Boardroom Media (CEO News)
At CEO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Sydney based CEO’ operating in the Consulting space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected]
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Ahmed Khanji
Chief Executive Officer of Gridware
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About Gridware: Gridware is a cybersecurity company that provides information security services protecting and minimising cyber attacks and threats
Paul Kawtal
Chief Executive Officer of Ethan Group
Paul has been with Ethan Group since the company’s inception, and was a driving force behind a range of innovative initiatives across the business over the past decade. With a background in finance, his strengths include the ability to focus on the business benefits of technology for customers, as well as the impact the technology will make on the way IT operates. This focus enabled Paul to become a trusted adviser to senior executives and decision makers within Ethan Group’s more than 1,500 customers across the government, telecommunications, education, health and other key sectors. He looks after the day-to-day operations of the business, including implementing systems and procedures to grow the company. Prior to becoming CEO, Paul was the company’s IT&T Services Group Manager, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Before joining Ethan Group, Paul was the Corporate Finance Manager for two multimillion-dollar organisations, where he developed the skills to provide sound financial judgement in budget and cash flow management. He is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Macquarie University.
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About Ethan Group: Ethan Group is an Australian-owned information technology and communications service provider.
Bridget Loudon
Founder & CEO of Expert360
Bridget Loudon is the CEO of Expert360, Australia’s leading online marketplace for the elite freelance consulting talent. Since cofounding Expert360 in 2013, Bridget has led the company to become a global Talent-as-a-Service (TaaS) platform, most recently overseeing its expansion into the US and enabling a new market for readily available elite capability and expertise. Bridget is a digital native and a former management consultant from top tier firm Bain & Company. Running successful businesses and start-ups is in Bridget’s blood. She started her first business in high school, which she sold successfully, whilst in University. A recognised thought leader in the future of talent and professional services, she has won numerous accolades and awards, including NAB 2014 Women’s Agenda Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, FutureMakers list of Australia’s top 25 Emerging Entrepreneurs, and Shoestring’s Top 50 Australian female entrepreneurs under 40.
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About Expert360: Expert360 Marketplace empower thousands of organisations to build, scale and manage flexible, on-demand workforces.
Mark Hutchinson
CEO of Vocation
In 2011 Mark created AVANA – one of Vocation’s founding companies. Under Mark’s leadership AVANA quickly went from strength to strength, establishing a reputation for high-quality, effective learning solutions in service-based industries across Australia. An entrepreneur through and through, Mark previously founded Untamed in 2002 – a nature-based tourism and training company. Mark holds a Masters of Business Administration from INSEAD and a Bachelor of Economics from The University of Sydney.
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About Vocation: Vocation’s our name and changing the face of training and education is our game.
James Schultz
Founder and CEO of GreenCollar
James Schultz is the Founder and CEO of GreenCollar, an environmental markets investor and project developer. He attended the University of Sydney.
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About GreenCollar: GreenCollar is a natural resource project development and environmental markets platform.
Ashton Bishop
Chief Executive Officer of Step Change
Ashton Bishop is Australia’s Predatory Thinker — an expert in pinpointing how businesses can grow by outsmarting their competitors. However, his path was a somewhat unusual one. After graduating with a commerce/law degree, he turned his hand to street-performing, TV presenting, stand-up comedy, film directing, and even literally ran away with the circus. Fortunately, Ashton eventually found his niche in strategy, where he has spent the last 14 years working internationally on some of the world’s biggest brands. He’s a business owner and serial entrepreneur — challenging, sometimes even controversial, but always focused on what gets results. He’s run million-dollar marketing campaigns for billion-dollar brands, created Australia’s first mobile app, received film awards, guest-lectured at leading universities, and won strategic and creative recognition from his peers.
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About Step Change: Step Change is a business and marketing strategy consultancy.
Michelle McGrath
Co-Founder and CEO of Lens10
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About DataTrue, Lens10: Lens10 is a digital strategy and analytics consultancies.
