46 Essential Finance and Accounting Leaders in ANZ

Introduction

The finance and accounting profession in Australia and New Zealand represents one of the most consequential communities of practice in the region. Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand counts more than 140,000 members, and CPA Australia serves more than 172,000 members across more than 100 countries, according to both organisations’ 2025 and 2026 reporting. Together with the tens of thousands of financial advisers, personal finance communicators, accounting technology builders, academic researchers, and sustainability reporting specialists who contribute to the conversation, this is a profession in the midst of one of its most significant transformations.

Artificial intelligence is compressing tasks that once took days into seconds. The advice gap in both countries means that millions of ordinary people are making consequential financial decisions without adequate guidance, while the accounting profession simultaneously faces the most significant talent shortage it has ever encountered. The sustainability reporting revolution is demanding that accountants master a new layer of disclosure at the same time as the technology revolution is demanding that they rethink the foundations of how they work.

Against this backdrop, the voices who genuinely matter are not only the ones who hold impressive titles. They are the communicators who can make superannuation strategy comprehensible to a 25-year-old, the academics who are rewriting the standards that govern how climate risk appears in financial statements, the CFO coaches who are helping finance teams stop being number reporters and start being strategic partners, and the advocates who are measuring and publishing how far Australia and New Zealand still have to travel before women retire with the same security as men.

Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out, works with finance and accounting leadership teams on the human side of their work: how teams communicate across difference, how leaders have difficult conversations with underperforming staff, and how the dynamics of a senior finance team can either unlock or undermine the strategic contribution the finance function is capable of making. If your accounting firm, CFO team, or financial services organisation could benefit from a keynote, workshop, or executive offsite focused on these themes, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

This list brings together 46 voices from across Australia and New Zealand whose contributions to finance, accounting, financial literacy, professional standards, accounting technology, and financial education deserve wider attention. Each person was selected on three criteria: a substantial and documented contribution to their area of the profession, active engagement with the profession and the public through writing, speaking, or content creation, and a deliberate effort to include voices that may not yet have reached household name status.

Why Finance and Accounting Thought Leadership Matters

The financial literacy gap in Australia and New Zealand is real and persistent. Research from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s national financial literacy strategy consistently shows that a significant portion of the population lacks the basic financial knowledge to make informed decisions about savings, debt, and retirement. The communicators on this list who are translating complex finance concepts into plain language are doing work that carries genuine public importance, not just professional value.

The accounting profession’s talent pipeline challenge is equally pressing. Accounting education enrolments have declined in recent years across both countries while demand for qualified practitioners continues to grow, driven by increasingly complex regulatory environments, the explosion of sustainability reporting obligations, and the paradox that AI automates compliance tasks while simultaneously creating new advisory opportunities that require more sophisticated human judgment. The thought leaders who are shaping how the profession responds to these pressures are doing work that will determine the profession’s relevance for the next generation.

If your organisation needs leadership development support for a finance or accounting team, Jonno White, host of The Leadership Conversations Podcast with more than 230 episodes reaching listeners in 150 countries, delivers sessions specifically designed for high-performing professional services teams. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

How This List Was Compiled

Every person on this list was selected on three criteria. First, a documented contribution to their area of finance or accounting: a published book, a recognised credential, a body of writing, or a role that places them at the centre of how the profession thinks and moves. Second, active engagement with the profession and the public through content, speaking, or advocacy in 2025 or 2026. Third, a deliberate effort to move past the household names that appear on every list and surface voices that practitioners, students, and finance leaders may not yet have encountered. The list spans both sides of the Tasman, reflects a range of disciplines from personal finance education to accounting standards, and includes voices across a spectrum of career stages. It deliberately moved past familiar household names to surface voices the reader may not yet have come across.

Professional Body Leaders

The organisations that represent accountants and finance professionals are only as influential as the leaders who run them. These voices are shaping the standards, the education systems, and the advocacy that define the profession across Australia and New Zealand.

1. Ainslie van Onselen

The CEO of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand since May 2020, Ainslie van Onselen also serves as Chair of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, the global body representing 1.8 million members and students across more than 190 countries. The first woman and the first representative from ANZ to hold the global chair role, she was reappointed unanimously in December 2025. Her background spans more than two decades as a corporate law partner, non-executive director, and senior executive at Westpac, where she held roles including Managing Director of RAMS home loans and Group Director of Women’s Markets, Inclusion and Diversity.

At CA ANZ, van Onselen has focused the organisation’s energy on digital transformation for 140,000 members, sustainability advocacy, and reinforcing the profession’s public trust through the Going Further programme, a fourteen-point framework for enhancing accountability and ethical conduct. Her influence extends beyond ANZ: as CAW Chair she is directing the global organisation’s attention toward sustainability standards, technology adoption, and the talent pipeline challenges facing the profession. She is also a Commissioner of Legal Aid New South Wales and a non-executive director of the Global Accounting Alliance.

2. Chris Freeland

Chris Freeland joined CPA Australia as CEO in March 2024, bringing a background that includes serving as Managing Partner of Baker McKenzie Australia and Asia Pacific Managing Director, plus earlier senior roles at The Boston Consulting Group, Gilbert and Tobin, and King and Wood Mallesons. CPA Australia, with more than 172,000 members across more than 100 countries, is one of the world’s largest accounting bodies. In 2025, the organisation made more than 90 policy submissions covering taxation, superannuation, financial reporting, ESG, digital transformation, and economic policy.

Freeland has been explicit about CPA Australia’s intention to lead on responsible AI adoption within the profession. His 2025 CEO’s report articulated a vision of the profession where accountants combine financial expertise with technological fluency and lifelong learning, and where CPA Australia plays a leadership role in ensuring that AI adoption is both responsible and effective. His commentary on where AI creates strategic opportunity for accounting practitioners is among the most clearly positioned available from a senior professional body leader in the region.

3. Naomi Walsh

The 2026 President of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, Naomi Walsh FCA FAICD brings decades of senior leadership experience to one of the most influential elected positions in the accounting profession. Announced at the CA ANZ President’s Dinner in December 2025, Walsh succeeds 2025 President Grant Ellis FCA. The CA ANZ presidency involves advocacy at the highest levels of government and business across Australia and New Zealand, shaping the professional standards and public positions of an organisation representing 140,000 members.

