Vanessa is an experienced Non-Executive Director and ‘C suite’ executive with 25 years’ experience in government, large corporations and the not for profit sector, with specific expertise in finance, strategy and transformational change. Excelling in roles spanning general management, change management, innovation, strategy and organisational development, Vanessa has outstanding leadership and business turnaround abilities and builds high level strategic and stakeholder relationships.
Vanessa is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Australian Banking Association responsible for the development of the strategic direction of the association and optimising the business operations including governance, finance, HR, risk and technology. Vanessa joined the ABA following 3 years leading the YWCA NSW, one of Australia’s oldest charities. Vanessa led a team of 300, through a merger of 10 small entities, from a federated structure to become a national organisation.
Prior to the YWCA, Vanessa spent 16 years with the Commonwealth Bank in several executive roles spanning Strategy, Property, HR, Finance and IT. Responsible for developing a number of business strategies and leading complex change and cultural transformations including the Branch Refurbishment Strategy (2003), the Sydney Metro Corporate Accommodation Strategy (2005), the relocation of 4500 employees to Sydney Olympic Park (2006/8), the relocation and adoption of activity based working by 6200 employees(2010/11), the development of an innovation strategy including new capabilities (Design Thinking, Experimentation, Agile, Data Analytics and Lean Productivity) and creating the Wired for Wonder conference, Unleashing Innovation Fund and Innovation Lab (2012/14).
Vanessa’s last role with CommBank was General Manager, Organisational Development - responsible for developing and implementing culture, diversity, talent, leadership and capability strategies, aligned to the people strategies of the Technology, Finance and Bankwest lines of business, ~14,000 employees.
Vanessa is currently a Non Executive Director of Variety the Childrens Charity and Driveabout World (an Edutech start up) and serves as a Judge of the Eureka Prize.