Amit Choudhary
CEO of SaaSFocus
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About SaaSFocus: SaaSfocus is an agile Consulting, Design and Development company.
Kim Stewart-Smith
Chief Executive Officer of Arxxus
Experienced Business Leader with a demonstrated history of working in the professional services industry. Skilled in setting and implementing business strategy, managing high performing teams, marketing and business development, financial management and advisory. Innovative and entrepreneurial. Strong consulting, CEO/COO/CFO professional recently graduated from Melbourne Business School with a Senior Executive MBA. Experienced Company Director with current Not For Profit Board roles and Client Boards and Guest Speaker at Entrepreneurial Events and Incubators.
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About Arxxus: Arxxus helps individuals develop salesforce strategies, implementations, and managed services.
Jordan McCown
CEO and Co-Founder of emondo
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About emondo: emondo is an online platform that enables its clients to get their forms legally signed, witnessed, certified, and completed online.
Adam Davis
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of UCW
Adam Davis has extensive experience in the for-profit education sector, having founded and then acted as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of ASX-listed Tribeca Learning Limited. The company was acquired in 2006 by Kaplan, Inc., a division of NYSE-listed The Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company), to form the foundation of its Australian operations. Under Adam’s stewardship, Tribeca Learning acquired and integrated numerous education businesses servicing the Australian financial services sector, consolidating a fragmented market and creating the leading national provider. Tribeca Learning offered a broad range of accredited courses and continuing education programs and its customers included most of the major financial institutions in Australia. Adam holds a Bachelor of Applied Finance degree from Macquarie University.
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About UCW: UCW operates as a education provider.
Dean Langenbach
Chief Executive Officer of ASG Group
Dean was appointed Chief Executive Officer in May 2019, following 7 years as Chief Operating Officer and a further 6 years as ASG’s Chief Financial Officer. Dean has responsibility for all aspects of ASG’s performance and overseeing the company’s 2,000 staff, operating in eight cities across Australia and Asia. Dean has over 18 years experience in accounting, business analysis and financial management. Prior to joining ASG, Dean held senior finance roles with Onesteel focusing on business improvement, growth initiatives and integration of acquisitions. During a 5 year period in London, Dean worked in financial management roles with multinational companies Kingfisher (retail group), Diageo (beverage group) and GE Capital (global financier). Dean qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1996 while working with Deloitte in Perth.
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About ASG Group: ASG offers a complete digital transformation service – from business strategy and advisory, through to infrastructure and managed services.
Beven Schwaiger
Founder & CEO of Integrum
Beven is a risk & compliance specialist, with over 27 years’ experience as a lawyer and management consultant specialising in due diligence and compliance systems for QHSE management systems. Beven has assisted global organisations in implementing integrated risk and compliance management systems in accordance with international standards, working in Australia, North America, Europe Middle East and Asia Pacific. As founder of the Integrum group Beven has been at the forefront of software technology development in the area of integrated management systems for the last 18 years.
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About Integrum: Integrum has been providing world class integrated management systems solutions for over 120 countries, across all industry sectors
Kevin Heydt
CEO of Solar Financial Solutions
Kevin Heydt is CEO at Solar Financial Solutions.
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About Solar Financial Solutions: A seasoned team of experts with a track record of in the energy, consulting, finance and carbon markets.
Kelly Quirk
Chief Executive Officer of Harrier Human Capital
Kelly has over 15 years of resourcing, outsourcing and HR consulting experience, with directorships at Hays, Randstad and Robert Walters, across four continents. She has an outstanding track record of leading teams which help multinationals achieve their strategic objectives through talent acquisition, employer branding and change management, often applying her expertise to shared services and multi-jurisdictional environments. Kelly is a graduate in Medical Science from the University of Portsmouth, and is an MBA graduate from the University of Southampton. She has previously been a non-executive director of the Human Resources Outsourcing Association (European Chapter), the global organisation for service providers and employers in HR outsourcing and transformation and has recently been appointed to the board of the Asia Pacific chapter.
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About Harrier Human Capital: Harrier Human Capital provides recruitment, strategic HR consulting and managed solutions.