Her presidency comes at a moment when CA ANZ is implementing its strategic direction through to 2030, a multi-year programme designed to respond to a profession being reshaped simultaneously by AI, sustainability reporting obligations, and the talent pipeline challenge. Her voice will be central to how that strategy translates into member experience and public influence across both countries.

4. Dr Keith Kendall

The Chair of the Australian Accounting Standards Board since May 2020, Dr Keith Kendall is among the most consequential figures in how Australian financial reporting standards are shaped and applied. His role also makes him a member of the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board and, since March 2025, co-Chair with the Canadian Accounting Standards Board of the International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters. Before his appointment, Kendall had been a partner at Rigby Cooke Lawyers, a serving barrister, and a senior lecturer at La Trobe University.

Under Kendall’s leadership, the AASB has been at the centre of Australia’s climate-related financial disclosure framework development, coordinating with the ISSB and Australian government bodies to map the road ahead for mandatory sustainability reporting. The January 2026 accounting standard he signed, AASB 2026-1, addressed disclosures about uncertainties in financial statements, one of the foundational transparency questions for a profession navigating material climate and geopolitical uncertainty.

5. Dr Jane Rennie

The General Manager of Media, Content and Brand at CPA Australia, Dr Jane Rennie brings substantial experience in corporate communications and policy advocacy to her role at one of the world’s largest accounting bodies. She has previously served in the organisation as General Manager of External Affairs. She holds a doctorate from Monash University and has graduate-level applied finance qualifications alongside journalism training from La Trobe University.

Rennie has contributed actively to public debate on accounting profession issues, with commentary in Smart Company and across the industry press on regulatory, economic, and professional challenges facing accounting practitioners. Her work at CPA Australia spans advocacy, member communications, and positioning the organisation within public conversations around AI in accounting, sustainability reporting, and the future of the profession.

6. Katrina Shanks

The CEO of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance since January 2024, Katrina Shanks brings a combination of legislative, financial, and professional development expertise rare at the leadership level of any professional body. A former two-term New Zealand Member of Parliament and Chartered Accountant, she oversees the region’s foremost professional development and membership body for insurance and finance professionals. Her appointment followed the expansion of ANZIIF’s educational programmes in response to government flooding inquiry recommendations.

Shanks led the 2025 ANZIIF New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards, drawing more than 450 insurance professionals and reinforcing ANZIIF’s role as the convening institution for professional standards across both countries. Her dual background in legislation and financial professional practice gives her commentary on regulatory reform and professional education a grounding that distinguishes it from more generic sector commentary.

Personal Finance Educators

The finance and accounting conversation in ANZ is not confined to professionals. The communicators who help ordinary Australians and New Zealanders understand money, build financial capability, and make better decisions are doing work that is arguably as important as anything happening in professional practice.

7. Scott Pape

The creator of the Barefoot Investor persona and the author of the best-selling Australian book in history, Scott Pape has reached a scale of financial influence that no other ANZ voice comes close to matching. The Barefoot Investor, released in 2016, has sold more than 1.6 million copies, and the family of books Pape has since created extend that reach to younger readers and the adults responsible for shaping their relationship with money. His weekly newspaper column runs in the Herald Sun, the Courier Mail, and the Daily Telegraph, among other mastheads.

Pape’s approach to personal finance is deliberately simple, built around a bucket system for savings and spending that removes the cognitive complexity that causes most people to avoid thinking about money. In 2025 he publicly opposed expanded low-deposit home loan schemes, arguing that government intervention risked inflating prices rather than addressing affordability. That willingness to hold a position counter to prevailing political currents is a distinguishing feature of his voice in the public finance conversation.

8. Victoria Devine

The co-founder of Zella Money, the host of Australia’s most popular finance podcast She’s on the Money, and a former award-winning financial adviser, Victoria Devine has built a community of more than 400,000 listeners who are, in many cases, engaging meaningfully with personal finance for the first time. Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for 2021, Devine’s approach combines a background in behavioural psychology with a talent for making money emotionally accessible. Her book She’s on the Money was awarded General Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2022 Australian Book Industry Awards.

Following the federal budget, she sat with the Prime Minister and Finance Minister to ask the questions her community most wanted answered, a moment that illustrated both the reach and the public legitimacy her platform has earned. Her financial column appears regularly in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Devine is a finance communicator and business operator rather than a practising financial adviser, having stepped back from advice to run Zella full time.

9. Lacey Filipich

The founder of Money School and the author of the internationally award-winning book Money School, Lacey Filipich has spent more than fifteen years building financial capability in adults and children through courses, keynotes, corporate workshops, and books. A valedictorian engineering graduate from the University of Queensland and a TEDx speaker whose talk on the FIRE movement and mini-retirements is approaching one million views, Filipich reached financial independence in her early 30s and has been teaching the strategies ever since. Money School is published by Penguin and covers the full arc from clearing debt to building passive income.

Through Money School’s corporate education arm, Filipich works with organisations including mining companies, law firms, government agencies, and universities to build genuine financial capability among their staff. Her Maker Kids Club initiative teaches children money skills through enterprise, addressing the financial education gap at the source. Her approach is grounded in engineering rigour: clear frameworks, actionable steps, and an honest accounting of what financial independence actually requires.

10. Effie Zahos

The Money Editor for 9News and a Director and Money Commentator for InvestSMART, Effie Zahos has spent three decades helping Australians navigate their finances through television, radio, print, and digital channels. She was part of the launch team for Money magazine in 1999 and served as its editor for twenty years. She is a board director of the Ecstra Foundation, the not-for-profit grant-making body committed to building financial capability across Australia, and holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland.

Zahos’ speciality is taking genuinely complex topics, from the mechanics of superannuation to the implications of budget measures and interest rate movements, and turning them into actionable guidance for the mainstream audience that most financial professionals never reach. She appears regularly across 9News, A Current Affair, Today, and Today Extra. She is among the most credentialled and experienced popular finance communicators in Australia.

11. Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

The CEO and founder of Financy and the creator of the Financy Women’s Index, Bianca Hartge-Hazelman has spent more than a decade building the data infrastructure that makes the case for accelerating women’s economic equality in Australia. The Financy Women’s Index, which she founded as a self-funded initiative in 2016, publishes quarterly economic reports measuring timelines to gender equality. It attracts more than one million readers each quarter, and its recommendations have prompted action from more than 3,000 subscribing businesses.

In August 2025, the Index measured a 21.5-year timeframe to close the gender pay gap in Australia, noting that the financial and insurance services sector registered what Hartge-Hazelman called a major handbrake on national progress. Her work combines original data journalism, advocacy, and a LinkedIn Top Voices in Gender designation. She describes the FWX as a movement dedicated to improving the economic wellbeing of women, positioning it as something more than a reporting exercise.

12. Paul Clitheroe

The chairman of InvestSMART, a Professor of Financial Literacy and chair at Macquarie University’s School of Business and Economics, a co-founder and editorial adviser to Money magazine, and an officer of the Order of Australia for service to the financial sector through the promotion of financial literacy, Paul Clitheroe is one of the foundational voices of personal finance education in Australia. He has been a media commentator and conference speaker for more than thirty years, hosted the Channel 9 programme Money from 1993 to 2002 with a viewing audience exceeding three million, and his personal finance books have sold more than 600,000 copies.

Clitheroe remains actively engaged in public financial commentary, writing columns across Australian newspapers and contributing to InvestSMART’s fortnightly newsletter alongside Effie Zahos. His February 2026 commentary on market themes emphasised the enduring value of diversification and competitive fee discipline. He also chairs the Ecstra Foundation, reflecting a broader commitment to community financial capability.

13. Ben Nash

The founder of Pivot Wealth, Australia’s most awarded financial advice company, and the author of three books including Virgin Millionaire published by Wiley in 2024, Ben Nash has been recognised as one of Australia’s most influential financial advisers for seven consecutive years. He hosts the Mo Money podcast and focuses Pivot Wealth specifically on professionals in their 30s and 40s who are actively building investment portfolios, a demographic often underserved by traditional advisory models.

Nash is described by Yahoo News as Australia’s most followed financial adviser on social media, a reflection of the content he produces across LinkedIn and other platforms on property, investment strategy, superannuation, and the financial habits that separate people who build wealth from those who do not. His Virgin Millionaire walks readers through the process of reaching a first million with the same directness he brings to his social media content.

14. Danielle Ecuyer

A commerce graduate from UNSW with four decades of experience in share market investing both professionally and personally, Danielle Ecuyer is the founder of Shareplicity and a host and anchor at ausbiz, Australia’s dedicated financial television channel. Her books Shareplicity: A Simple Approach to Share Investing and Shareplicity 2: A Guide to Investing in US Stock Markets have both received global awards and are credited with helping Australian retail investors understand the case for diversification beyond the ASX.

Ecuyer’s perspective is grounded in her work as an institutional equities professional in London and Sydney through the 1980s and 1990s, alongside her own portfolio management since returning to Australia in 2003. She brings that depth to ausbiz’s daily coverage and to her ongoing writing for publications including Money magazine and CEOWORLD. She has written that one of the greatest gifts anyone can offer women is financial literacy, a consistent theme in her public advocacy.

Financial Advisers and Wealth Professionals

The financial advisers, wealth managers, and investment professionals on this list are distinguished not just by their client work but by their willingness to step into the public conversation, challenge the status quo of how advice is structured, and use their platforms to build financial capability in people who may never become their clients.

15. Thabojan Rasiah

A Certified Financial Planner and Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, Thabojan Rasiah is the co-founder and CEO of Finito and the principal of Rasiah Private Wealth Management. He has been recognised as one of the Top 50 Advisers in Australia by Wealth Professional, listed in the Top 10 Financial Planners in Melbourne, and named one of the 50 Most Influential Financial Advisers in Australia by Financial Standard in both 2017 and 2018. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and a Bachelor of Science alongside his professional qualifications.

Rasiah appears regularly on 3AW and ABC talk-back radio as a finance expert and contributes columns to The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He was a finalist in multiple categories at the 2025 IFA Excellence Awards. His model at Rasiah Private Wealth Management is explicitly fee-based and commission-free, a structural position he treats as the baseline standard the profession should hold.

16. Sam Stubbs

The co-founder and Managing Director of Simplicity, New Zealand’s fastest-growing KiwiSaver provider and a not-for-profit that donates fifteen percent of all fees to charity, Sam Stubbs is arguably the most provocative voice in New Zealand finance. His background includes a decade at Goldman Sachs in London and Hong Kong, roles as Managing Director of Hanover Group and CEO of Tower Investments, and membership on the Financial Services Council Board and the Government Taskforce on Financial Services.

In November 2025, Stubbs launched InfraKiwi, a vehicle structured to direct KiwiSaver funds toward New Zealand infrastructure investment, based on the estimate that $295 billion in KiwiSaver funds will accumulate over the next 25 years. His consistent advocacy for directing New Zealand savings toward New Zealand outcomes is grounded in both financial and national interest arguments, and his willingness to challenge the financial services industry from within it gives his commentary an authority that outside critics rarely achieve.

17. Mary Holm

The New Zealand Herald’s personal finance columnist and the author of seven books including Rich Enough? A Laid-Back Guide for Every Kiwi, Mary Holm ONZM is among the most trusted personal finance communicators in New Zealand. Appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to financial literacy education, she writes a weekly Q&A personal finance column in the Weekend Herald, appears on Radio New Zealand every second Thursday, and presents seminars across the country. She is a director of Financial Services Complaints Ltd and a former director of the Financial Markets Authority.

Holm’s approach to financial literacy is laid-back in tone and rigorous in substance. Her Rich Enough? has reached multiple editions because its framework for thinking about KiwiSaver, investing, debt, and retirement is grounded in evidence rather than excitement. She is a Qantas Media Award-winning columnist who taught financial literacy at the University of Auckland for five years and whose public commentary carries no commercial alignment, a rarity in the personal finance media landscape.

18. Gemma Dale

The Director of SMSF and Investor Behaviour at nabtrade and a regular media commentator on share markets and self-managed super funds, Gemma Dale brings the analytical perspective of a professional investor to a public platform. Her role at nabtrade positions her at one of the largest retail investing platforms in Australia, giving her access to data on how Australians actually invest that most commentators cannot access. She appears regularly in financial media commentary on SMSF trends, equity market behaviour, and investor psychology.

