FOUNDER

Prabha is an award winning human rights and discrimination lawyer with over 19 years of broad experience in a variety of areas from workplace culture reform to protecting the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. Prabha founded Elevate Consulting Partners, to support and strengthen the work of organisations committed to positive social change.

Prabha is an innovative changemaker renowned for her ability to challenge the status quo and develop achievable solutions to complex systemic problems. For twelve years Prabha held various senior positions at the Australian Human Rights Commission including Director of Human Rights Law and Policy and Director of Business and Human Rights. In 2021, she was the Director of Legal for the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces. As one of Australia’s foremost experts on immigration detention law and policy, in 2014, she led the landmark National Inquiry into Children in Detention.

In 2022, she consulted to the National Music Industry Review into sexual harm, sexual harassment and systemic discrimination. Most recently Prabha consulted to the independent cultural review of EY Oceania led by Elizabeth Broderick AO.

Prabha has been involved with the development of the new positive duty to eliminate sexual harassment and sex discrimination from inception to implementation. In 2020, she was a senior legal advisor to the Respect@Work National Inquiry and helped shape the positive duty regulatory scheme. Prabha also led the development of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s new positive duty guidance material and established the Commission’s positive duty compliance and enforcement team.

In 2024, Prabha won the India Australia Business & Community Award for Business Leader of the Year and was a finalist in the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws (honours), and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from the University of Adelaide.

CONSULTANT

Rachel has worked in law, gender equality and human rights for nearly 10 years, including in government, the community legal sector and non-government organisations.

Until 2022, she worked as an Investigator/Conciliator at the Australian Human Rights Commission for five years. In this role, Rachel worked extensively with the federal discrimination laws, with a particular interest in sexual harassment and sex discrimination matters under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (Sex Discrimination Act). She a deep expertise and understanding of how sexual harassment and sex discrimination play out across Australian workplaces.

Rachel has worked on cultural reviews for large organisations and institutions, and conducted substantive research with the AICD and ACSI relating to board directors’ preparedness for the new positive duty under the Sex Discrimination Act. Recent projects include conducting substantive gap analysis work in relation to organisations’ compliance with the new positive duty. This work is targeted to assist organisations in addressing sexual harassment and other unlawful conduct and creating safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces.

Rachel specialises in anti-discrimination law and policy. She has a post-graduate law degree from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from RMIT University. She is admitted as a solicitor to the Supreme Court of NSW.

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Intersectionality Lead

Dr Varina Michaels is a leading expert on intersectionality in the workplace. She holds a PhD in Intersectional Identities in the Workplace and combines this with over 12 years’ experience in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), education and HR. With a proven track record in achieving business outcomes AND driving change, Dr Michaels has developed and led impactful multimillion dollar programs shaping culture, developing inclusive leaders and breaking systemic barriers.

Dr Michaels is Executive Director of Women of Colour Australia, championing representation and inclusion in the workplace through advocacy, programs and research. She has collaborated with governments, multinational corporations, and community organisations worldwide. She has provided advice to the Australian Human Rights Commission, Australian Public Service Commission and Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). Dr Michaels is a Founder of the National Alliance for Women of Colour Safety (NAWoCS) and sits on multiple boards and advisory committees.

Drawing from her own intersection of identities and experiences, Dr Michaels blends meaningful engagement with leaders and stakeholders to develop and execute strategies to create a fairer and more equitable society for all.

An educator at her core, Dr Varina Michaels is also Visiting Professor of IESEG School of Management, Paris shaping future (and current) changemakers to become more self-aware, inclusive and culturally intelligent leaders.

RESEARCH DIRECTOR

Grace Gardiner is a passionate researcher experienced in human rights, with a particular focus on gender justice. Grace has been involved in diverse projects addressing human rights issues, including violence against women and girls, workplace sexual harassment, human rights and climate change, disability discrimination, racial discrimination, and organisational human rights best practices. She has worked on the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Set the Standard report into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces and the Review into Sexual Harm, Sexual Harassment and Systemic Discrimination in the National Music Industry.

As an independent consultant, she has worked on projects with the Minderoo Foundation, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, and several consultancies specialising in workplace culture and discrimination. She holds a Masters of Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney and a bachelor’s degree in international studies with Honours from the University of New South Wales. Grace is also committed to making a positive impact through volunteering, and has contributed to work with organisations in Australia, France and Israel/Palestine.

