My Story

My Name is Lisa Perez. I was born in Darwin and spent my formative years in a small town called Humpty Doo. I am the eldest of 11 siblings. My father is of Greek heritage. My Mother is of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Spanish heritage. I was raised as a proud Iwaidja Woman. At a very early age I learnt that the color of my skin was providing me opportunities that weren't being experienced by those I loved the most. I was sent into shops to purchase grocery items from proprietors who would not serve my darker skinned family members. These formative years shaped my career. I left Darwin at 15 years of age, driven by a deep curiosity to understand human behavior. I spent 25 years working in the Australian Public Service - a career that I am very proud of. A career which provided me with many opportunities of which I am extremely grateful for. Most of my time in the Public Service was spent in the People, Culture and Performance discipline - helping others to navigate the challenges drawn of misunderstanding of our unique differences. In 2017, whilst working at the Commonwealth Department of Education, I was awarded a Secretary's Award for Innovation for my work contemporising the performance management approach by drawring on simple coaching tools. I am now on a mission is to help individuals to understand their unique workplace and business strengths and to help workplaces understand how to draw on those strengths to achieve peak performance.

 

Our differences are in fact our greatest collective strength.