Dale’s focus on investor behaviour, specifically the gap between what investors say they will do and what they actually do when markets move, is both practically important and underexplored in mainstream financial media. Her commentary on how retail investors use and misuse SMSF structures has contributed to the professional conversation on regulatory reform. She is one of the more technically grounded regular commentators in the Australian personal investing landscape.

19. Helen Baker

The founder of On Your Own Two Feet, a financial advice practice designed for women facing major life transitions including divorce, widowhood, and career change, Helen Baker is a licensed financial adviser whose public advocacy is centred on the financial vulnerability of women at turning points in their lives. She is the author of On Your Own Two Feet: The Essential Guide to Financial Independence for All Women and a regular media commentator across television, radio, and print on women’s personal finance.

Baker appears regularly on programs including A Current Affair, Today Extra, and Morning Show and has contributed commentary to major mastheads including the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian. Her advice practice reflects her public position: fee-based, commission-free, and structured to serve clients at the specific moments when financial decisions carry the highest stakes and the lowest level of financial confidence.

20. Shannon Smit

The founder of Navigate Super, Shannon Smit has built a distinctive practice around the intersection of SMSF strategy, estate planning, and retirement income advice. She appears regularly across financial media including Sky Business and the Australian Financial Review with commentary on superannuation changes, SMSF compliance, and retirement strategy. Her practice operates on a fee-for-service basis aligned with her public advocacy for higher professional standards in financial advice.

Smit’s contribution to public financial literacy is delivered partly through media appearances and partly through the educational content she publishes directly, including commentary on the superannuation reforms that took effect in 2026. Her willingness to translate complex SMSF rules into plain language for general media audiences reflects a practitioner who views public communication as part of professional responsibility.

21. Olivia Maragna

The founder and managing director of Aspire2 Wealth Partners and a former financial adviser of the year, Olivia Maragna is among the most recognised practitioners in Australian financial advice. She holds senior qualifications including a Master of Financial Planning and has served in governance roles with the Financial Planning Association of Australia. Her public commentary spans financial planning best practice, the cultural change required to genuinely professionalise the advice industry, and the client communication skills that distinguish good financial planners from exceptional ones.

Maragna’s advocacy for the professionalisation of financial advice has been consistent and specific, focused not just on the regulatory and credential requirements but on the practice culture changes that make a firm genuinely client-centred. She has won multiple industry awards and is a sought-after speaker at financial planning industry events. Her LinkedIn presence reflects an adviser who treats her public platform as a responsibility rather than simply a marketing channel.

Accounting Technology and Practice

The digital transformation of accounting is not a future event. It is the current reality for every firm in the region, and the voices leading the thinking on how technology changes the profession and what skills accountants need are among the most practically important contributors to the conversation.

22. Heather Smith

The winner of the 2024 Accounting Thought Leader of the Year award and the author of ten cloud accounting books including the Xero for Dummies series, Heather Smith FCCA FCA is the most widely read practitioner-communicator on accounting technology in Australia. Operating through her firm ANISE Consulting in Brisbane, she is a technology and management accountant with deep understanding of the cloud accounting ecosystem built over more than a decade. Her Cloud Stories podcast, ranked in the top ten percent globally, explores the accounting technology landscape through conversations with the founders, operators, and advisers building the tools practices use every day.

Smith writes a regular column for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand’s Acuity magazine and facilitates the online Xero Mastermind Facebook group. Xero’s former Managing Director Trent Innes has described her as among the rare voices in the space who are genuinely independent: not aligned to any particular vendor but with the technical understanding of every significant platform in the ecosystem. Her 2024 Thought Leader recognition reflects a career built on explaining rather than advocating.

23. Nick Sinclair

The founder and CEO of TOA Global, the accounting talent solutions company he built from its founding in 2013 into a business serving more than 1,100 accounting and bookkeeping firms across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, Nick Sinclair has been among the most consequential forces in reshaping how accounting firms build and manage their teams. TOA Global employs more than 4,000 accounting specialists in the Philippines. One in three of Australia’s top 25 accounting firms is a TOA Global client.

Sinclair’s contribution to the professional conversation has been to shift the outsourcing discussion in accounting from a cost argument to a talent argument. In a market where qualified accountants in Australia and New Zealand consistently fall short of demand, the ability to access global talent without sacrificing quality or client service is a competitive capability rather than a compromise. He has also founded Ab2 Institute of Accounting, HV Media, TopFirm, and HumanVerse Group, collectively advancing the capability and business acumen of accounting firm owners.

24. Andrew Jepson

The founder and CEO of theFBPteam and the author of Compliance to Commercial: The QUIET Approach to Finance Business Partnering, Andrew Jepson is a Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years of experience who has spent the last decade specialising exclusively in Finance Business Partnering development. His book is one of the few published works dedicated entirely to the challenge of moving finance professionals from technical compliance to genuine commercial influence. FP&A Trends recognises him as one of Australia’s leading presenters and authorities on finance business partnering.

Jepson’s central argument is that technical expertise alone does not determine how effective a finance professional is. The communication, influence, and commercial understanding that distinguish great finance business partners from capable technicians are learnable skills, and his FBP training programmes deliver them in real workplace situations. His LinkedIn content reaches a specifically finance-professional audience by addressing the gap between what accountants are taught and what they need to succeed in cross-functional roles.

25. Rod Drury

The co-founder of Xero, the cloud accounting software company he launched in New Zealand in 2006 and built into one of the most significant software businesses to emerge from the Southern Hemisphere, Rod Drury is the person most directly responsible for the cloud accounting revolution in New Zealand and Australia. Xero, which listed on the NZX in 2007, fundamentally changed the economics and operating model of accounting practices by enabling real-time bank feeds and making financial data accessible to business owners in a way previously available only to accountants.

The ecosystem of accounting apps and integrations that Xero’s open API platform enabled is one of the most distinctive features of the ANZ accounting landscape compared to most international markets. While Drury stepped down as CEO in 2018, his original vision of connecting accountants, business owners, and banks through a shared data layer continues to shape how the profession works, and his ongoing commentary on technology and entrepreneurship continues to be followed across the accounting and technology sectors.

