Deslea has wide-ranging experience and can offer support and capacity-building to many types of organisations and needs. These include:

• High-level stakeholder management and advocacy: Deslea has had senior carriage of complex and contentious programs that cut across multiple levels of government. She can provide support to public sector organisations dealing with stakeholder issues, as well as other tiered bureaucratic structures such as parent companies and subsidiaries, and vendors up and down the supply chain.
• Risk and governance frameworks, structures, and plans: Deslea has experience in developing frameworks and structures in many areas of governance, including risk management, business continuity, fraud, and projects and contracts. She can provide support in developing new frameworks, reviewing and strengthening existing ones, and engaging with business areas to improve line area capacity. Deslea is particularly known as a thought leader in risk management, and has chaired the Enterprise Risk Management In Government conference since 2013. She also received an Australia Day Achievement Medallion for her work in business continuity in Australian government. She has undertaken formal studies in risk, fraud, contracts, and procurement, and holds a Diploma of Project Management.
• Innovation to meet new requirements: Deslea has experience in developing new capabilities and frameworks where corporate knowledge and external guidance are lacking. She has developed “from-scratch” responses to emerging challenges, including multicultural access and equity requirements (acknowledged as whole-of-government best practice by external reviewers) and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA).
• Board mentoring and support: Deslea is an experienced board member and secretariat. She can provide support and mentoring to both boards themselves, and to Company Secretaries and secretariat offices. Deslea has had board and board-supporting roles in industry, government, and non-profit organisations in Australia and the US, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
• Work-based mentoring and training: Deslea is an Australian-qualified trainer/assessor and has coordinated work-based diploma programs. She is qualified to partner with Australian RTOs to deliver many types of accredited work-based training. These include certificates and diplomas in business, project management, and government, and some entry-level technology certificates. She can also design and deliver custom courses for individuals and groups to meet specific needs.
• Strategic, project, and workforce planning: Deslea has developed many routine and not-so-routine plans and can support organisations in developing new plans, strengthening existing ones, and transitioning them to implementation.
• Bringing business and technology together: Deslea is well placed to support organisations in articulating their technology needs and constraints, and provide a bridge between business requirements and technology vendors and solutions. Deslea ran two information technology business areas in her early career and has experience in managing helpdesks, network administration, web development, intranet, and electrical infrastructure.
• Pacific development support: Deslea can offer flexible ad-hoc support to the Pacific development sector. Examples include monitoring and evaluation reviews, DFAT and similar policy and funding submissions, and tender engagement. Her relevant background includes short postgraduate-level courses in international development, policy development in multicultural access and equity, and experience of Australian government structures that award tenders, manage vendors, and acquit grants. She can also deliver capacity building directly to communities, such as mentoring in developing microbusiness plans to secure loans and grants.