### Governing >I bring **10 years of governance experience** across public and non-profit organisations, with a focus on risk management, strategy, and public funding oversight. > >I currently serve as a **Non-Executive Board Member** at the **Student Awards Agency Scotland** and **Historic Environment Scotland**, where I contribute to strategic oversight, organisational resilience, and governance. At HES, I serve as **Chair of the People Committee** where I lead oversight of organisational culture, workforce strategy, and senior leadership performance. I am also a member of the **Audit, Risk, and Assurance Committee**, supporting effective risk management and regulatory compliance. I also > >Previously, I served **four years** on the **Advisory Council of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation**, helping steer the organisation through major transitions, including the move from analogue to digital broadcasting and the sudden departure of both the CEO and Chair. I also spent **three years** on the **Queensland Government's Multicultural Advisory Council**, advising on social cohesion policy and presenting at a parliamentary inquiry on serious vilification and hate crimes. > >In the non-profit sector, I was **Chairperson and Non-Executive Director** of the **Global Shapers Community Australia**, a World Economic Forum initiative. During my three-year tenure, I established governance committees with clear mandates, implemented director term limits, and developed a national banking infrastructure to strengthen transparency and operational consistency across regional hubs. ### Organisation-Building >I have **6 years of entrepreneurial experience** across social impact and technology, building ventures in edtech, leadership development, and blockchain. > >**Machine Learning Startup (2014-2015):** Co-founded and served as CEO of a company (originally _Funetics_, now _Language Confidence_) developing AI-driven English pronunciation tools for non-native speakers. Raised **$40K AUD in seed funding** from Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company, and led a cross-functional team through early product development, partnerships, and go-to-market strategy. The venture has since grown significantly, raising **$1.5M USD** in follow-on investment. > >**Leadership Development Social Enterprise (2015-2018):** Founded and led an organisation supporting **800+ African youth** across Australia. Designed and delivered 30+ leadership and professional development programs, recruited and managed a team of 30+ volunteers, and built national partnerships. Established robust governance systems and a theory of change linking identity, community contribution, and long-term leadership. > >**Blockchain & NFTs (2021-2022):** Co-developed decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) within the NFT ecosystem. Designed governance frameworks, token-based voting systems, and community charters for **2,000+ members**, while contributing to **$1M USD** in NFT sales. ### Systems Change >**With 5 years of formal training and 2 years of applied experience, I have an advanced understanding of how structures, incentives, and lived experience shape conditions for long-term transformation.** > >**Associate Consultant, YLab (2018-2020):** Served with YLab, a systems innovation lab of the Foundation for Young Australians, bringing systems thinking into practice. Supported organisations to engage young people through co-design processes and address root causes rather than symptoms. > >- **International:** Co-designed a national youth engagement survey and advised on a youth leadership forum tailored to local political and civic dynamics. >- **Australia:** Facilitated participatory workshops on social change with _CQUniversity_, helping staff and students reimagine the university's role in community-led transformation. > > **PhD in Organisation Theory, Sociology, and Cross-Cultural Psychology (Monash University, (2018-2022):** Researched how structural barriers such as social exclusion shape early trajectories of social entrepreneurs, focusing on intersections of gender, social class, and parental socialisation. Awarded the **Mollie Holman Medal**, one of Monash University's highest honours (10 recipients annually). > > **Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation Training:** Completed immersive programs with **Impact Academy**, **Young Social Pioneers**, and the **Foundation for Young Australians**, focused on designing interventions that address root causes. Participated in **Telstra's muru-D accelerator**, strengthening my ability to apply systems thinking in high-growth, tech-driven ventures. ### Cross-Sector Translation & Communication >**With over 10 years of experience bridging research, policy, and practice, I specialise in translating ideas across institutional boundaries to drive strategic clarity, informed decision-making, and systems-level change.