about donna
The backstory
Donna Worthington grew up in rural Australia, where hardship was normalised and demonstrating resilience was necessary for survival. She learned early to read a room, to sense what was unsaid and to find comfort in the discomfort.
Those instincts have never left her. They are now backed up with over two decades working at the intersection of risk, governance, transformation and strategy at CBA, MinterEllison, PwC and Zurich. Most recently, Donna founded Elevare Advisory, a boutique risk and transformation practice.
Prior to that, Donna was a Partner at MinterEllison, establishing the first Risk Advisory practice within a law firm in Australia. She has designed culture transformation strategies for banks under regulatory scrutiny, built enterprise risk frameworks for organisations navigating significant growth and change, facilitated workshops that have reset programs in crisis, and coached executives through difficult career transitions.
Donna understands that the most important work happens when people feel genuinely safe and that creating that safety at the most senior level is her strength.
Donna brings to every engagement:
A track record leading complex, high-stakes programs across risk, governance, culture, strategy and reputation
Deep experience working alongside and reporting to boards across a range of industries, business size and maturity
A facilitation practice grounded in complexity, regenerative leadership and living systems thinking
Coaching qualifications and a genuine commitment to the development of the people she works with
Board experience as Chair and member across education and the arts sector
Donna is based in Brisbane and works nationally and internationally.
Facilitation skills
What makes Donna's facilitation distinctive is not a methodology, it is a quality of the presence she holds.
The approach draws on:
The ability to hold a room through discomfort without rushing to push through it
A deep literacy in complexity and the metacrisis
Decades of experience working with senior leaders and diverse teams in challenging contexts
A genuine commitment to support leaders and organisations through complex change and transition
A strong value set of integrity, authenticity, curiosity, excellence, equity and inclusion
The ability to create psychological safety at the most senior levels