Brenton Avery
Director & CEO of Oakpont
Brenton has over 25 years of leadership experience in technology related companies and has been a Director and CEO of a number of those companies. He has previously served as an Executive Director of an ASX listed company and is currently a Director of several other companies. He brings to Bell Resources skills and expertise covering enterprise technology implementations and roll-outs, cyber security, cloud technology, corporate governance, productivity reviews, business process reviews, and audit committees. Brenton holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Information Technology Management from Bond University, and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD), and also a Member of the Australian Computer Society (MACS). He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) as well as holding IT project management and other IT industry certifications.
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About Oakpont, Oakpont, Oakpont Professionals: Oakpont is a specialist cloud consultant and managed cloud service provider.
Rob Koczkar
Chief Executive Officer of Social Ventures Australia
Rob Koczkar is Managing Director of Adamantem Capital and Chief Executive Officer of Social Ventures Australia. His experience spans private equity, public company directorships, strategy and social impact investing. He was a Managing Director of Pacific Equity Partners from 2004 to 2014 and a Principal with Texas Pacific Group from 2002 to 2004. Rob also spent seven years with Bain & Company, advising clients on issues relating to strategy, mergers, and operating improvements in a wide range of industries. Rob received a BEng (Hons.) in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Melbourne. He currently serves on the boards of Social Ventures Australia and Goodstart Early Learning Limited.
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About Social Ventures Australia: Social Ventures Australia is a non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of people in need in Australia.
Alicia Keenan
CEO of Aicila Recruitment Pty Ltd
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About Aicila Recruitment Pty Ltd: The Aicila Group Pty Ltd works in partnership with SME’s and Multinational Corporations in Health/Nutrition, Food Production.
Trent Rosenthal
CEO of Bespoke Training Services
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About Bespoke Training Services: Bespoke Training Services is the only Amazon Web Services authorised training partner for Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Alex James
Founder and CEO of RESRODEL
Alex is the founder and CEO of RESRODEL, a new software solution company that solves the enigma of resource management for project based enterprises. With first-hand experience in the consequences of poor resource planning practices and solutions, Alex created an alternative methodology that solved this blatant problem which has now been embodied in the resource role model application called RESRODEL – and has triggered an exciting transition to Alex’s career. Alex is a member of the ‘Workforce Management’ Working Group with the International Standards Organisation and Australian Standards. Alex has a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from the University of Technology Sydney, an Advanced Diploma in Managerial Excellence in Engineering, and is a Prince2 Practitioner in project management. Over 28 years, Alex has been an executive at Aurecon and worked in project management, construction and design of transport infrastructure including Sydney Harbour Tunnel, Sydney’s Cross City Tunnel and the renewal of Circular Quay.
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About RESRODEL: RESRODEL is an online SaaS solution specifically for project based enterprises such as consultancies, IT developers, builders, and PMOs.
Sophie Andrews
CEO of Accounts Studio
Sophie Andrews is an award winning business owner, mentor & author of The Creative Collection. Sophie is CEO of The Accounts Studio, which has been a finalist in the Australian Accounting Awards for the last 3 years. Established in 2005, The Accounts Studio has been voted as one of Anthill’s top 100 Coolest Companies, niching in working with creative, design and tech start-ups, providing cloud bookkeeping, cash flow and strategic advice. Sophie has also been on the Board of Directors of the Australian Bookkeepers Association since 2013.
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About Accounts Studio: Accounts Studio is specialising in bookkeeping for the hospitality and creative industries.
Ross McKenzie
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Startup Business
Dr Ross McKenzie is a leading expert authority on Disruptive Innovation and Industry 4.0. will be sharing a provocative idea to solve a big problem. For over 25 years he’s helped enterprises, reinvent themselves to grow and scale. Ross’s career includes senior executive and advisory roles with global corporations. His doctoral research investigated how firms can be successful in The New Economy – a global ecosystem that is borderless, which we refer today as Industry 4.0. Ross is a prolific contributor of thought leadership, including his quarterly publication of Startup, as well as mentoring and advising businesses, in his role as Founder & CEO of The Startup Business.
