Synergy Group's inaugural CEO Galia Cornish to step down
Leading professional services firm Synergy Group has announced that the firm’s inaugural CEO, Galia Cornish, will be stepping down at the end of the year.
Galia Cornish has been at the helm of Synergy Group for just over four years, having previously spent over two decades at another consultancy firm. Under her leadership, the Canberra-based firm booked stellar growth, expanding from 125 consultants to a team with 500+ professionals engaged in some of the most impactful initiatives in the public sector.
Synergy Group’s Chair Robert Kennedy expressed his sincere thanks to Cornish. “Galia has made an incredible contribution to Synergy over the past four years and we thank her for her truly transformative leadership. Her leadership has seen year-on-year growth of more than 30% and has created an organisation with both scale and depth.”
“I am proud of what we have achieved together at Synergy over the last four years”, said Cornish. “While this is a difficult decision it comes at the right time for both myself and the firm. We have built an innovative, people focused culture and I am immensely grateful to the people at Synergy for the opportunity to work with such a talented team. I think any CEO would love to have had this kind of success.”
Cornish will remain in consulting, moving on to start a new technology and consultancy innovation company with co-founder Megan Divett. Together they will help other companies grow capability, performance, and success through the provision of consultancy services and in future technology innovations.
Kennedy: “Galia will always be a friend to Synergy and we are excited to work with her and her new company. There are few in the market that can do what she can do and we look forward to a close working relationship into the future.”
The next boss?
Synergy Group has meanwhile kicked off a recruitment drive for its next CEO, with executive search firm Robert Half enlisted to manage what is expected to be a highly competitive process. Cornish will remain with Synergy Group until the process concludes in December 2021, and will oversee the transition to her successor.
Founded in 1999, Synergy Group is one of Australia’s leading professional services firms to the public sector. The firm provides an end-to-end offering, from strategic planning to project delivery and change management, and functional expertise spanning business functions, creative, digital, and more.
In related news, earlier this year both Deloitte (Adam Powick) and KPMG (Andrew Yates) announced new CEOs for their Australian businesses.
