Michelle Crawford
Chief Conversationalist • HR Guru • Entrepreneur • Public Speaker • The Ultimate Mum
Michelle is the amazing brain behind Being More Human. 20 years of experience providing guidance, leadership development, recruitment support and strengthening the culture in organisations across 20 industries has shown her one truth – modern businesses are losing their humanity. After seeing the world and meeting people from all walks of life, Michelle chose to dedicate her life to helping businesses in Australia to become more human in the way they operate and their culture.
Michelle has brought a team of human resource and organisational development experts together to increase humanity in the workplace through kindness, psychological consulting and deep, transformational change for organisations, teams and individuals.
Michelle has been recognised amongst the community and industry for her profound contribution both to the corporate world and to her much loved charities, however perhaps one of her proudest achievements is the award she has received for being the world’s best mum… she even has the mug to prove it!
Michelle’s credentials include:
- Masters in Social Ecology (Organisational Development)
- Bachelor of Social Science (Human Resource Management & Human Relations/Communication)
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
- Lifetime Accreditation in LSI and GSI (Human Synergistics)
- Accreditation in Managerial and Executive Wellbeing Survey (MEWS)
- Qualified Coaching and Performance Consultant (Chris Howard Training)
- Certification in Myers-Briggs
- Convener of the Newcastle Network for the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI).
Jim Porteus – FCPHR
Specialist Mediation & Performance • Mediator & Meditator • Empty Nester • Professional Musician
Put simply, Jim helps professionals to make hard decisions easy…yep; he’s pretty handy to have around! With a strong 23 years in the HR industry and a solid education, including in business, dispute resolution and mediation, Jim works with companies and professionals to help overcome any difficult human resource or people related matters.
It can be challenging for managers and leaders to have difficult conversations with staff members. Jim uses dispute resolution, meditation and training identification to help leaders, professionals and managers to overcome any issues with their people and come to appropriate conclusions.
While Jim is a hard worker and focused on helping local professionals and leaders to become more confident in the way they assist the people they oversee, he also manages to fit in 40 gigs a year at local venues as a professional musician. You may have seen him out and about over the years in the many bands he has played for, including Rabbit and Heroes.
Vanessa McDonald
Intern Extraordinare • Go Getter • Artist • Student of Life
Wherever Vanessa goes she is eager, curious, and motivated, to be involved, to see change, to inspire others, to take risks and has a ‘give it a go’ attitude. Vanessa believe’s that everyone has their part to play in making the world a little lighter and brighter.
Over Vanessa’s early career as a student, volunteer, employee and activator, she has contributed and participated in many different initiatives spanning from being a City Ambassador for Newcastle Now, sitting on committees for the Institute of Managers and Leaders and the Empower Network for The University of Newcastle, to studying at Sydney School of Entrepreneurship, and being an Inaugural Ma & Morley Scholar and Ambassador.
Amongst all of this Vanessa loves learning new things through her Internship with Being More Human where she gets to work on social media, blogs, events, and marketing. She loves being able to apply her skills and creativity to new challenges and being a part of the Being More Human brand that aligns with her vision to make the world brighter and lighter.
Nicci Richman
Leading Light Training & Performance • HR Coach • Empowerer • Keen Explorer
When Nicci isn’t adventuring with her beautiful family, she’s sharing her passion for strong cultures and HR systems with businesses across the east coast of Australia. With 15 years of experience in the industry and an education that she has continued to grow as the business world itself has evolved, Nicci is passionate about creating a strong foundation for people in modern businesses.
Nicci’s HR career had its foundations in social research consultancy, working on employee engagement surveys and other survey tools for multi-national organisations. This insight into how research supports organisational change led to her passion for working with businesses to develop and support the strategies that enable a thriving workplace culture.
Fascinated by workplaces and the many people in them, Nicci’s role at Being More Human is to share her extensive knowledge, creativity, a listening ear and open understanding through coaching and training sessions and to help businesses to become the best they can be on the inside first, so they can better provide for their customers.
A rarely found Novocastrian who loves the winter months (she is originally from Tasmania), Nicci is determined to help other businesses discover the values and elements that will allow them to become more human.