through exemplary written and verbal communication, designing global communications strategy, onboarding, PR, and relevant tools.
• Navigated highly complex organizations, from government, ministerial, agency, regional, and partnerships teams, building world-class programs and advising foreign governments on how they could create their own.
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Mission: Engaged to research and design a world-class DEI program after identifying risks, gaps, and opportunities to attract talent across vastly diverse and complex organization. This role was in addition to my existing role.
• Designed global research strategy across 50 countries, 40+ languages, and 24 time zones, ensuring cultural context, legal compliance, privacy, and breadth.
• Forged a strategic alliance with the CEO and C-suite team, providing mentoring and guidance on complex DEI topics and equipping them with the language, awareness, and ability to communicate effectively.
• Implemented a global multi-channel communications plan, pivotal in building trust in our research. This led to an almost 80% response rate, over 30 focus groups, and thousands of lines of contextual feedback.
• Facilitated data-driven and design-thinking methodology, achieving recognition from Out&Equal and OutRight International for breadth and quality of research. Awarded the 2021 New Zealand Diversity Award.
• Championed the ongoing global DEI program strategy, which resulted in the recruitment of a DEI FTE, regional DEI leadership program, central council, and agency-first ERGs.
• Resolved tough survey feedback with the CEO tactfully and ensured a sense of psychological safety. Ultimately, this led to the CEO sharing personal stories and growing employee sentiment by over 10%.
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Mission: Promoted to integrate a suite of independent services (brand, research, advisory, governance, and design thinking) to increase team capacity and create better cross-functional collaboration and greater client impact.
• Navigated immediate needs and skills gaps by introducing international distributed teams, a model that allowed for remote leadership, which offered professional development opportunities.
• Directed 20-plus projects simultaneously, streamlining processes with software such as Monday, Asana, and MS Teams to ensure efficient handling of live requests.
• Realized an 80% reduction of inbound questions by developing artifacts, training materials, tools, and a distributed decision-making framework, amplifying efficiency and productivity by over 50%.
• Excelled at team mobilization and empowerment, establishing an in-house agency model of excellence, achieving an NPS of 90, and an envied high-performing culture.
• Facilitated, designed, and deployed new services and operating models in response to client and broader team needs, increasing inbound demand by 300%, doubling team size, and forming an agile response team.
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Mission: Brought from NZ by the Regional Director to partner with her to bring an agile mentality and grow the network within NA. Solved complex situations, acted as a gatekeeper for external parties, became a strategic partner, and managed multiple situations simultaneously (and roles).
• Developed multi-day agendas, plans, logistics, global travel, and guests for regional team summits.
• Revitalized and scaled a previously dormant advisory program, achieving an unprecedented 3500% increase in engagements and expanding the advisor network by 1900%.
• Forged and nurtured high-level strategic partnerships with premier venture capital firms, academic institutions, governments, and industry organizations.
• Rebranded and repositioned the advisory program from focusing on operational tactics to one centered on strategic relationship-building and advancing NZTE’s mission.
• Streamlined and overhauled briefing processes, reducing preparation time by 80%, significantly enhancing team efficiency, and maximizing executive resources and operational effectiveness.
Contagion
Auckland, New Zealand
Contagion specializes in strategy, creative, media, and design under one roof. From advertising, content, B2B marketing, and websites to media planning, buying, digital marketing, and analytics, they develop strategies, campaigns, and content that grow brands, generate leads, and create revenue.
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Mission: Recruited from Australia to collaborate with the CEO and agency leadership to develop and execute winning pitch strategies and grow client spending.
• Accomplished a 90% win rate on new pitch work through project management, effective communication, and eliminating wasted time by creating a content slide library to optimize pitch development by 20%.
• Expertly nurtured client relationships across diverse accounts. Significantly increased client work through partnership, managing numerous budgets, projects, SoWs, RFPs, and pitches simultaneously.
Other Relevant Experience
Melbourne, Australia
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Led the highly complex multimillion-dollar fashion and cosmetics account for Australia’s largest department store.
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Led multiple cross-functional accounts. Won MADC Award for best direct mail.
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Built a corporate well business selling into some of Australia’s largest companies. Doubling participation YoY.
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Developed and led training for over 70 inbound and outbound customer contact centers.
Education & Certifications
Emeritus University
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An intensive nine-month program taught in three sections and three business schools (MIT Sloan, Columbia Business School, and Tuck at Dartmouth.
Module 1: Innovation of Products and Services: MIT's Approach to Design Thinking
Module 2: Breakthrough Innovation Through Systematic Inventive Thinking
Module 3: Strategy is Innovation: How the Leaders of Tomorrow Create the Future
Cornell University
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Nolan School faculty are distinguished industry specialists and thought leaders who focus directly on research that benefits the hospitality industry, whether real estate, finance, services management, human resources, food and beverage management, or organizational behavior.
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Key Course Takeawaysnell.edu/certificates/leadership-and-strategic-management/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/
• Assess and improve employee engagement levels.
• Enhance organizational culture in your team and company.
• Recognize unconscious bias and how it affects how people perceive and react to others.
• Understand the dimensions of diversity that matter most in organizations and why
• Assess stereotypes and prejudices that may influence behavior in work groups and learn methods to improve the psychological safety of all employees.
• Examine strategies for implementing ethical standards.
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• Gain a broad vision for marketing, customer lifetime value, and the steps required to take a product to market
• Identify the stages of a customer journey and segment potential customers
• Select the most promising customer segments to target and position a product to meet the needs of those customers
• Use marketing and customer response tools to determine product features and conduct product testing
• Assess potential distribution channels and select optimal ones
• Set prices that will help bring about product and company success
• Guide customers through the decision journey using promotional tools, then measure promotional efforts through marketing attribution, A/B testing, and other techniques.
Boards & Volunteering
Relevant Boards
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The council is the coordinating body to further connections with employers and alumni. It provides a forum for recruiting-related discussion and professional development. The council is comprised of industry development professionals across campus.
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As the founder of the DEI program within NZTE, I am on the central committee. The committee aims to ensure that all programs are culturally fit for a diverse team across more than 50 office locations in 40-plus countries.
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Advisory Board members work together with the CEO to identify and correct institutional bias, discrimination, and all forms of workplace inequality. The founder is highly active in this space and wants to ensure that everything he touches is done with a sense of equity in a heavily male-dominated industry.
Volunteering
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The LifeWorks one-on-one Mentoring Program is part of the Los Angeles LGBT Center LGBTQ youth ages 12-24. The opportunity to be matched with an adult in our community who will support them in goal-setting through five achievement areas: home, health, education, career, and personal development.
Each Mentor is trained with skills to be there for their mentee—not as parents or teachers, but as people who guide them in being their absolute best selves. The LifeWorks Mentoring program begins with a 12-month commitment between a mentor and mentee but, for many, turns into a lifelong bond.
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When you become a mentor with StartOut, you have the opportunity to have a real, measurable impact on up-and-coming LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and their businesses. You’ll meet with your mentee for two hours per month for six months.
What Others Say
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