Dr Mel Henry is an organisational development practitioner, specialising in strategy development, evaluation and interpersonal communication. She has extensive experience in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating large organisational projects and strategies, with particular expertise in higher education, online education and people services. She has lead the establishment and operation of programs focused on people management, cultural transformation, support services, and diversity and inclusion. Mel’s philosophy centres on the integral role of people and lifelong learning in a just and productive society, through the continuous improvement of associated programs and services.
With nearly 20 years experience in a range of management and people focused roles across public, private and not-for-profit sectors, Mel holds specialist knowledge of organisational culture, change management, higher education and diversity and inclusion. She has led large teams of staff with diverse backgrounds and specialties to achieve ambitious strategic objectives and organisational transformation. Mel has also led the development, review and evaluation of organisation-wide strategies and plans, including diversity and inclusion strategies, people and culture plans, and career and capability development frameworks. She understands the complexity of organisational change and the importance of working together with staff at all levels to co-create and embed new ways of working.
With a background in Psychology and experience working with a variety of stakeholders, Mel holds exceptional coaching, interviewing and facilitation skills. She has facilitated workshops, group programs, interpersonal mediation and individual consultations with front-line through to executive level staff. Through her focus on co-design, establishing a collaborative problem-solving culture, and coaching individual staff to develop their interpersonal communication skills and challenge established ways of working, she works in partnership with clients to maximise the success of organisational change initiatives.
Formally trained in empirical research methodologies, Mel has led large program evaluations involving extensive stakeholder engagement, including through focus groups, co-design sessions, interviews and quality survey design, alongside empirical analysis of stakeholder input and organisational data. Her extensive experience in higher education give her a unique and specialised background from which to develop evidence-based, innovative solutions to complex problems.
Alongside her professional experience, Mel completed her PhD in 2018, investigating first-year university students’ expectations, experiences and outcomes of online education. Through this research Mel developed a comprehensive approach to understanding and evaluating the online student experience, and the range of factors that contribute to online student outcomes, summarised through the MAC-ICE Thematic Structure for the Online Student Experience. This research, together with her extensive professional experience, offers a solid base from which to investigate, evaluate and develop innovative solutions to enhance the participation and success of students who study online, and the skills to ensure this can be achieved this effectively, efficiently and within budget.
Get in touch to see how Dr Henry can assist you.