Fender Katsalidis has appointed two new members to its Board of Directors, as well as seven internal promotions across its east coast studios.

The practice is intent on nurturing its next wave of design talent, and hopes the bolstering of its leadership structure will aid in that process. Tanya Cox and Greta Thomas have been appointed non-executive Directors, ensuring increased diversification of skills and backgrounds from professionals outside of the architectural sector.

The Fender Katsalidis board will soon restructure itself to ensure it has the appropriate size, skills and experience to deliver company strategy, while ensuring gender balance amongst both executive and non-executive Directors. 2022 marks ten years since the practice began succession planning.

“I believe it takes a decade to design, implement and execute a meaningful succession plan. We’ve already done that successfully with the current generation of senior leaders, and now we’re taking our next steps to make sure that our emerging future leaders have pathways in place to rise to key leadership positions in the coming years,” says Fender Katsalidis Managing Partner, Mark Murphy.

“This will require the best stewardship from a reformed board and its executive, as we develop new and improved ways of employing and incentivising our team, underpinned by initiatives like our parental leave policy, talent development programs, ESG and maintaining the positive and vibrant culture we enjoy across each of our studios.”

Tanya Cox has over 15 years of board experience with a background in sustainability, property, finance and funds management, formerly working as Chief Operating Officer at Dexus Property Group and Rothschild Australia.

“Having established its first office in Sydney in 2003, the Sydney market offers huge growth potential for Fender Katsalidis over the coming decade, and the business’s commitment and focus on sustainable design and public activation, while creating a diverse and inclusive workplace for its team members, is closely aligned with my experience and values,” Cox says.

“Having spent more than a decade as Chief Operating Officer of Dexus Property Group and a further 10 years as a non-executive director of both early-stage and mature property, prop-tech and sustainability businesses, I hope my experience can be exploited to help FK achieve its growth aspirations.”

Greta Thomas is the Co-Founder of Full Potential Labs, a leadership development business. In addition to her advisory experience, she has held senior marketing roles at Sydney Opera House and eBay Australia. Thomas believes the move by the practice to appoint non-architects will allow it to continue to be one of Australia’s foremost design firms.

“Throughout my career, I have embraced the fine balance of cut-through creative with commercial realities. The challenge for the Fender Katsalidis board is to create an even more optimal environment for the greatest design to emerge, in a sustainable way, and for the business’s market presence and reputation to grow,” she says.

In addition to the board appointments, Fender Katsalidis has also announced a series of staff promotions. Rod Uriarte has been promoted to Principal, a position that will see him play a critical role in the growth of the Sydney studio. Sydney-based Aleksie Villis has been promoted to Associate, along with Brisbane-based Anna Moldt.

Additional promotions in the Melbourne studio include Amanda Calvert, Melinda Chan, Mohd Hussin and David Robertson all being elevated to Associate Director.

Fender Katsalidis has established a promotions programme to strengthen female representation within its leadership team. The practice recently adopted its Reconciliation Action Plan, making a commitment to inform, promote and facilitate the respect of First Nations peoples’ cultural practices and connection to Country.

“As a progressive practice, we believe having a greater diversity of views and approaches can help break with convention and enhance productivity outcomes and the well-being of our team. Gender equality is one example of this, and we are introducing a range of initiatives aimed at continually monitoring and shaping equitable standards across the firm,” Murphy concludes.

Jarrod Reedie

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