26. Sukhinder Singh Cassidy

The CEO of Xero since 2023 and the author of Choose Possibility, which was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy brings more than 25 years of global technology leadership experience to leading the world’s most ANZ-embedded accounting software platform. Her career includes founding Joyus, leading Google’s Asia Pacific and Latin America business, and serving as president of StubHub, alongside board roles at Ericsson, Tripadvisor, and Urban Outfitters.

Cassidy’s perspective on how technology companies should think about risk-taking and opportunity-seizing, articulated through her book and speaking, has brought a different kind of leadership voice to the accounting software world. Her work to expand Xero from a small business accounting platform toward a broader financial services and business operating platform will shape how accounting is practised in the region for years ahead.

27. Inbal Rodnay

A New Zealand-based innovation and AI consultant and a speaker on how accounting firms can adopt AI tools effectively, Inbal Rodnay has built a reputation as one of the most practically grounded voices on technology adoption within the accounting profession. She appears as a thought leader and speaker at accounting conferences in New Zealand and Australia, and was recognised in a 2025 guide to top accounting conferences for her work in innovation and AI adoption.

Rodnay’s approach to AI adoption in accounting is deliberately demystifying: she focuses on the specific tools, processes, and capability questions that accounting firm leaders actually face when moving from awareness of AI to implementation of it. Her conference presentations have been recognised for translating abstract technology concepts into concrete next steps, making her voice distinctively useful to practitioners in the execution stage of their AI strategy.

CFOs, Finance Academics and Standards Leaders

The people who lead finance functions, teach the next generation of accountants, and set the technical standards that govern financial reporting are essential to the health of the profession.

28. Professor Sandra van der Laan

A Professor of Accounting at the University of Sydney Business School, Sandra van der Laan has been a consistent voice in the academic accounting literature on corporate social responsibility, sustainability accounting, and the role of accounting in broader questions of social and environmental governance. Her research examines how accounting practices can either enable or constrain organisations’ capacity to contribute to sustainable development. Her work has been published in top-ranking journals including Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, the Journal of Business Ethics, and Critical Perspectives on Accounting.

Van der Laan’s academic work sits at the intersection of accounting, governance, and sustainability in a way that is increasingly relevant to practitioners as sustainability reporting moves from voluntary to mandatory in Australia. Her research on how sustainability reporting is actually used by market participants, including its limitations and the conditions under which it generates genuine accountability, is among the most practically important in the field.

29. Professor Wai Fong Chua

An Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales Business School and one of the most internationally cited accounting researchers in the region, Wai Fong Chua has spent decades contributing to the critical accounting literature that asks uncomfortable questions about what accounting actually does, for whom, and at whose expense. She has delivered keynotes at major international accounting conferences including the AFAANZ Annual Conference, where her work has been recognised as foundational to the development of qualitative and interpretive research methods in accounting.

Chua’s contribution to accounting thought leadership is less visible to the general public than many others on this list but its influence on how the next generation of accounting researchers and academics thinks about the profession is deep and lasting. The critical accounting tradition she has championed at UNSW has shaped doctoral programmes, journal editors, and conference agendas across the region and internationally for decades.

30. Professor Jacqueline Birt

The President (Australia) of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand and the Head of the Department of Accounting and Finance at Charles Sturt University, Professor Jacqueline Birt FCA is among the most influential figures in accounting education in the region. Her research spans international financial reporting standards, intangibles, extractive industries, and accounting education. She was awarded Fellowship of AFAANZ in 2022, in recognition of her continuous contributions to the association.

Birt’s influence on accounting education extends through her textbooks and her role at AFAANZ. In her current role at Charles Sturt University, she leads a department that trains the accountants who will make up the next cohort of the profession, making the educational standards she champions materially consequential for everyone who interacts with Australian accounting practice in the coming decade.

31. Professor Robyn Moroney

A Professor of Accounting at Monash University and an AFAANZ Fellow awarded at the 2022 conference, Robyn Moroney is among the leading audit researchers in Australia. Her research examines auditor behaviour, audit quality, and the organisational and institutional forces that shape what auditors do in practice. Monash University’s accounting faculty consistently ranks among the strongest in Australia.

Moroney’s contribution to the audit research literature has practical implications for the regulatory and standard-setting community: understanding why auditors exercise the judgment they do, and what conditions produce higher-quality audit outcomes, is directly relevant to the work of the Financial Reporting Council, the AASB, and the profession’s own self-regulatory mechanisms.

32. Caralee McLiesh

The Auditor-General for Australia since November 2024, having previously served as Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury from 2019 to 2024, Caralee McLiesh PSM FCPA is one of the most senior finance and accountability officials in the region. Before her time at the New Zealand Treasury, she held senior roles at the World Bank and has a background in applied economic research at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne. Her appointment as the 16th Auditor-General was announced in August 2024.

McLiesh’s transition from the New Zealand Treasury to the Auditor-General role in Australia represents one of the most significant cross-Tasman moves in public sector finance leadership. The Auditor-General role involves independent oversight of the performance and financial reporting of Commonwealth entities, making it one of the most structurally important positions for the public accountability of government finance in Australia.

33. Karen Loon

A former PwC partner and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion executive who transferred between Australia and Singapore during her career, Karen Loon is a consistent and substantive voice on diversity in accounting and finance. She publishes content on LinkedIn at the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and career progression in the Big Four accounting and financial services environment. Her commentary spans the PwC Global FinTech Report, the challenge of winning the fight for female talent in Asia, and the value of international experience for young accounting professionals.

Loon’s willingness to engage directly with the uncomfortable data on representation in the profession, combined with a career that gave her direct experience of both the progress and the persistent obstacles, makes her voice more grounded than most DEI commentary in the accounting space. She is a speaker and panel participant at industry events and her LinkedIn presence reflects someone committed to the work of diversity advocacy.

34. Matthew McLaughlin

A finance transformation leader with experience delivering large-scale finance function transformations across the Asia-Pacific region, Matthew McLaughlin has built a LinkedIn following based on content that speaks directly to CFOs and finance directors navigating the transition from traditional reporting to genuinely strategic finance functions. His background includes building Deloitte’s Workday Financials and Planning practice in Australia from the ground up, delivering some of the first and most complex finance transformations across APAC, and leading Accenture’s Microsoft Business Group across Australia and New Zealand.