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About The Startup Business: The Startup Business helps professionals, entrepreneurs, startups, SMBs, SMEs, and corporate clients.
Brett Kelly
Founder and CEO of Kelly+Partners Group Holdings
Brett is the founder and CEO of Kelly+Partners. He has more than 20 years commercial and professional accountancy experience, specialising in assisting private clients, private business owners and families. In 2006, Brett founded Kelly+Partners with accounting businesses in North Sydney and the Central Coast, before building out the network to 16 businesses over 13 locations to date. Brett is also the best-selling author of four books, Collective Wisdom, Universal Wisdom, Business Owners’ Wisdom and Your Money Your Choice.
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About Kelly+Partners Group Holdings: Kelly+Partners is a chartered accounting network provides a better service to Private Clients, Businesses and their Owners, and Families.
Brett Kelly
Founder and CEO of Kelly+Partners Group Holdings
Brett is the founder and CEO of Kelly+Partners. He has more than 20 years commercial and professional accountancy experience, specialising in assisting private clients, private business owners and families. In 2006, Brett founded Kelly+Partners with accounting businesses in North Sydney and the Central Coast, before building out the network to 16 businesses over 13 locations to date. Brett is also the best-selling author of four books, Collective Wisdom, Universal Wisdom, Business Owners’ Wisdom and Your Money Your Choice.
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About Kelly+Partners Group Holdings: Kelly+Partners is a chartered accounting network provides a better service to Private Clients, Businesses and their Owners, and Families.
David Thomas
CEO of Think Global Consulting
David Thomas believes that every company, big or small, MUST have a China strategy. He travels from Asia to inspire, motivate and educate business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors around the world on the massive potential created by the rise of China, and he supports them on their journey to identify, build and facilitate long term business and investment relationships. David’s unique value lies in his ability to not only identify business trends, opportunities and challenges in China, but also his “hands on” experience from having worked on the ground for the past 30 years. He is therefore able to illustrate and enhance his presentations by including practical examples, case studies and anecdotes from his own personal experiences and stories. Having worked with SMEs from many industry sectors (e.g. retail, professional and financial services, manufacturing, food, tourism, education, publishing, real estate, design and technology) David’s experience and expertise is broad and deep. He regularly speaks at Conferences, Workshops, Seminars and Board Meetings to a wide range of audiences and industry sectors and tailors his presentations accordingly. He regularly travels around China working with local partners and investors, as well as hosting Chinese delegations and missions of investors, SMEs and entrepreneurs around the world.
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About Think Global Consulting: Think Global Consulting facilitates business and investment between Asia and Australia.
Peter Strohkorb
CEO of Peter Strohkorb Consulting International
I am in a somewhat unique position here as my deep and wide insight into the AIIA and the ICT industry has been built over more than ten years, and from both inside and outside of the AIIA Secretariat. I first served for over 7 years on the largest of all AIIA branches, namely on the NSW Council, as an elected representative of a number of large and small AIIA member organisations at the time. I spent two of those years as the elected Deputy Chair. At the request of the CEO I then spent another 3 1/2 years within the AIIA Secretariat executive team as the General Manager – Membership. In stark contrast to prior years, during that time the AIIA enjoyed both double-digit growth and continually improving member satisfaction results. The next logical step to allow me to add even further value to both the association and to its members is to seek your mandate to serve on the AIIA board.Please regard my nomination as one in favour of deep experience and of continued progress.I thank you for your thoughtful consideration and look forward to serving you, the members of the AIIA.
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About Peter Strohkorb Consulting International: Peter Strohkorb Consulting was established in 2008 to help innovative medium-to-large organisations to dramatically boost their sales.
Jonas Bengtsson
CEO, Director & Co-founder of Edge Environment
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About Edge Environment: Edge Environment is a consultancy that helps to ingrain sustainability into their cultures, for responsible and commercial performance.
