The Advance Global Australians team is passionate about supporting global Australians, with collectively over five decades of experience working and studying overseas. Based in Australia and working remotely, Advance has team members in the ACT, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Most team members work part-time, collaborating across projects to deliver the best outcomes for our members, partners and sponsors.
Kate is a public and private sector executive with more than 20 years experience in leadership, government, media, communications, public affairs and stakeholder engagement. A skilled executive who has worked and lived in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and Australia where she has embraced opportunities, established networks and gained a deep understanding of the expatriate experience.
Her professional experience includes senior roles and board positions in corporate, education, arts, health care and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and overseas. Kate has worked with a range of global companies, industry groups and organisations – collaborating with a wide variety of stakeholders on complex issues across diverse cultures and markets. She has also worked for the Prime Minister of Australia, a variety of Federal Government Ministers and a New South Wales Minister, serving in a range of roles in Government including Chief of Staff.
As CEO, Kate is deeply committed to growing the Advance network, amplifying Australian success and unlocking opportunity. Cultivating Advance’s impactful, connected and powerful network, while strengthening the resilience of our people and competitiveness of our economy in a driven and globalised world. Opening up the world today and making the most of the opportunities for tomorrow.
Michelle joined Advance in late 2019, and has led the streamlining of our global financial and accounting systems, resulting in significant cost savings, and increased financial accountability and transparency.
Michelle has built deep finance and accounting experience over the last 25 years from working in KPMG’s CFO advisory practice, Commonwealth Bank Australia, Merrill Lynch London and Deutsche Bank London.
In these roles Michelle has worked with or within finance functions across various sectors, with a specialisation in deal structuring, leasing and technical accounting under IFRS. Michelle provides CFO and accounting services to various clients, primarily not-for-profit entities, and is a partner at Nuwaru, a new and unique virtual accounting and tax firm.
Phoebe is confident, creative, and innovative, with highly developed project, organisational, and team management skills. She has strong stakeholder and community relations experience and a proven ability to influence and change by building relationships, collaborating, and networking.
She has a Bachelor’s in Transport and Logistics Management from RMIT and completed her Master's in Environment and Sustainability at Monash University in 2022.
Phoebe has over 25 years of experience working across corporate, not-for-profit, small business and government organisations worldwide, including owning and selling two small businesses. In the last 10 years, she’s had extensive experience working across a diverse portfolio of environmental, social and governance projects in Australia and Southeast Asia. This involved developing partnerships in areas of shared interest in the bilateral, regional and global context and building relationships and sharing knowledge between Australia and Southeast Asia.
Most recently, Phoebe was a Senior Project Manager at Beanstalk AgTech, a leading consultancy specialising in food, agriculture, and sustainability innovation. Collaborating with corporate partners and government departments—including Austrade and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, together with various government agencies across Asia—she has designed and delivered programs to help scaleups and established businesses innovate, collaborate, and scale for impact. Prior to this, she was appointed head of programming for Global Table, which brought together global industry leaders, innovators, startups, policymakers, and corporations committed to transforming the food industry.
Before this, Phoebe had 20 years in corporate marketing and partnership management roles and spent 10 years in London leading international teams across three industries: investment banking (Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse), law (Allen & Overy LLP) and technology (Cisco), working extensively all over Europe, UK and the Middle East.
Phoebe is currently on the Australian Advisory Council for Thankful4Farmers. This organisation aims to bridge the gap between consumers, brands, and agricultural communities and raise funds to create a sustainable transformational impact for the agricultural and food security industries.
Rikansha joined Advance in May 2023 as a Marketing Associate during her fourth and final year of university.
As a Marketing Associate, her role is to utilise effective visual and written communication to create, schedule and post content via Advance’s social media channels.
These channels include LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Rikansha also applies her skills in advertising to analyse data in order to optimise engagement with the community.
Rikansha is recently graduated from Western Sydney University with a double degree and double major – Bachelor of Communications/Bachelor of Creative Industries and majoring in both Graphic Design and Advertising.
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