Michael Maher joins public sector consultancy Cube as a partner
Experienced public sector professional Michael Maher has joined Cube Group as a partner, taking its executive leadership team to five.
A former director at PwC, Maher joins from a strategy and impact leadership role at national youth mental health organisation Headspace, and brings over 30 years of professional experience to the Melbourne-based management consulting firm.
Maher’s civil service record dates back decades, and includes roles such as executive director for school reform and early childhood development with the Victorian Department of Education and strategic and financial services director with the state justice department.
Maher also spent five years between PwC and PwC Indigenous Consulting, the latter where he led the firm’s Victorian and South Australian offices as a director.
Maher was also instrumental in building and growing PwC Indigenous Consulting’s evaluation and review practice as a national lead, and among other projects was a major contributor to the Change the Record campaign in association with the Richmond Football Club, which sought to raise awareness around disproportionate Indigenous incarceration rates.
“Michael’s extensive experience working with diverse stakeholders to lead, implement, monitor and evaluate programs and reforms will support Cube as we work to create a bright future for every Australian,” said managing partner Ben Schramm. “In addition, his experience in early childhood, education, justice, health, mental health and human services will be instrumental in helping our clients tackle some of Australia’s most unprecedented social and economic challenges.”
Cube describes itself as a values-based management consultancy, established by Schramm and a crew of fellow former Big Four and Accenture consultants in 2002 to exclusively serve purpose-driven organisations in delivering positive change. Since then, the firm has worked on a diverse range of social and policy projects, from supporting Victoria’s rollout of NDIS to conducting an independent review of the emergency management arrangements on Norfolk Island for the Australian Federal Government.
“I am thrilled to join Cube Group’s executive team driving the growth of the firm’s evaluation and review practice,” Maher stated. “I’ve focused my entire career on having impact, making a difference and using evidence and collaboration to drive outcomes for individuals and communities. There’s nowhere better for me to continue this than at Cube Group, working on important and challenging problems with clients and the talented Cube team.”
Outside of Schramm, Cube has doubled the size of its executive team over the past two years, with fellow former Victorian public servant Kathryn Anderson also joining as a partner in mid-2020. Other members of its leadership team include Chief Operating Officer Jane Edgar, and partner Andrew Campbell, while Chloe Symes joined from KPMG as a director last year.
Altogether, Cube Group has a team of around 25 consultants.