HKA leader Alistair Mein joins Champions of Change Coalition
The Champions of Change Coalition has grown its roster of leaders from across Australia’s business landscape with Alistair Mein, Head of Oceania at HKA.
Alistair Mein has been with HKA since 2015, and has been leading the Australia, New Zealand and wider Oceania practice since 2018.
On top his leadership role within the global consultancy, Mein will now also commit some of his time to championing gender equality in the traditionally male-dominated profession services industry, as well as broader society.
Launched in 2010 when a group of senior men met with then Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick to explore the idea of a coalition focused on increasing women’s representation in leadership, today the Champions of Change Coalition is Australia’s largest network of senior leaders committed to advancing equality.
Over 270 leaders from across the public and private sector are a member of the coalition, committing to supporting some of the network’s key ambitions such as closing the gender pay gap, dismantling ‘glass ceiling’ barriers for senior women, addressing sexual harassment in the workplace, and removing bias from the performance and recruitment cycle.
“The lack of gender diversity in our industry, particularly in leadership roles, is stark, so at HKA we want to change this course. We can’t keep using the excuse that ‘oh, that’s just the industry we are in,” said Mein.
Working together with fellow leaders of professional services industry peers such as Angus Dawson (Managing Partner at McKinsey & Company), Anthony Roediger (Managing Partner at Boston Consulting Group), Tom Seymour (CEO at PwC), Adam Powick (CEO at Deloitte), David Larocca (CEO at EY), William Cox (CEO at Aurecon), Richard Barrett (CEO at AECOM), Steve Demetriou (CEO at Jacobs), and Kerryn Coker (Co-Chair at Arup), Mein will also seek to make an industry-wide impact.
“I can intervene at a company level, but to affect broader industry change requires a coalition of the willing, which is what we can achieve with the Champions of Change Coalition,” Mein added. “I’m excited, honoured, and committed to working with and learning from industry peers and challenging my own biases to affect this positive change.”
According to the latest progress report of the Coalition’s ‘Consult Australia’ group’ (which represents the interest of the professional services industry), the sector is achieving progress on gender equality, albeit at a slow pace. Notable improvements achieved over the past year include: a higher share of female employees (33% overall), more gender balance in leadership, a higher share of female promotees, and more flexible leave and work policies for women.
An equal opportunity employer and a leader in diversity, equality and inclusion, Mein believes that HKA not only has much “to learn, but also much to give!”
Operating as an independent business since 2017, HKA is a global consulting firm with 1,000+ consultants specialised in risk mitigation and dispute resolution services within the capital projects and infrastructure sector. In Oceania, HKA serves its clients from five offices, in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Wellington.
