Bendelta adds US-based leadership development platform Kahilla
Australian management consultancy Bendelta has added US-based leadership development platform Kahilla to its mix, along with Catherine Kwan and co-founder Noa Ries.
Ries established Kahilla in Idaho in 2018 after successfully launching and selling a fitness apparel brand in Sydney, with the platform having since been used by Fortune 500 companies and other large organisations to help develop high-potential leaders.
For Bendelta, which was co-founded by Natalie Micarone and Anthony Mitchell in 2003, the addition of Kahilla continues a notable recent acceleration in the business following the acquisitions of Workplace Research and Boldly over the past twelve months.
“I’m delighted to welcome the Kahilla team, and all of Kahilla’s US-based clients,” Mitchell said in a post to LinkedIn. “I trust that all their people, leaders and participants will continue to enjoy all the passion and impact that they already experience, while now gaining the benefits of Bendelta’s integrated expertise and raison d’etre of multiplying human potential.”
Mitchell also remarked on a busy past year for the firm. Along with welcoming organisational design consultancy Workplace Research and its team in Canberra, and the global executive coaching network Boldly, Bendelta also last year launched the AI decision-support app momentLeader – all while taking over the ‘AFR Boss Best Paces to Work’ evaluation duties.
The firm described the trio of bolt-ons as highly complementary and part of its strategy to build one of the world’s most complete leadership ecosystems as a one-stop shop for transformation across the human capital progression life-cycle, with Kahilla providing a critical piece of that vision in delivering “a digitally-enabled, community-powered leadership development platform at scale.”
Backed by data analytics, Kahilla’s programs target mostly mid-career professionals looking to improve their leadership skill-set in order to advance, as well as organisations struggling with the retention of their next generation of senior leaders. In addition to coaching, the platform also provides access to support materials, mentorship, networking, and executive insights.
“Kahilla has been built on the belief that growth happens through meaningful relationships, learning and community,” Ries said. “What drew me to Bendelta was discovering a team that shares that same belief, and the opportunity to continue partnering with organisations to unlock human potential, build thriving cultures, and help people become more of who they’re capable of being.”
Ries has now returned to Australia and taken up a principal consultant position at Bendelta out of Sydney, while Catherine Kwan (who is currently based in Honolulu according to her LinkedIn profile and previously worked with Ries as a senior designer at her former clothing venture, Vie Active) joins the consultancy in a continuing role as head of learning & engagement.
