Susan Forrester – Curriculum Vitae

Professional qualifications

  • Fellow Australian Institute of Company Directors, 2010
  • Graduate Company Director Course, AICD, 2009 (Order of Merit)
  • Executive Masters of Administration (EMBA), Melbourne Business School, 2005
  • Admitted, Solicitor Supreme Court of Queensland, 1992
  • Bachelor of Laws (Hons II) (University of Queensland), 1989
  • Bachelor of Arts (Japanese, Politics) (University of Queensland), 1987

Specialist areas

Susan brings expertise to her consulting role in areas of:

  • strategy development
  • corporate governance
  • enterprise wide risk management and
  • strategic HR and communications.

Principal experience

Originally trained as a banking and finance lawyer, Susan’s career spans 20 years across a diverse range of roles and industries.
She has recently stepped down from the role of Chief Executive of The CEO Institute in Queensland, which she held for 3 years.

She possesses a powerful blend of legal, commercial and financial management experience across public, private and charitable organisations. This experience has been gained whilst holding senior executive roles with a commercial architectural practice, a national law firm, organisational psychologists and within treasury operations.

Susan is able to move seamlessly across industries and sectors and can adeptly synthesise issues, and contribute to high level problem solving due to a broad range of strategic and management experience.


Approach to strategy

Sue is passionate about dynamic strategy – that is a living breathing plan – not a door stop or something filed in the bottom drawer and forgotten. A business strategy should be a map that  guides you to your desired destination. If it doesn’t, it is not a business strategy.

Knowing where you want to go is essential before you can develop the strategies that will get you there. Sue facilitates a disciplined, step by step process which allows critical analysis of destination and direction; that is – where you want to end up and what tactics will propel you towards that ultimate goal.

Strategic planning should also be an engaging and collaborative process – with participation and buy in from all team members. This encourages team members to align their individual objectives with those of the organisation, whereby they will accountable for and committed to the top strategic goals.

It is difficult to be objective about your own ideas. Accordingly, Sue is an experienced facilitator who maps ideas into a synthesised format which permits the interplay of creative freedom and business analysis.

 
Career history

  • Professional Company Director, 2007 – present
  • CEO, The CEO Institute, 2007 - 2010
  • Executive Director, Arkhefield, 2005 - 2007
  • Director, Queensland Treasury Corporation, 2000 – 2005
  • HR Director, Allen Arthur Robinson, 1998 – 2000
  • Consultant, Chandler & McLeod 1996 - 1998
  • Corporate Counsel, Australian Financial Institutions Commission, 1994 – 1996
  • Lawyer, Allen Arthur Robinson (Feez Ruthning), 1989 – 1994.

Present positions

  • Consultant to Board Matters Pty Ltd, a governance advisory consultancy, since October 2010
  • Non-Executive Director appointed to the following Boards:
    • Ergon Energy Corporation Limited (2008)
    • Shine Lawyers Ltd (2009)
    • Gold Coast Parklands (Trustee) (2009) and
    • Brisbane Festival Pty Ltd (2009).

Past Board roles

  • Queensland Professional Credit Union Limited (2009)
  • Director Queensland Deaf Services Queensland (2004 to 2007)
  • Member – Advisory Board to Director General, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (2006 - 2008)
  • Queensland Director, National Foundation for Australian Women (2007-2010)