Proximity promotes five-strong female lineup to principal advisor

Capping a record year for the professional services firm, Proximity has promoted five company members to principal advisor level, with the all-female lineup providing a notable boost to the firm’s leadership diversity.

Canberra-headquartered Proximity has clocked its largest promotion round in its 12-year history, on the back of “another strong year of growth,” said co-CEO Zoe Lynam.

Consultants staff have been elevated to the next level across the firm’s ranks and three lines of business (consulting, commercial, legal), with the leadership team bolstered by the principal advisor appointments of Sarah Colman, Nicole Elliott, Rachael Griffin, Paula Gonzalez and Elizabeth Langdon.

“This is our biggest leadership intake in our history, reflecting the continued growth in demand for our multi-disciplinary model,” said Lynam, who co-leads the executive board together with Mike Watson. “We’re optimistic about our outlook for future growth, and look forward to continuing to deliver exceptional results for our clients under the leadership of our extended principal advisor team.”

Sarah Colman has been with Proximity since 2020, and works in the legal division. She specialises in commercial legal advice (including intellectual property, data privacy, liability) probity and procurement advisory work, with a particular focus on complex technology and procurement projects at government clients.

Nicole Elliott also joined Proximity in 2020, having previously served the government for close to fifteen years. She has extensive experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of public policy, programs, service delivery, stakeholder engagement, and grants management across the government and private sector.

Rachael Griffin joined Proximity in 2020, bringing a background in law gained at among others law firms and banking institutions. She specialises in commercial legal advisory around commercial projects, banking and finance, IT, and intellectual property.

Paula Gonzalez joined Proximity in 2019 from Nous Group, before that gaining extensive experience in the public domain. She serves as the National Lead of the Transformation practice, which helps government, private, and not-for-profit clients across a range of policy and organisational transformation areas.

Elizabeth Langdon brings over 30 years of experience in public policy, program delivery, governance, and reform across international, national, and state levels to the principal advisor team, including a number of CEO and agency head roles in the Victorian government. She joined Proximity last year.

For Melissa Crampton, Proximity’s Group Manager for People, the five leadership promotions are testament to the support/mentoring programs in place for high-performing women (and men). “At Proximity, we have a strong focus on supporting and empowering our people to achieve their full potential, and we genuinely empower our people to take on significant leadership responsibility and play a vital role in the strategic direction of our organisation.”

Across its four offices (Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide), Proximity has 110 consultants and employees. The award-winning consulting firm works mainly for Commonwealth agencies, and state and territory government.