"Do you want to split a bar tab?"
Would you believe that the Agile Change Leadership Institute started over the desire to share a bar tab?
In 2017, Jen and Lena discovered they were both launching their first books at the same time. While the books were very different, they had the same audience. With too much respect for each other to compete, they decided to share the book launch. The result was one of Melbourne’s biggest industry nights of celebration.
Jen and Lena then collaborated on a change leadership development program for Mercer Financial Services, before travelling to Silicon Valley to deliver an Agile Mindset Leadership Program for software giant, VMware. After receiving critical acclaim for their microlearning programs, in July 2019, the Agile Change Leadership Institute was born.
Acknowledgment of Country
The Agile Change Leadership Institute Pty Ltd acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Our Principles
- We’re always learning – we’re continuously on the lookout for new and emerging practices that add value.
- We practice what we preach – we take an approach that is the right fit for your organisation.
- We don’t believe in a fixed formula or method – we believe in principles that can be iterated.
- We meet you where you’re at – we’ll nudge your mindset to help you devise a path and approach that works in your situation to get results.
Our Mission
Simply put, we want every leader to be fit for leading people in an uncertain future, and every change manager to be job-ready for agile environments. The work we have to do is too important not to be.
Meet the team
Dr Jen Frahm
Co-founder (She/Her)
After leaving a Diploma of Teaching way back in 1988, Jen found herself back in front of the students as a University lecturer from early 2000. Having a portfolio career, Jen lectured and developed university level curriculum for eight years in the field of project management, organizational behaviour, organisational change and management (Queensland University of Technology, Monash University, University of Melbourne, and Swinbourne University).
Outside of the university sector, Jen is a tamer of ambiguity, speaker of truths and solver of problems. She is the founder of Conversations of Change, a boutique change capability consultancy, a podcaster, a blogger and a global expert on organisational change and transformation. She has delivered across multiple industries and professions, from wine sales to wedding dresses, veterinary products to energy retailers, nuns and engineers, big banks, small IT companies, publicly listed, privately owned and non-profit organizations.
A sought after speaker she is known for being at the frontier of agile change practice. Jen’s first book, Conversations of Change, A guide to implementing workplace change was released in July 2017. Her second Change. Leader – was published in 2021. Jen lives and works on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung land.
Lena Ross
Co-founder
(She/Her)
As an experienced change consultant with a reputation for valuable content creation and speaking at conferences and events, Lena has made a significant contribution to the change management profession. Since establishing her Melbourne-based consulting practice in 2016, #changehacks, Lena been invited to share her expertise as a guest blogger on thought leadership sites such as Lean Change Management and Future of Work Hub.
Lena’s work draws on the latest thinking in change management from areas such as design thinking, future of work, digital, hardwired human behaviour and agile mindset and approaches. Her experience is complemented by her Master of Business Administration (MBA) qualification, and she applies sound academic and business discipline to the development of practical and innovative solutions. Lena’s first book Hacking for Agile Change was released in July 2017, followed by Change Management The Essentials published in February 2020. Connect with Lena Ross on LinkedIn. Lena lives and works on Boon Wurrung Land.
Julieanne Dimitrios
Faculty Member
(She/Her)
Julieanne Dimitrios is a faculty member, accredited assessor and delivery partner of the Agile Change Leadership Certificate program. Julieanne was our first to graduate from the Agile Change Leadership Certificate, and since then has undergone additional work to become a valued delivery partner and assessor.
You’ll meet Julieanne if you are on one of our Change is Everybody’s Business or Leadership Disrupted programs.
Julieanne has a Bachelor of Business (QUT) and is an experienced change management consultant and facilitator (20 years plus) having started with Accenture. She has expertise in the customer experience domain which means a truly integrated approach to agile transformation. Connect with Julieanne on LinkedIn.
Melissa Dark
Faculty Member
(She/Her)
Melissa Dark is a faculty member, accredited assessor and delivery partner of the Agile Change Leadership Certificate program. Melissa completed our pilot program launched 12 months ago, and since then has undergone additional work to become our first delivery partner and assessor.
Having Melissa as a faculty member means we have increased our capacity to onboard more corporate and government cohorts and handle a greater volume of assessments.
Melissa holds a Masters of Communication, is a Certified Scrum Master and an Accredited Business Communicator with the IABC. She has worked in change initiatives for 20+ years, and is an experienced facilitator. Melissa is also the director of Common Place Communication and along with Jen, a founder of a collaboration training program, Busting SIlos. Connect with Melissa Dark on LinkedIn.
Dan Paulet
Customer Experience Consultant
(He/Him)
Dan Paulet was one of the very first graduates of the Agile Change Leadership Certificate program and now oversees the customer experience elements of our programs and engagement with alumni.
Dan got his start in agile change management working co-founder Dr Jen Frahm on a Digital Transformation Program. Along with the Agile Change Leadership Certification he has a PROSCI certification. Connect with Dan Paulet on LinkedIn.
Proudly partnering with:
An employee experience that people love
When it comes to the agile change capabilities of continuous engagement, data informed decision making and visual and transparent communication, we’re proud to partner with Culture Amp.
Who is Culture Amp?
Culture Amp is the world’s most trusted Employee Experience platform – that’s helped over 6,000 companies connect with employees in real-time to understand what matters, take action, and support their people. Our mission is to build a better world of work that positively impacts 100 million people by helping companies to put culture first.
How they help organizations
Bringing together pioneering people science and powerful technology, Culture Amp allows you to collect, decipher and connect data throughout the employee experience to truly understand your organization’s people and guide you on the best actions to drive positive behavior change and lasting impact. This allows you to preserve what’s great about your culture, strengthen what isn’t, and improve performance for sustained competitive advantage. We live in a world where the ability to understand and influence culture at scale is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ but a ‘necessary-to-survive’.
Trudi Boatwright
Trudi specialises in experiential learning, immersive experiences and play. She is an affiliate at the Institute for Experiential Learning in the US and one of the few certified Experiential Learning facilitators practicing in Australia.
From storytelling with finance teams to treasure hunts with transport workers, she works online and in person, immersing herself in hundreds of businesses to provide them with culturally aligned creative solutions through workshops, events and programs.
She is particularly passionate about teaching organisations HOW to adopt a playful mindset by combining arts, the experiential learning cycle, the science of play, and design thinking.
Combining a Masters of Design Futures (RMIT) with a rich 20 year history in the arts, she is a theatre maker, actor, producer, and director and excels in working beyond the fourth wall through role-play and immersive theatre through her theatre company TBC Theatre.
