“[Karina Marcar of Brabourne’s] engagements with my colleagues and myself were led by seemingly innocent questions that zeroed in on key issues, requiring a rethinking of standard replies. Our answers revealed observations and drew out required actions we would not have arrived at without her insight...We are in admiration of her skill.”
How we do things
Brabourne was established by Karina Marcar as a boutique governance consultancy, focusing on boards.
We facilitate board performance reviews and provide related governance services and leadership development. Our clients range from ASX-listed to not-for-profit organisations, often in complex regulatory environments. We particularly enjoy:
- working with clients facing challenges
- supporting boards and executive teams serious about improving and evolving
- collaborating with values-aligned people on purposeful work
- intellectually rich, practical work with impact.
While our approach is based in research, this does not mean it is a checklist process. Our approach is driven by wanting to understand your organisation, rather than making assumptions about what you need.
A board’s operations and interactions need to be understood in the context of the organisation’s goals, strategy and environment. Our board review process is grounded by one-on-one interviews with your directors and senior team in order to build our understanding of your organisation, trust and broad engagement with the process and its outcomes. Board dynamics and dynamics with management are critical to high performance, including risk performance.
Our professional experience in other fields is invaluable to understanding the board in context.
Please go to services for information on how we can help you.
Who we are
With a career grounded in 25 years of corporate law - including over 17 years as a partner in major Australian firms - Karina now works with boards and executive teams to enhance board effectiveness and governance, enabling them to focus on strategic performance rather than process.
Her work draws on a strong understanding of commercial drivers behind both Australian and global organisations. She is financially literate, people-focused and skilled at building trust to surface insights that matter - insights that support good decisions and better boardroom dynamics.
Karina has worked with ASX listed entities, public institutions, charities and across sectors, including financial services, infrastructure, education, research, disability services, the arts and government. She has acted as Adviser to the ASX Corporate Governance Council.
Karina is focused on relationships, substance and shared purpose, especially through her work at Brabourne. She is not looking to return to legal practice, or to pursue growth just for the sake of scale. At Brabourne, we are thoughtful about how we grow and how we support others.
Karina is a graduate member of the AICD and a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia. She serves on the fundraising committee of the Sir David Martin Foundation, supporting youth in crisis. She has held leadership roles in IWF Australia and the Australian chapter of the Women's Infrastructure Network.
our associates
Brabourne’s associates have a broad range of experience and expertise, including:
C-Suite
the military
regulators
neuroleadership
ethics.
We have associates accredited to conduct culture assessments using Human Synergistics’ Organisational Culture Inventory® and Organisational Effectiveness Inventory™️ assessment instruments.