“Working with August Advisory has been a game-changer for our business. Their deep industry expertise and strategic insights have significantly enhanced our risk management practices. Kate and the team are professional, responsive, and dedicated to delivering tailored solutions that address our unique challenges. We have seen a measurable improvement in our risk mitigation efforts and overall operational efficiency. I highly recommend August Advisory to any organisation seeking top-notch risk advisory services.”
- Gerard McCormack, Mutual Marketplace Limited
Kate and her team at August Advisory were extremely responsive in their service delivery. They demonstrated an ability to provide high-level strategic input, but also assisted in a really pragmatic way to deliver a major uplift in our core risk management framework documents in a compressed timeframe. The biggest compliment on the quality of their advice was the feedback from operational areas of the business who found the new risk framework easy to understand and apply in their daily roles.
David Vincent, Chief Risk Officer, The Mutual Bank
August Advisory has done a splendid job in helping Mission Australia to mature its risk management architecture and activities over the past year.
Kate Gannon in particular has brought a great deal of relevant expertise and knowledge, together with an open and practical approach. She was able to quickly gain the trust and confidence of the executive team and then the Board, and proved to be adept at directing and managing change. We’re very pleased with the value added by August.
Mike Codling, Board Audit and Risk Committee Chair, Mission Australia (may he rest in peace)
“In a very short period of time, Kate Gannon familiarised herself with our newly created five year strategic intent and three year investment roadmap. Within six weeks Kate was at our annual Board Strategy session, co-presenting with our Chief Risk Officer on engaging our Directors and Executives in a strategic view of our risk stance and appetite, aligned with our strategic aspirations.
Kate then worked hand-in-hand with our CRO, and internal cross-functional teams, to create a completely reimagined Risk Appetite Statement (RAS), Risk Management Strategy (RMS) review and Policy reviews. Kate was directly engaged in presenting these key, strategic pieces at Board and Board-level Committees and built strong and trusted relationships with our Directors.
In addition to this, Kate worked directly with the Chief Risk Officer in supporting her through the uplift of our Risk Management Framework, processes and systems; supporting the CRO in building Risk Culture approach; updating the CRO reporting; and engaging in team strategy and education sessions for the Risk & Compliance team.
Her functional expertise and professionalism are the highest quality, delivering an immediate uplift in skills and quality of output.
Kate immerses herself in the priorities of the executive and directors and spends time and energy to deeply understand the drivers of change and the key stakeholders. She is also generous with how she leverages her connections and knowledge for the benefit of the organisation. The greatest compliment was that our people often forgot that Kate was, in fact, an external consultant.”
— Michelle Bagnall, Chief Executive Officer, Bank First [Melbourne, VIC]
We engaged Kate to help modernise our Risk Management and Risk Culture Frameworks ahead of a merger with a peer mutual bank.
Kate’s background in risk management and mutual banking was invaluable – she understood the challenges mutual banks face both internally and externally, possessed breadth and depth of knowledge, and developed pragmatic and innovative solutions.
Kate is comfortable working with all levels of the organisation and inspires confidence with the quality of the work she produces.
— Sebastian Hare, Head of Non Financial Risk, Newcastle Permanent Building Society
Kate has been a pleasure to work with. She is professional, knowledgeable, and more importantly pragmatic.
Kate understands firsthand the challenges associated with designing fit-for-purpose frameworks that can be understood and applied at all levels an organisation.
Kate brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that she is able to leverage in order to co-design sustainable solutions that work in practice. I would not hesitate to recommend her services.
— Daniel Greer, Head of Operational and Emerging Risk, Greater BankThanks to Kate and the team we were able to quickly deliver improvements to some key risk processes. Being able to understand our challenges and engage effectively with senior stakeholders in different parts of our business was a highlight. I could always expect professional and efficient interactions and was always confident I’d receive well thought through and workable solutions.
- Paul Deem, Group Risk Manager, Uniting Care Queensland