McLaughlin’s commentary addresses the specific practical questions that finance transformation involves: how to select technology platforms, how to build the business case for investment in finance capability, and how to measure whether a transformation is actually producing strategic value. His voice fills a gap between the abstract thought leadership on finance transformation that consulting firms publish and the practitioner experience that CFOs need to make decisions.

35. Professor Deryl Northcott

An AFAANZ Fellow awarded in 2022 and a Professor of Management Accounting at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, Deryl Northcott is one of the most recognised voices in management accounting research in the region. Her research examines how management accounting tools and techniques are used in practice across public sector, health, and not-for-profit contexts, with a particular focus on performance measurement and the social consequences of accounting systems.

Northcott’s academic profile reflects the breadth of the management accounting field and its relevance far beyond the commercial sector. Her work on accounting in public hospitals and public sector organisations connects the discipline to questions of resource allocation, accountability, and community impact that extend well beyond the balance sheet. Her recognition at the 2022 AFAANZ conference reflects both the quality of her research and her sustained contribution to the organisation.

New Zealand Finance and Accounting Voices

The finance and accounting conversation in New Zealand is distinctive and deserves dedicated attention. These voices are shaping the profession from Wellington, Auckland, and across the country, engaging with regulatory, educational, and practice questions specific to the New Zealand context.

36. Jonathan Maharaj

A certified professional accountant, international speaker, and founder and CEO of an accounting firm, Jonathan Maharaj has been described as a seasoned financial thought leader with over 20 years of experience in financial management and business strategy. His work empowers clients globally with a focus on strategic financial solutions, and his expertise spans auditing, management consulting, and CFO services. He is an advocate for financial literacy and innovation and shares insights on LinkedIn emphasising the importance of understanding the human element behind financial data.

Maharaj represents one of New Zealand’s more distinctive finance voices by consistently connecting the technical dimensions of accounting to the strategic and human dimensions of business. His speaking engagements span international audiences and his content on LinkedIn positions him as a voice who bridges the gap between the financial profession and the business leaders who depend on it.

37. Craig Hudson

The Managing Director of Xero New Zealand, Craig Hudson has been a consistent voice on small business health, accounting technology, and the future of the finance and accounting profession in New Zealand. His commentary ranges across small business sentiment, cloud accounting adoption, and the policy environment for small businesses in New Zealand. His position at the interface between Xero’s technology and the accounting firms and small businesses that use it gives him a data-informed perspective on the practice of accounting that most individual practitioners cannot access.

Hudson’s public commentary treats the data advantage of running New Zealand’s dominant accounting software platform as an opportunity to contribute to broader conversations rather than simply to market a product. His LinkedIn and media presence reflects a practitioner who understands the responsibility that comes with operating at the intersection of technology and the accounting profession.

38. Tom Hartmann

The personal finance lead at Sorted, New Zealand’s government-backed financial literacy platform run by the Commission for Financial Capability, Tom Hartmann is among the most trusted independent voices on personal finance in New Zealand. Sorted is the non-commercial platform through which the New Zealand government delivers financial education to the public, and Hartmann’s role involves both creating the educational content and appearing in media to translate financial concepts for a general audience.

Hartmann’s approach to financial literacy is grounded in behavioural economics as much as technical finance: his public commentary consistently acknowledges that knowing what to do with money and actually doing it are separated by a gap that is psychological as much as informational. His work at Sorted connects him to the government’s financial capability agenda, giving his public communications both independent credibility and institutional backing.

39. Laine Moger

The founder of Dollar Kiwi, Laine Moger has built one of the most followed personal finance platforms in New Zealand, with a focus on making money management accessible to young New Zealanders. Her content spans KiwiSaver basics, investment fundamentals, budgeting strategies, and the specific financial challenges that younger people face in a housing market that has closed off traditional pathways to wealth. She writes, podcasts, and posts on social media with a directness and accessibility that has made her a trusted voice for an audience often underserved by formal financial communications.

Moger’s contribution to the New Zealand financial literacy landscape is in making the conversation about money genuinely accessible to the generation that most needs it. Her independence from financial services firms gives her commentary a credibility that sponsored content cannot replicate, and her willingness to engage with the emotional dimensions of money alongside the practical ones reflects an understanding of her audience that is genuinely sophisticated.

40. Nick Astwick

The CEO of NZ Super, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Nick Astwick oversees one of the most significant institutional investment operations in the Southern Hemisphere. NZ Super manages New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund and Astwick’s commentary on long-term investment strategy, responsible investment, and how sovereign wealth funds should think about climate risk is among the most substantive available from a practitioner in the region. He joined NZ Super from the ASX-listed investment company Pinnacle Investment Management Group and has previously held roles at Macquarie Asset Management.

Astwick’s public profile reflects a CEO who treats transparency about investment strategy as a governance responsibility rather than a communications exercise. His commentary on how NZ Super integrates climate considerations into its investment framework, and his willingness to engage with the complexity of doing responsible investment at scale, contributes meaningfully to the professional dialogue on institutional investment practice in ANZ.

41. Peter Neilson

The CEO of the Financial Services Council New Zealand, Peter Neilson is a former Labour Cabinet minister turned financial services advocate whose career trajectory gives him a genuinely rare combination of policy knowledge and industry experience. He served as a Cabinet minister in the fourth Labour government and has spent the subsequent decades working at the intersection of public policy and the financial services industry.

Neilson’s position as CEO of the FSC NZ puts him at the centre of the relationship between the New Zealand financial services sector and its regulators. His contributions to the policy debate on KiwiSaver design, default fund rules, and the regulatory framework for financial advice represent some of the most institutionally grounded commentary available on the structure of New Zealand’s retirement savings system.

42. Gill South

A Wellington-based freelance business journalist with decades of experience covering personal finance, small business, workplace trends, and management, Gill South has written for major New Zealand publications including Stuff, the New Zealand Herald, the New Zealand Listener, and BusinessDesk. She is the author of a book on personal finance and is best known to a broad public audience as Stuff's personal finance columnist, where she writes the Retirement Questions Answered series, translating complex topics including KiwiSaver, superannuation, and retirement income planning into accessible, evidence-grounded guidance for everyday New Zealanders.

