The Effective Governance Advisory Team

Effective Governance is a privately-owned consulting firm that provides advice on corporate governance, strategy and corporate sustainability to clients in Australia and New Zealand.  Our team provides a unique blend of people with extensive experience as directors, senior managers, management educators,  facilitators and management researchers.

Professor Geoffrey Kiel

BCom (Hons), PhD (NSW), FAIM, FAICD, FAMI, FANZMAC
Chairman

Geoff has had a distinguished career as a management consultant, senior manager, management educator and academic researcher. He has extensive personal experience working with clients in areas of strategic planning, marketing planning, marketing strategies, organisational design and development, marketing research and economic feasibility studies and is well known for his work in corporate governance. Geoff is the co-author of the major Australian practical guide to governance, Boards that Work, and Board, CEO and Director Evaluation.  He is also a core facilitator for the AICD.

James Beck

BSc (Hons) RMC Duntroon, GAICD
Managing Director

James leads the team of governance professionals at Effective Governance. He has substantial experience in working with boards and senior management, management consulting and delivery, established through a strong client focus over the last 20 years. James has in depth knowledge in governance, and designing and implementing strategic solutions to address business requirements of both government and private clients. As a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, he previously held the role of Education Leader for 5 years.

Denise Morton

Grad Cert Man, Grad Dip Bus Admin, MBA (UQ), GAICD
Senior Advisor

Denise has had extensive experience in working with boards to enhance the governance of their organisations. In particular, in conducting board-as-a-whole and director evaluations and working with chairs to ensure the evaluation meets the needs of the organisation. In addition to conducting board evaluations, Denise is actively involved in our strategic planning and governance services, including providing governance advice, the preparation of board charters, and developing CEO evaluation processes and board and director development programs.

Shad Sears

BCom, MITP, GAICD
Senior Advisor

Shad has gained solid experience in strategy formulation, project management, strategic gap analysis and strategic reporting with both IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers.   In addition to advising clients on strategy, Shad has been instrumental in linking IT governance, as well as corporate social responsibility to boards' corporate governance framework.  Shad has also assisted numerous clients positively improve their overall governance through board and director evaluations.

Judith Winn

Grad Cert Man (UQ), MAICD
Senior Advisor

Judith has recently joined the firm to assist clients in all areas of corporate governance. Prior to joining our firm, Judith was the Queensland Education Manager of the Australian Institute of Company Directors for 23 years. Her responsibilities in this role were to develop the annual calendar of education programs to be delivered in Queensland, and assess clients' governance requirements to advise directors as to the most appropriate program in strategy, risk, financials or effective governance.  Judith is a member of  the Asthma Foundation of Queensland Board.

Zac Zahner

BBus, CA, GAICD, AFin
Senior Advisor

As an integral member of our governance services team,  Zac has worked with numerous clients to effectively improve their governance in the areas of board, directors and CEO assessment, board skills requirements, risk management and the formulation of strategy. Zac has previously worked with professional chartered accounting practices and as CFO to a Brisbane-based company.

Jennifer Tunny

BA (Hons) (UQ)
Senior Research Advisor

Since joining the firm in 2001, Jennifer has assisted in the preparation of books and academic and practitioner articles and has played a key role in research and in the development and preparation of teaching materials used in AICD courses. She has assisted in a number of board reviews and workshops to assist clients evaluate and improve their governance processes.  Jennifer has also broadened her expertise into the area of strategic management has been involved in a number of strategic planning projects.

Helen Shorrocks

Advisor

Helen is the longest serving member of our team and coordinates our advisors' projects and activities.   Helen administers and coordinates our online board evaluation services and generates the findings reports from those evaluations. Her knowledge of governance and strategic planning has grown in her time here and she makes significant contributions to the services we provide our clients including the development of reports, presentations and educational materials.

Andrew Dick

BSc (Hons), GCTIM (UQ)
Advisor

Andrew uses his background in scientific research and development to assist the Effective Governance team in the preparation and planning for delivery of services in Strategy, Risk, Board Evaluation and Corporate Sustainability.  He is currently completing his PhD in Science at the University of Queensland. Prior to joining Effective Governance, Andrew was completing studies in innovation and the development of high technology business.

Other Sites

For our New Zealand based team, click here.