SENIOR CONSULTANT

Sheetal Deo (She/Her) is a legal professional, strategist and intersectional DEI practitioner with a strong commitment to social justice and systemic change. She is an experienced legal consultant and most recently was the Education Director at Diversity Council Australia, where she lead and executed their education strategy. Sheetal has extensive experience facilitating a wide range of education workshops across industries including respect at work, diversity, equity and inclusion and mental health & wellbeing.

Her intersectional approach is grounded in subject matter and lived expertise, and impact focused, making her a sought-after speaker and consultant in the DEI space.

Sheetal holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of the Fraser Valley (Canada), and a Juris Doctor, Master of Laws, and Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from Bond University (Australia).

Special Advisor, Gender Pay Equity

Amy is a human rights lawyer and leading Australian expert in organisational equality and positive cultural change. Amy has worked in executive roles for Government, a Royal Commission and human rights institutions in Australia and overseas. From 2018-2022 Amy led the policy function for the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Amy has dedicated her career to law reform and institutional change working as a pro bono solicitor, policy and research leader. She is passionate about strategic advocacy and supporting employers to tackle organisational and societal challenges.

Amy’s has extensive experience conducting organisational cultural reviews, addressing sexual harassment and other harmful behaviours, promoting gender equality and creating safe, inclusive and supportive environments. Recent projects include directing the independent Cultural Review into the Victorian Adult Custodial Corrections system, leading trauma-informed victim-survivor research into sexual harassment in the Victorian judiciary, developing Victoria’s guidelines on the positive duty in the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) and consulting across several high-profile inquiries.

Amy specialises in equality and anti-discrimination law and policy, workforce cultural reform and gender pay equity. Amy holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney. Amy was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 allowing her to conduct international comparative research on best practice approaches to gender pay equality to close gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps.

Director, Coaching & Psychosocial Safety

Niti is an award-winning executive, career and DEI coach, fractional general counsel, leadership, breathwork and DEI facilitator and speaker with a passion for authentic and inclusive leadership.

After more than 20 years in corporate law (across private practice in Melbourne, Sydney and London, and as a generalist in-house lawyer and general counsel), Niti moved into coaching and facilitation work to reshape how individuals and organisations approach leadership, burnout and psychosocial safety and inclusion and equity. She now brings her extensive NLP, coaching and facilitation expertise (alongside her deep regulatory, legal and risk knowledge) to the leadership and DEI space, helping individuals and teams operate from a place of authenticity, compassion and courage. Niti specialises in:

Coaching: Executive, career and DEI coaching, with a focus on bias, career development, talent pipeline, parental leave transitions, intersectionality and leadership.

Respect at Work Facilitation and Coaching: Supporting organisations to meet their positive duty obligations and build safer, more respectful cultures, including through “rehabilitation” and awareness coaching.

Burnout and Psychosocial Risk Facilitation and Coaching: Developing and leading prevention-focused initiatives that incorporate a nervous-system informed approach to sustainable performance and risk management.

Alongside her extensive coaching experience, Niti has worked on gender equity and Respect at Work initiatives and women’s leadership programs, as well as spearheading the design, development and delivery of the WILD for STEM Board X coaching program, aimed at increasing participation rates for senior women in STEM in the board environment. She regularly delivers leadership webinars and training programs through various organisations and is an award-winning mentor for Future Women. As a certified breathwork instructor, Niti brings a somatic, embodied approach to her coaching and facilitation, rooted in the belief that we need to tap into the wisdom in our bodies as much as that within our minds, whether to be a more effective communicator, a better leader of people, or to manage the stresses of work and life, including avoiding and dealing with burnout.

Niti is a LinkedIn Top Voice (Gender Equity) and volunteers as a Workplace Advisory Group member at The Pink Elephants Support Network (in the pregnancy loss support space). She is also a co-author of Women Leading the Way and Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (honours), a Bachelor of Commerce and a Diploma in Modern Languages (French) from the University of Melbourne and is a graduate of the AICD Company Directors’ Course. She also has a number of coaching qualifications including being a Master NLP Practitioner, an Advanced Life Coach, Certified Enneagram Coach and Master Breathwork Instructor, and is certified in The Body Story Method, Applied Neuroscience and Brain Health and In her Head (a neuroscience certification relating to the female brain).