The SustainableWA Directors

Michelle Black

Michelle is a consultant with the ARID Group, and has over five years consulting experience, with a particular focus on sustainability and stakeholder engagement.   Michelle’s work has typically involved working across traditional organisational boundaries and sectors, helping people to see how sustainability imperatives affect their lives and their organisations.  Her recent work has particularly been within property development, education and local government sectors, and she has also worked in the not-for-profit sector.

Michelle enjoys diversity in her work and life; in addition to consulting, Michelle also works in prisons delivering conflict resolution workshops with the Alternatives to Violence Project, and has been a tutor in sustainable development at Murdoch University.

Michelle has a degree in Sustainable Development with Honours, and a Certificate in Public Participation with the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2).   Michelle was also a founding member and Secretary of the Sustainability Practitioners Association (SPA).

Why Michelle is a Director of SustainableWA:  ‘I believe passionately in the power of the collective, and am inspired by the shifts that are made possible when people work together.  There are many dedicated individuals and organisations who are actively working to making WA a sustainable place.  SustainableWA offers the means and support for connection, cooperation and creativity among those with the shared intention to create the positive social change required to help us live within the ecological means of the earth’

Rod Griffiths

Rod cut his teeth as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in London in the 1970’s.  Subsequently he became Managing Director of a University owned systems consultancy at Lancaster Management School in the UK.   Client assignments brought him to Western Australia in the 1980’s, where he has worked extensively in the resource industries and public sector.

In his work with teams, groups and individuals, he draws on his cumulative career experience of strategy formulation, systems thinking, organisational performance and design, personal performance and mastery.

Originally an engineering and science graduate, he has postgraduate qualifications from Manchester Business School and Lancaster Management School, and more recently a Master’s in Complexity, Chaos and Creativity as part of a Social Ecology degree from the University of Western Sydney. 

His background in working with systems and complexity naturally leads to a passion for sustainability and Corporate Ecology.   His local work was acknowledged by the City of Nedlands when in 2006 he became Citizen of the Year.   He continues to serve as a member of the Sustainable Nedlands Committee.

Why Rod is a Director of SustainableWA  ‘I believe WA as a community is uniquely positioned to play a leading role for the planet.   Our isolation has led to a ‘can do’ culture and a willingness to experiment that have the potential to be infectious.  Furthermore we have the resources to be outrageously bold.

By not shying away from grappling with the complexity of the world we live in (and have created), as a community we can collectively shape our future and bring about a healthy and productive balance to the way we live.   There are already good signs that this is happening in WA.   SustainableWA will help accelerate it.’

Kim Lisson

Kim Lisson is a Director of consulting firm, The Winding Staircase, and as a leadership coach and management consultant, he brings a unique background and perspective to the field of sustainability — a focus on enabling the personal leadership and creating the organisational cultures we need for sustainability behaviours, policies and technologies to be embraced and adopted. His credentials include:

·         Over 20 years experience in the fields of personal, professional and organisational development (ten years in federal government and dozen as an entrepreneurial small business owner.)

·         The first WA coach to be credentialed as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF).

·         Master of Arts (Ecologically Sustainable Development) (Murdoch University)

·         2008 Acting President of the Sustainability Practitioners Association (SPA) and, as part of its management committee, initiating the vision for what has become Sustainable WA.

Why Kim is a Director of SustainableWA:  ‘I believe there are many, many Western Australians who are personally concerned that our economy and lifestyle are not sustainable.  Many of us can grow disheartened by an apparent lack of progress by political and organisational leaders in giving this a priority.

And yet, there is a growing number people who are not waiting for others to lead, but who are contributing their own leadership within their own families, neighbourhoods, networks and organisations to assuring a bright future for our society and for our planet.  Their work needs to be made more visible, linked, supported and celebrated if we are to create an effective social movement and genuine change.’

Bryce Martin

Maarten Van Der Wall

Maarten has had wide-ranging experience as a facilitator, trainer, manager, coach and organization consultant since the mid 1980s.  He has led and supported many critically important action learning and cultural change project teams and developed and implemented agency-wide development programs, while working as a National Learning and Development Team Leader in the Australian Public Sector.  Since becoming an Associate of The Winding Staircase in 2008, he has provided coaching and career support for clients in the Local Government and community sectors and is a member of a small team providing Leadership for Sustainability training programs for the wider community.

Maarten is a researching the emerging links between individual, group and community sustainability, and strongly believes that a sustainable life is built on reflective practice, passionate conversation, and a personal search for meaning.

Maarten’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Social Science, majoring in Sociology and Anthropology (Curtin University) and a Graduate Diploma In Ontological Coaching from the Newfield Institute, Victoria.  He has also done extensive training in Gestalt Psychology, Group and Role Training, Professional Supervision and Facilitation.

Why Maarten is a Director of Sustainable WA: ‘I am fortunate to be surrounded by people who have a passion for building and caring for sustainable communities, and I believe that my role is to help create the linkages that support them in their essential work, thus nourishing our image of a better and more sustainable WA.

I think SustainableWA has the opportunity to be the “keeper of the dream” for others.  We have the chance to seek out and tell the stories that will make a difference and, thus, be our “best hope” for learning the lessons of resilience and appreciation that flourish all around us.’

Robyn Williams