Denise North

Denise North is a business leader with three decades of experience understanding companies from the top down and the ground up. Across multiple sectors and industries, she has held board appointments, led companies as chief executive, and been a strategic consultant and analyst. This breadth of experience has culminated in her ability to rapidly encompass core business concerns and identify opportunities and challenges. She achieves results by synthesising her technical skills with her flair for understanding people and inspiring harmonious solutions.

On a technical level, Denise has successfully driven business transformation. She pioneered the statistical analysis of mobile user data for the $2.0 billion SingTel Optus Mobile Division to redesign consumer pricing; as chief executive of the Australian Restructuring and Insolvency and Turnaround Association, she drove revenue growth by 60% by overhauling business operations; and she led a three-year restructure of international patent attorney firm Shelston IP, that spanned finance, accounting, IT, communications and HR departments.

Driven by her passion for social justice, Denise has undertaken roles in the not-for-profit sectors, and has worked alongside individuals from a range of life experiences, cultures and world-views. As a student, Denise lived at Sydney University’s residential college International House, home to students from 40 different countries. Maintaining a strong connection to the college, she was a member of Council for ten years, including eight years as chairman. Denise is currently chairman of Streetwize Communications, a not-for-profit that empowers low literacy Indigenous youth and other hard to reach groups by giving them access to important and useful social issues information. She also volunteers for St James Ethics Centre.

Denise’s deep appreciation of diversity underpins her sensitivity when managing people, whether that is through leading challenging boardroom discussions, motivating a team as CEO, or identifying and overcoming resistance among people within a business as it implements change.

Denise has demonstrated throughout her career that she enjoys difficult business challenges and through applying her experience, focus and determination she delivers positive commercial outcomes that align with the organisation’s values.

Education

• Certificate in Corporate Governance, INSEAD, 2013
• Honorary Fellow of the University of Sydney, 2014;
• Company Directors Course, AICD, 2004
• MBA (Executive), Australian Graduate School of Management, 2001
• BEc (Hons), University of Sydney, 1982