NIODA Group Relations Online Working Conference

Nuala is a consultant, academic and artist, with a keen interest in the integration of art-based and systems psychodynamic approaches. She has worked in the field of leadership and management for over 15 years, supporting individuals and organisations to achieve their developmental goals. Her PhD research into the experience of a hybrid team, working at the intersection of face-to-face and online, places Nuala at the forefront of thinking about the opportunities and challenges for COVID-normal workplaces. Nuala works independently and is an Associate Faculty with NIODA. She has been on the staff of multiple group relations conferences and is a member of GRA and ISPSO.

Susan Long is a Melbourne based organisational consultant and executive coach. She has consulted to organisational change in the health and justice sectors and coached senior executives across many sectors. She also works as a supervisor and coach for organisational development professionals in Australia and Singapore. Susan has published ten books and many articles in books and scholarly journals, is the General Editor of the journal Socioanalysis and Associate Editor with Organisational and Social Dynamics. She has over 35 years of experience with Group Relations, was the inaugural President of GRA, and a past president of ISPSO.

Ellie Robinson is a Western Australian based marketing professional, with a background in service and NFP marketing. In her current role, as Marketing and Administration Coordinator at NIODA, is responsible for student communications and NIODA’s key marketing strategies. She has a special interest in building connections with unique people across the globe through travel.

Cath worked as a prison Chaplain with Women for the past four years, and has recently taken up a role with the University of Divinity coordinating and co-teaching the graduate awards in professional supervision. She did her PhD work in the area of disappointment and the lived experience of lack, and lives in Daylesford with her family and a host of other sentient beings. She loves the earth, growing food and enjoys the capacity we have to see and be seen, hear and be heard and love and be loved.

James Krantz is an organizational consultant and researcher from New York, where he is Managing Principal of Worklab, a consulting firm focusing on strategy implementation and leadership development.  His principal interests are with the impact of emerging trends on the exercise of leadership and authority; the social and technical dimensions of new forms of work organization; and the unconscious background to work and organizational life. Currently, Jim serves as Honorary Professor at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow; Chair, Editorial Committee of the Journal of Organisational and Social Dynamics; and Faculty, Dynamics of Consulting at the Wharton School.

Michael Fischer is a Professor of Organisational Culture and Leadership, an applied anthropologist, group analyst, psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and executive coach. He works extensively with senior leadership teams on relational and emotional dimensions of culture change in knowledge-intensive organisations. Michael holds a PhD in psychoanalytic anthropology from Imperial College London, and has held professorial positions at the University of Oxford, King’s College London, and the University of Melbourne. Before his business school career, he was NHS clinical director and lead consultant psychotherapist at major teaching hospitals in Manchester, Liverpool and London. He has a specialist interest in the transformational dynamics of highly effective workplace cultures.

Sunitha Lal is the CHRO at Ather Energy and has more than twenty-five years’ of experience in the space of organisational development and people practices. She actively engages with and contributes to forums and platforms that focus on building Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Mindful Leadership, and Organisational Behaviour. She has participated in GR conferences and workshops as a member and staff since 2015 and is an Associate Member of Group Relations India. She is a strong proponent of the oral tradition of storytelling and is the author of the book ‘Dotting the Blemish and Other Stories’, a collection of short stories about women’s lives embedded in patriarchy.

Over the last several years Thomas has enhanced his extensive professional experience by learning from, and working with, leaders across the executive coaching, group dynamics, and systems psychodynamics fields. A graduate of the NIODA Master of Leadership and Management – Organisation Dynamics, Thomas combines a deep understanding of working in large organisations with a passion for supporting others as they work toward achieving their goals and gaining deeper awareness of their actions and drivers. Highly skilled in creating a safe environment to support participants explore their roles, Thomas manages the balance between empathy and candour allowing participants to feel secure whilst having their assumptions challenged.