South's contribution to New Zealand's financial literacy landscape is in the quality and consistency of her journalism rather than in advocacy or product promotion. Her willingness to pursue the human and structural stories behind financial regulation and industry practice, and her long track record of asking difficult questions of both industry and government, make her one of the most reliable independent voices covering personal finance in New Zealand.

Sustainability, ESG and Future Finance

The accounting profession is at the centre of the global sustainability reporting revolution, and the voices working at the intersection of finance, accounting, and environmental and social impact are increasingly important to the direction of the entire discipline.

43. Scott Henderson

The CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia, Scott Henderson is among the most institutionally significant voices on responsible and ethical investment in the ANZ region. RIAA certifies responsible investment products, conducts annual benchmarking research on the state of responsible investment in Australia and New Zealand, and advocates for the policy environment that enables sustainable finance to flow to sustainable outcomes. Under his leadership, RIAA has grown its certification programme and research output at a moment when responsible investment is moving from a niche preference to a mainstream expectation.

Henderson’s commentary on greenwashing, on the difference between genuine ESG integration and marketing claims, and on the policy architecture needed to make the responsible investment market function effectively is among the most credible available from someone working directly in the field. His public voice connects the technical dimensions of sustainable finance to the governance and accountability questions that investors, regulators, and the public are increasingly asking.

44. Professor Charl de Villiers

A Professor of Accounting at the University of Auckland and an AFAANZ Fellow awarded in 2022, Charl de Villiers is one of the most internationally cited researchers on integrated reporting, sustainability reporting, and accounting for the natural environment. His research spans the measurement and disclosure of environmental and social impacts, the governance structures that enable effective sustainability reporting, and the role of accounting in the transition to a lower-carbon economy.

De Villiers’ presence at the University of Auckland places his influence directly within the New Zealand context, and his international publication record means that the frameworks he develops reach both the academic community and the standard-setting community that draws on academic work to design reporting frameworks. He is a regular participant in AFAANZ and international accounting research conferences.

45. Simone Constant

The ASIC Commissioner responsible for markets and superannuation, Simone Constant was appointed as a full-time member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in November 2023 for a five-year term. Before joining ASIC, she was Chief Risk Officer for Institutional Bank and Markets at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and she has also served as a former Deputy Secretary of NSW Treasury and led the NSW Department of Education’s COVID Taskforce. She has extensive experience in financial services, risk management, equity and debt investment and advisory services, legal, and financial markets.

Constant delivered the joint keynote at the Conexus Financial Super Chair Forum in January 2025, signalling ASIC’s intention to drive a step-change in how superannuation trustees manage their obligations to members. Her focus area at ASIC on markets and superannuation makes her commentary directly relevant to the investment and retirement savings dimensions of the finance and accounting conversation, and she represents a new generation of regulatory leadership bringing both financial services depth and public sector experience to the regulator.

Emerging Voices

The future of finance and accounting in ANZ will be shaped by voices that are still building their platforms. This practitioner is among those worth watching.

46. Nicole Gardner

The founder and principal of Fierra Wealth and a finalist in multiple categories at the 2025 IFA Excellence Awards, Nicole Gardner is among the next generation of Australian financial advisers who combine professional rigour with a willingness to build a public profile through content and media engagement. Her practice focuses on building long-term wealth strategies for professionals, and her public commentary covers investment strategy, financial planning, and the practical dimensions of building financial security for clients in the early stages of their wealth accumulation journey.

Gardner represents the emerging generation of financial advisers who entered the profession in the post-Hayne era and who are building their practices on fee-based, client-centred foundations. Her willingness to engage publicly with the financial literacy agenda rather than simply operating a closed advice practice reflects a generation of advisers who see their public presence as part of their professional responsibility.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

Building a list of 46 voices in finance and accounting in Australia and New Zealand means making choices about boundaries that are necessarily imperfect. Several voices were seriously considered but did not make the final list, either because their primary focus has expanded beyond the ANZ region or because they appeared on the editorial exclusion list maintained by this framework. Brené Brown, Adam Grant, and Simon Sinek have all been cited extensively in discussions about the human side of financial services leadership, and their work has shaped how many practitioners in the region think about courage, trust, and organisational change. The editorial choice here was to deliberately move past these household names to surface voices the reader may not yet have encountered.

Several Australian economists including Chris Richardson, Saul Eslake, and Nicki Hutley were also considered, given the depth of their contribution to the financial literacy of the public through their media commentary on budget policy, interest rates, and economic conditions. The editorial choice to focus on accounting and personal finance practitioners rather than macroeconomic commentators was difficult, and any future companion list on economic thought leadership would find much to work with in this space.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Following Finance and Accounting Thought Leaders

The abundance of finance and accounting content available through social media and digital publishing creates its own hazards. The most common mistake is treating engagement metrics as a proxy for credibility: the voices with the highest follower counts are not always the ones with the most rigorous thinking, and the practitioner with eight thousand LinkedIn followers who posts evidence-based content on superannuation strategy may serve your development far better than a popular personal finance creator optimising for entertainment rather than accuracy.

The second mistake is following voices who are commercially aligned without understanding what that alignment means for their advice. Mortgage brokers who write content about the property market, fund managers who comment on investment strategy, and software companies whose thought leaders discuss accounting technology are all producing content that may be genuinely useful but that originates in a commercial context. That does not make it wrong, but it means the reader carries the responsibility of discerning where genuine insight ends and marketing begins.

The third mistake is confusing confidence of delivery with correctness of content. The personal finance media space rewards communicators who speak with certainty, and there is no shortage of voices willing to make confident predictions about property prices, share markets, and interest rates. The most reliable finance communicators are typically the ones who acknowledge uncertainty, qualify their statements, and direct readers to advice relevant to their specific circumstances.

A fourth mistake, less often discussed, is following only the voices who confirm existing beliefs about money. Effective financial thinking requires exposure to perspectives that challenge your assumptions about risk, return, diversification, and the role of professional advice. The list above includes voices whose views on these questions differ substantially, and that diversity is intentional.

