Dr Katie Spearritt (she/her)
Chief Executive Officer
Katie lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation (Melbourne).
Katie is the Chief Executive Officer of Diversity Partners. She held human resources and diversity and inclusion leadership roles for fifteen years in Australian and global firms (Hewlett Packard in Australia and Asia, Coles Group, NAB) before founding Diversity Partners in 2009.
Under her guidance, Diversity Partners has advised more than 500 organisations in Australia and New Zealand on diversity and inclusion strategies and leadership programs.
She works closely with boards, CEOs, and senior leadership teams in the private, public, and for-purpose sectors. She trained in London with BP’s global academy on diversity and inclusion led by UK business psychology consultancy, Pearn Kandola. Katie was a Board Member of the Mental Health Council of Australia, is a volunteer mentor with the University of Queensland, and works with Future Women on education programs. She has a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) from the University of Queensland and PhD in Business and Economics from Monash University.
Tarang Chawla (he/him)
Senior Consultant
Tarang lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation (Melbourne).
Tarang leads diversity and inclusion strategy engagements and facilitates inclusive leadership workshops for our Australian and global client organisations. He is Commissioner at the Victorian Multicultural Commission and Director of Diversity & Inclusion Programs at Future Women, where he leads the ground-breaking program for men ‘Change Makers: supporting men to navigate diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace’.
Tarang is also co-founder of Not One More Niki, a movement working to end men’s violence against women, named in memory of his younger sister Nikita who was murdered in 2015.
He is a sessional academic at Monash University, a former Young Australian of the Year Finalist, and has twice been listed as one of the Top 25 Most Influential People Working for Social Change and one of Australia’s Top 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians. Tarang has a Bachelor of Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne.
Anna Carter (she/her)
Senior Consultant
Anna lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation (Melbourne).
Anna has worked with numerous clients to review HR polices and develop diversity and inclusion strategies. These have been used to guide organisational efforts and implement targeted action plans and measures, based on diagnostic research of organisational strengths and opportunities.
Anna has also partnered with many Victorian public sector organisations to develop their Gender Equality Action Plan, which has involved leading audit and consultation processes, developing strategies and measures with a particular focus on intersectional gender inequality.
Anna has more than 20 years of experience working in Human Resources with much of her time specialising in Employee Relations before moving into diversity related roles in large Australian companies. She held senior diversity roles within Coles Myer and NAB. Anna has a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University and Graduate Diploma in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management from RMIT.
Kristy Macfarlane (she/her)
Senior Consultant and Client Services Leader
Kristy lives and works on Turrbal and Yaggera land (Brisbane).
Kristy is a highly experienced human resources and diversity and inclusion leader. Kristy has designed numerous diversity and inclusion strategies to guide clients and implement targeted action plans and measures, based on diagnostic research of organisational strengths and opportunities. Kristy regularly reviews employee policies, such as recruitment, parental leave, and flexible working, to hard-wire best practice inclusion principles.
Kristy is also an experienced facilitator, having worked with thousands of leaders to improve their awareness and understanding of inclusive leadership and purposeful actions they can take to strengthen psychological safety in their teams.
Prior to working with Diversity Partners, Kristy was Head of Diversity and Inclusion at NAB, a role she held for more than five years. She has a Bachelor of Commerce and Business Management from the University of Queensland and is an Alumni of Harvard Kennedy School.
Grazia Pecoraro (she/her)
Senior Consultant
Grazia lives and works on Garigal land (Sydney).
Grazia brings career experience in corporate communications, reputation management and employee engagement to her diversity and inclusion consulting expertise.
Grazia supports our clients with assessments to guide the development of measurable diversity and inclusion strategies and action plans. She has also led the development of Accessibility plans to support people with disability and bring a strong focus on inclusive design for both employee and customer experiences.
She has facilitated workshops for hundreds of senior leaders to build their understanding of, and commitment to, leading with an inclusive mindset. Grazia has established Respect@Work frameworks, reviewed people policies to strengthen inclusion outcomes, and helped set up and facilitate employee advocacy groups to align with organisational inclusion strategies.
