About Claire
Leadership and Systems Change expert. Sense maker. Dog mama.
My name is Claire, which means ‘clear’ or ‘light’ in French.
I've found my work in tending to spaces through which light might shine in a way that reveals what’s present and unseen or unspoken, enabling clearer perception on what’s really going on.
I wasn’t given any middle names, my folks told me Claire was enough on its own. I was troubled by this when I was about 8, I asked my parents to add Rebecca Alexandra as my middle names.
My gobsmacked parents told me that (without knowing them) I’d just chosen the names of both my great grandmothers. It felt like my name couldn’t sit alone, it needed to be in connection with what had gone before. And in my work I foster connectedness to the broader relational field.
A thread that connects all my work has been an inquiry into how we better perceive the complex challenges we’re facing and create the culture and ways of working that will enable us to learn together new ways forward.
Asking better questions to more deeply understand what’s really going on and paying closer attention to the interconnectedness and relationships - between all the parts of ourselves, our relationships across a system and our connectedness to the broader context and natural environment which we’re a part of.
I’ve worked with thousands of leaders from senior public sector executives to social entrepreneurs over two decades, weaving the theory and practice of leadership development.
For a decade I held senior leadership positions with the NSW Government and was relied on to lead numerous high profile strategic, policy and governance reforms most recently as a senior executive in the Secretary’s office of NSW Health.
I have designed and facilitated adaptive and immersive leadership programs working with thousands of leaders from executive team off-sites to year-long immersive programs across Australia, and I enjoy opportunities to work and study abroad - I’ve worked with clients in the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Timor Leste and South Africa.
I am amongst leading adaptive leadership practitioners on the Board of the Australian Adaptive Leadership Institute and adjunct faculty with the UNSW Academy for Adaptive Leadership.
Some organisations I’ve worked with
