Jannene Willis - successful business woman and director 

Janenne embarked on her first directorship in 2007 as a member of the board for Next Wave. Next Wave is a biennial festival and artist development organisation, presenting genre busting new works by the best of Australia’s emerging artists. This philosophy of developing people extends to Next Wave’s board where the journey for directors is about building capability and expertise that can be translated to other boards. “As part of the work we do at Undercurrent I work with many Not-For-Profit boards and Next Wave is without a doubt the most functional Not-For-Profit board I have experienced,” says Janenne. “I am proud to have been selected for a director’s position with Next Wave.”

Janenne became aware of the position with Next Wave through Leadership Victoria. Amongst a bank of other formal qualifications she is a fellow of the Williamson Community Leadership Program; a rigorous, challenging and life-enriching year of seminars, visits, field trips and lectures offered to 36 participants by Leadership Victoria. The program also led Janenne to work with Not-For-Profit boards in defining their direction and the strategies to get there. Facilitating strategic planning sessions is one of the skills Janenne has taken from her business life and translated to other sectors.

Undercurrent is the business Janenne now runs after building an impressive corporate track record in both industrial and consumer environments based on strategic marketing and an ability to successfully drive change in teams facing uncertain conditions. With a proven ability to pick a winning idea, design it into a workable plan and fire up a team to make it all happen under her belt, Janenne founded Undercurrent, a boutique company specialising in strategy, change and communications.

Janenne identified a gap in the marketplace between the offering of communications agencies and that of typical management consultants. Picasso once said, “Action is the foundational key to all success.” It is widely recognised that implementation is the key to a successful strategy yet it is one of the greatest challenges facing organisations. Janenne says of her business, “Our approach is built about tapping into what is happening beneath the surface in organisations. The undercurrent of thinking.” In that way, Undercurrent works to achieve buy-in from key stakeholders so that implementation is not blocked, something Janenne learnt from working with organisations facing uncertainty. Achieving engagement, particularly internally, from top-level management right down to front line employees is a significantly different approach that produces fundamentally different results.

Janenne has a strong desire to use her business experience to work on the boards of innovative companies and not-for-profit organisations. To which this quote from a recent business magazine interview seems apt, “to do this she will draw on her optimism and leadership skills, the things that are clearly inherent in who she is and why she has been so successful.”

email: janenne@undercurrent.com.au