After starting her career in corporate communications in South Africa and Australia, Grazia led several diversity practices for Westpac Group that have been recognised as leading practice through the Australian Human Rights Awards, Australian HR Institute Awards and Government Disability Award. Grazia holds a Communications degree with Honours from the University of Johannesburg.
Vijaya Joshi (she/her)
Senior Consultant
Vijaya lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation (Melbourne).
Dr Vijaya Joshi is a consultant, researcher and evaluator in gender equality and social inclusion, prevention of violence against women, and multicultural and diverse populations.
She regularly facilitates focus groups with leaders and employees to provide organisations with advice on ways to counter racism and support greater awareness of cultural diversity. Vijaya is our lead consultant in developing the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Framework for Speech Pathology Australia in 2023.
Vijaya has over 25 years of experience working with diverse groups domestically and internationally to implement and measure social change and impact. She has worked in Australian and American universities, health and medical research and service delivery organisations (remote and urban) and in international development (India, South Africa, Timor-Leste). She has been Senior Practice Advisor for Our Watch, the national organisation to prevent violence against women and children.
Vijaya is a Board Director of the East Timor Hearts Fund, and a member of the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency’s Research Evaluation Committee. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne and PhD in Political Science and Women’s Studies from Clark University, Massachusetts, USA.
Jill Skromanis (she/her)
Senior Consultant
Jill lives and works on the lands of the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nation (Melbourne).
Jill Skromanis is a diversity and inclusion and organisational development specialist with experience in the insurance and banking sectors in Australian, European, Asian and global contexts.
Jill designs diversity and inclusion strategies and supports the implementation of targeted action plans and measures. An experienced facilitator, Jill enjoys working with leaders and teams across all organisational levels to grow their awareness, develop inclusive leadership capability and guide commitment to purposeful action to strengthen psychological safety in their teams.
Jill has worked with National Mutual Life Association of Australia, ANZ, Zurich European General Insurances (based in London) and at IAG in various People and Culture roles. Jill became passionate about diversity and inclusion as co-chair of IAG’s Pride (LGBTIQ+) Employee Resource Group before leading the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging portfolio at IAG.
Jill was the Chief People Officer and member of the People, Remuneration and Nominations Committee on a volunteer basis with The Pinnacle Foundation from 2019 – 2022. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tasmania, a Graduate Diploma in Business from RMIT, and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from Monash University.
Vanessa Paterson (she/her)
Senior Consultant
Vanessa lives and works on the lands of the Gayamaygal people of the Era nation (Sydney)
Vanessa Paterson is one of Australia’s leading gender equality specialists, having worked for more than 20 years in executive roles with the Federal Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).
Vanessa helps our clients develop understanding of their employer pay gaps and build plans to close them. She undertakes data analysis and policy reviews and supports the team’s broader work with diversity and inclusion diagnostics and strategies.
At WGEA, Vanessa was responsible for administering and reviewing WGEA legislation, managing compliance reporting, and developing and managing leading practice programs such as the WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation (EOCGE). During her management of these programs, the number of non-compliant employers reached a record low.
Greta Johnson (she/her)
Graduate Consultant
Greta lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation (Melbourne).
Greta Johnson is a Graduate Consultant supporting our team with data analysis, research projects, and project management. She also writes content for social media and other communications.
Greta brings a deep commitment to social justice and plenty of youthful energy to the team.
Greta recently completed her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Melbourne, with a research focus on gender equality and human rights.
She also works as a senior staff member at Melbourne’s premier music venue, the Corner Hotel, where she has worked on all-accessible events that support the disability community.
Phil Biggs (he/him)
Operations Manager
Phil lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation (Melbourne).
Phil leads the Operations side of the business, including client invoicing. He has a Bachelor of Economics and Engineering from Monash University, and MBA from Melbourne Business School.
Diversity Partners also collaborates with specialist partners such as Future Women, En Masse, and 15 Times Better to deliver integrated client solutions.
We are a proud silver partner of The Pinnacle Foundation. The Pinnacle Foundation has a vision for a more diverse and inclusive society with visible LGBTIQ+ role models and provides educational scholarships, mentoring and opportunities for young LGBTIQ+ Australians to realise their potential.