Implementation Guide: Building Your Finance and Accounting Following List

The most practical way to use this list is to identify one to three categories most relevant to your current role or development goals and start following those voices specifically, rather than trying to absorb all 46 simultaneously. If you are in public practice, the accounting technology and practice category is likely to generate the most immediately applicable insights. If you are building your personal financial position, the personal finance educators section contains the most accessible entry points. If you are in a CFO or finance function leadership role, the finance function leaders and sustainability categories deserve the most attention.

Start by following each selected person on LinkedIn and observing the rhythm and content of their posting before engaging. Most of the voices on this list are genuine practitioners who share their actual thinking rather than performing thought leadership for its own sake, and the best way to assess whether their perspective is useful to you is to read their content over four to six weeks before deciding to invest more time.

Beyond following, consider which of these voices are producing longer-form content you can engage with in depth. Mary Holm’s weekend column, Paul Clitheroe’s newsletters, Victoria Devine’s podcast episodes, Bianca Hartge-Hazelman’s Financy Women’s Index reports, and Andrew Jepson’s training materials all offer ways to engage with these voices at greater depth than social media allows.

If your team or organisation needs support with the leadership and communication dimensions of finance function performance, Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out with over 10,000 copies sold globally, facilitates workshops and offsites for finance and accounting leadership teams. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to discuss.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the most influential finance and accounting thought leaders in Australia and New Zealand?

The most influential depends significantly on which dimension of finance and accounting you are interested in. For personal finance education reaching the broadest public audience, Scott Pape, Victoria Devine, and Mary Holm are in a category of their own by reach and public trust. For professional body leadership, Ainslie van Onselen and Chris Freeland are the most senior voices shaping how the accounting profession organises itself. For accounting technology, Heather Smith and Nick Sinclair are among the most practically grounded voices. The 46 people on this list represent a considered attempt to capture the breadth of the category.

How was this list compiled?

Every person on this list was selected on the basis of three criteria: a documented contribution to their area of finance or accounting, active public engagement with the profession and the broader public in 2025 or 2026, and a deliberate effort to move past the household names and surface voices that practitioners and students may not yet have encountered. The list reflects geographic diversity across Australia and New Zealand, disciplinary diversity across the full range of what finance and accounting means in practice, and career stage diversity from established veterans to emerging practitioners.

Are there New Zealand-specific voices on this list?

Yes. Mary Holm, Sam Stubbs, Laine Moger, Tom Hartmann, Craig Hudson, Nick Astwick, Peter Neilson, Gill South, Jonathan Maharaj, Inbal Rodnay, Rod Drury, Deryl Northcott, and Charl de Villiers are voices whose work is primarily or substantially New Zealand-focused.

What is the best way to start engaging with finance and accounting thought leaders?

The most effective starting point is LinkedIn, where the majority of the people on this list are active. Beyond LinkedIn, podcasts including She’s on the Money, the Cloud Stories podcast with Heather Smith, and the Mo Money podcast with Ben Nash offer audio access to many of these voices weekly. Books by Scott Pape, Victoria Devine, Mary Holm, Andrew Jepson, Danielle Ecuyer, and Lacey Filipich are among the most accessible long-form entry points.

Can I hire someone to facilitate leadership development workshops for my finance or accounting team?

Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and host of The Leadership Conversations Podcast with 230 episodes reaching listeners in 150 countries, works specifically with finance and accounting leadership teams on the communication, culture, and team dynamics challenges that technical training cannot address. His workshops draw on Working Genius and DISC to help finance teams understand each other’s strengths and working styles, have the conversations that high performance requires, and build the psychological safety that enables genuine strategic contribution. International travel is often far more affordable than organisations expect. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

What topics do finance and accounting thought leaders in ANZ focus on most in 2026?

The dominant themes in the ANZ finance and accounting thought leadership conversation in 2026 include artificial intelligence adoption, sustainability and ESG reporting, the ongoing professionalisation of financial advice following the Hayne Royal Commission reforms, the talent pipeline challenge facing accounting firms, the gender gap in financial outcomes particularly in superannuation, KiwiSaver and retirement security in New Zealand, and the evolution of the CFO and finance business partner roles in organisations undergoing digital transformation.

What are the signs of genuine thought leadership versus performative content in finance?

Genuine thought leadership in finance and accounting is characterised by a willingness to acknowledge uncertainty, a habit of citing evidence, a practice of updating views when new information arrives, and a clear separation between commercial interests and independent analysis. Performative thought leadership tends to project confidence without qualification, avoid the hard questions, and optimise for engagement metrics rather than accuracy. The most reliable test is to notice what happens when data contradicts a voice’s previous position: genuine thought leaders update, performative ones either ignore the contradiction or double down.

Final Thoughts

The 46 voices on this list represent the breadth and depth of finance and accounting thought leadership in Australia and New Zealand at a genuinely consequential moment for the profession. Artificial intelligence is not coming for accountants in the simplistic sense that tabloid headlines suggest. It is coming for the parts of accounting that have always been about processing rather than judgment, about recording rather than advising, about compliance rather than strategy. The humans who remain essential are the ones who can do the things machines cannot: sit with a client who is frightened about their retirement, ask the question a spreadsheet would not think to ask, hold a leadership team to account for a decision they would prefer to avoid, and communicate clearly across the irreducible gap between financial expertise and human experience.

The thought leaders on this list are, in their various ways, working on that irreducible gap. They are the ones worth following, worth engaging with, and worth supporting as they build the conversations that shape this profession.

Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator, bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000 copies sold globally), and host of The Leadership Conversations Podcast (230 episodes, 150 countries), works with finance and accounting leadership teams on the human side of high performance. Whether virtual or face to face, international travel is often far more affordable than organisations expect. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to discuss your next keynote, workshop, or executive offsite.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, bestselling author, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 230 episodes reaching listeners in 150 countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000 participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jonno works globally and regularly travels for speaking and facilitation engagements. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected.

To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Next Read

For more on the thought leaders shaping the ANZ financial services landscape, check out my blog post ‘35 Best Thought Leaders in Banking in Australia and New Zealand (2026)’ at https://www.consultclarity.org/post/thought-leaders-banking-australia-nz.