MEET THE MAESTRO: Fractional Talent Melbourne

Jackie - Cultural Change Agent

At Maestro, we know there’s more to life than work. In fact, it’s the experiences, relationships and pursuits we have outside of work that can often give us an edge in what we do each day. We are kicking off an interview series called “Meet the Maestro” where we interview our Maestros and get an insight to who they really are and what makes them tick - beyond the CV.

Jackie’s superpower is holding space; creating room for reflection, growth and empathy. She combines professional expertise, academic theory and real‑world empathy practice to support individuals and organisations in navigating change with compassion. She believes that only once people have empathy for themselves can they truly extend it to others. With a PhD in Public Policy and an EMBA in Organisational Leadership and Strategy, Jackie has had a long executive career dedicated to guiding for-purpose institutions in designing and implementing actionable strategies across leadership, governance, risk, compliance, ESG, CSR, DEI and operations/service delivery. An accredited ADMRAS mediator, she resolves boardroom and staff conflicts using values-based, design-thinking and mediation approaches. Jackie provides strategic and advisory support while using storytelling and the concept of otherness to help individuals, teams and organisations improve performance, strengthen cohesion and transform culture.

‍1. Tell us about a career highlight to date…

I’m most proud of the impact created by the work I do.  I’m proud of doing things differently and of the human centred-ness approach to leadership capability that I take in my work, that I affect through my programs and coaching. In terms of my executive career, I am most proud of the cultural transformations I have enabled through aligning purpose with strategy, developing impact and ESG frameworks, as well as initiatives in DEI across the tertiary and for profit sectors. 

‍2. Talk us through an unusual career choice you’ve made along the way…

I decided to take a gap year  this year, after 25 years in the workforce! Better late than never. Through that period I have taken on a range of bucket list activities, including travel, publishing my book, hosting a radio show, learning all about AI, and starting a business! 

‍3. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a journalist. Then a judge. Then a teacher. Then a lawyer. I haven’t stopped learning, and am full of curiosity and creativity, so find different ways to keep my mind stimulated and challenged.

‍4. What are your passions outside of work and how do you make time for them?

Spending time with the family, and my covid cavoodle. I meditate twice a day, and have found journaling and writing to be really cathartic. 

‍5. If you could instantly master any skill or hobby, what would it be and why?

I am learning all about AI at the moment, and would love to be proficient enough to build my own agents. I’m working on it! 

‍6. What’s a personal value or belief that guides the way you live your life?

Empathy, integrity, resilience. It's a really hard thing to dig deep into your values and have an honest conversation with yourself about what you put out into the world via your behaviours and the discrepancies between these and your intentions. Knowing yourself, is according to the ancient philosophers, the highest form of wisdom and the best way to create space for holding tension, and having empathy for others in this increasingly polarised world. 

‍7. What’s a challenge you’ve overcome outside of work that shaped you?

Building my life after divorce and being a single mother to 3! 

‍8. What do you think your job will look like in 10 years time? 

Hopefully in 10 years time, I will be able to retire, but the work of empathy is essentially a human skill, so I hope it will never be moot. I do hope that the empathy deficit we are dealing with as a society has diminished, and people have found a way to align their inner and peter words to experience flow in  their lives. In terms of my professional, rather than entrepreneurial career, the critical and analytical skills my jobs have required, means that there is great scope for impact especially during these times of uncertainty across governance, strategy and purpose.

‍9. If you could travel anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go and what would you do?

I would travel to New York in the 1960s! I would see all the greats - Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Lulu, Paul Simon, Neil Diamond and Carol King. 

‍10. What does success look like to you 

I have let go of traditional notions of success around status, relationships and money, and have learned to lean in to doing what brings me joy, where I can have positive relationships and have the biggest impact!