Vanessa Thwaites

Vanessa’s career spans 15 years in financial services in Australia and a further 10 in local government between New Zealand and the UK. 

This diverse experience has allowed her to engage with stakeholders at all levels and the wider community, meanwhile developing deep understanding of various legislative requirements, and risk management frameworks and their practical implementation. 

Whilst working in financial services industry, Vanessa has worked with a broad range of businesses from trading, finance, to market operations and retail banking, all the while gaining extensive experience in the business continuity lifecycle. Key areas include Business Impact Analysis (BIA)s, dependency identification, development and testing of recovery strategies, and delivery of crisis management scenario workshops. This is coupled with hands-on experience with various business continuity software platforms, as well as off-platform templates, as to provide valuable insights to the strengths and limitations of each approach.

Other areas of expertise extend to local government and public heath, where she had delegated enforcement powers under various Acts and regulations that included responsibilities during civil defence emergencies. 

Vanessa’s professional experience is backed by a bachelors degree and CIMS certification in New Zealand and health and safety qualifications from the UK. She will be supporting directly with our Resilience Programs including building and reviewing policies and reviews, training staff, facilitating scenario exercises, and completing extensive BIAs and BCP development.