** > >Since 2014, I have combined academic study with professional leadership. I first worked as a startup founder of a machine learning edtech company while completing my undergraduate degree, and later as a social enterprise leader, doctoral researcher, and advisory board member. This trajectory has continued in my current role as a Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, where I lead strategy-focused teaching, conduct applied research, and serve on public sector boards. > >This cross-sector fluency enables me to navigate competing institutional logics, align diverse stakeholder priorities, and design interventions that are both intellectually rigorous and practically implementable. ### **Research** >**8 years of mixed-methods research investigating how individuals and organisations navigate tensions between who they are and how others evaluate them.** > >Drawing on a PhD in organisation theory, sociology, and cross-cultural psychology, my research examines how actors make consequential decisions when their identities create competing demands and the audiences judging them disagree on what counts as legitimate. I connect macro-level societal systems with micro-level psychological processes. > >**Navigating Identity and Inequality.** This stream investigates how identity and inequality shape the evaluation of ventures and the actors who lead them. Projects explore how: > >- Intercultural and social-class experiences shape entrepreneurial strategy and paradoxical reasoning in transnational social venturing >- Stereotypes between impact investors and social entrepreneurs distort judgments of impact and worth >- Communities navigate tensions of association and disassociation in inclusion discourse >- Minority and immigrant entrepreneurs seek recognition and resources through pathways shaped by cultural and gender-based barriers > >**Reshaping Knowledge and Governance.** This stream examines how technologies and institutional structures reshape the foundations of legitimacy, accountability, and decision-making. Projects explore how: > >- Public blockchains establish new grounds for truth and authenticity in digital markets >- Large language models introduce new standards of transparency and accountability in qualitative research >- Ancient governance reasoning, recovered through AI, extends contemporary approaches to sustainability governance >- Public sector boards manage competing accountability demands under institutional complexity > >Together, the two streams show that legitimacy is simultaneously a personal negotiation and a structural condition: the first reveals how actors navigate evaluative criteria they did not set; the second reveals how technologies and institutions remake those criteria from underneath. > >**Phenomena:** Transnational venturing, social entrepreneurship, impact investing, immigrant and indigenous entrepreneurship, inclusion discourse, blockchain markets, historical governance, public sector governance. > >**Theoretical Interests:** Organisational paradox, cross-cultural psychology, social evaluations (class, status, stereotypes, authenticity, legitimacy). > >**Methods:** Grounded theory, narrative interviews, netnography, participant observation, comparative case study, questionnaires, systematic review. > >My research has been published in the _Journal of Business Venturing_ (the leading academic journal in entrepreneurship research) and has received **three Best Paper Awards** from the European and American Academies of Management. ### Learning & Development > **With over 7 years of experience designing and delivering impactful learning experiences across Australia and the UK, I specialise in rigorous, responsive, and future-focused approaches to development.** > > Since 2022, I have led strategic improvements across two large final-year undergraduate courses at the University of Edinburgh Business School, reaching over 100 students annually. My work focuses on enhancing learning outcomes, engagement, and assessment integrity. Key innovations include: > >- Introducing structured public speaking training to strengthen communication skills >- Shifting presentation assessments from live delivery to recorded formats to help students develop confidence and clarity in their public speaking >- Overhauling grading rubrics to prioritise critical thinking and clarity >- Implementing flipped classroom models to maximise in-class engagement >- Integrating just-in-time teaching, drawing on real-time media and _Financial Times_ articles to connect learning to global issues >- Developing learning interventions aligned with institutional priorities such as sustainability, global strategy, and cross-cultural effectiveness >- Embedding continuous feedback loops into course design and delivery to support agile improvements based on learner performance and engagement > >These changes have significantly improved student experience and institutional performance: > >- **Global Business and the SDGs**: Feedback satisfaction rose from **31% to 94%**, overall satisfaction from **62% to 97%** >- **Managing Across Borders and Cultures**: Feedback satisfaction increased from **8% to 84%**, overall satisfaction from **33% to 91%** > > Combined, these courses saw a **48% increase in enrolment between 2022 and 2024**. Since 2022, I have received **four Excellence in Teaching Awards**.