Diana and Catherine

Diana is passionate about minimising poverty and social challenges by increasing entrepreneurship in Papua New Guinea.

She has held various roles with the Bank of South Pacific, where she led 72 employees. She also volunteers in local church activities as a member of a women’s group, and provides e-Commerce consulting through a Practera-sponsored live industry project. Diana is also an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management in Western Australia.

Diana’s vision is to help all Papua New Guineans access the skills, knowledge and social support needed to thrive, be self-reliant, and reach common goals through business innovation. 

Catherine has worked in community development field for over 30 years, having provided social impact management advice to projects in Australia, Asia and Africa. She specialises in encouraging community participation, especially of women, in sustainable local development planning. Catherine’s longstanding sensitivity to the importance of gender in human development was demonstrated by her doctorate on social change among woman-headed households in Tanzania.

Catherine has worked with ICMM, DFAT, the World Bank, and private companies and is a recognised expert on socially responsible mining practices; having authored several publications on the topic. She also speaks Swahili, French, Malay (Indonesian), Dutch, and Sinhala.