Headquarters:
Sydney
Year founded:
2024
Number of employees:
2
Phone:
0416 855 818
Email:
hello@redjacarandagroup.com.au
Website:
redjacarandagroup.com.au
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/red-jacaranda-group
Melissa Mason
Founder and People and Culture Coach
Michelle Read
Director of Reward
Andrew Ritchie
Business Services Director
Leadership
Melissa Mason is an accomplished people and culture leader with over 15 years of experience, steering organisational transformation across infrastructure, mining, construction and industrial sectors. She specialises in aligning people strategy with business goals, helping executive teams and project teams harness culture as a catalyst for sustainable growth.
Mason has led through complex M&A transactions, built leadership programs and delivered measurable impact in diverse environments – from corporate boardrooms to remote FIFO sites, from not-for-profits to small businesses. Her approach is grounded in commercial insight, strategic clarity and a genuine belief in empowering leaders to bring out the best in their teams.
Founder and People and Culture Coach
Melissa Mason
Michelle Read is director of reward at Strategic Pay, leading the reward consulting practice to simplify pay and performance for employees, management and boards. Specialising in remuneration management since 2003, Read joined Strategic Pay in 2012. Her extensive background includes leading local and global HR initiatives and global mobility and serving in commercial and not-for-profit governance roles. Read excels at defining client requirements and delivering value-driven solutions across executive remuneration, reward strategy, directors’ fees and incentive plans while maintaining positive workplace relations.
Director of Reward
Michelle Read
Andrew Ritchie joined Strategic Pay in early 2024, drawn by the company’s mission to drive client success through improved employee engagement and performance. As part of the leadership team, Ritchie oversees the business support functions of finance, marketing and legal, adding broad strategic value across the organisation. A member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Ritchie brings extensive experience in leading finance teams, with a core focus on delivering data and insights that empower better decision-making.
Business Services Director
Andrew Ritchie
Natasha Stone
Data and Analytics Director
Natasha Stone first joined Strategic Pay in 2011, managing a broad survey portfolio across public and private sectors, including local government, pharmaceuticals and executive pay, before being promoted to senior data analyst in 2014. Stone gained client-side experience as a senior planning analyst at Housing New Zealand in 2017, overseeing department budget planning and analytical reporting for major maintenance programmes. In 2018, Stone returned to Strategic Pay to manage the data and analytics team. Combining her deep remuneration expertise and background in analysis, she leads the delivery of high-level insights and data solutions to support both clients and internal consultants.
Data and Analytics Director
Natasha Stone
Santa Harvett is digital services director at Strategic Pay, having served on the leadership team since 2012. Previously leading the data and analytics unit, Harvett doubled its revenue and built New Zealand’s largest independent remuneration database before stepping into digital transformation roles. With over 20 years of international analytics and consulting experience, Harvett combines technical expertise with strong business acumen. She excels at optimising digital systems, evaluating client technology needs and managing complex projects to drive operational ROI. Dedicated to Strategic Pay’s Australasian growth vision, Harvett focuses on delivering innovative, data-driven total reward solutions tailored to evolving workforce demands.
Digital Services Director
Santa Harvett
Avi Lewis
Chief Financial Officer
Kathy Pallasis
Human Resources Manager
Nicholas Avramides
Investment Lending Manager Team Leader
David Sexton
Director Business Services
A seasoned finance leader with over 25 years of extensive financial management experience, Avi Lewis has held various senior commercial and strategic finance roles with companies such as Citrix, Envestment Yodlee, ANZ Bank, First Wave Cloud Technology and Ernst and Young.
Lewis has successfully led an ASX listing, a strategic sale of a private equity-owned tech enterprise and various ERP/CRM transformation projects, whilst delivering strategic insights driving business growth, fostering stakeholder engagement through a values-based approach centred on respect, integrity, accountability and excellence.
Chief Financial Officer
Avi Lewis
Kathy Pallasis is human resources manager at Frontier Software and leads HR strategy and operations from Melbourne. Her responsibilities include policy development, employee relations, employee records and internal communications. Pallasis works with senior leaders and teams across the organisation to support workforce planning and workplace operations. Her experience includes enterprise software, payroll systems and governance. A member of the Australian HR Institute, Pallasis contributes to continuous improvement through practical policy and operational leadership.
Human Resources Manager
Kathy Pallasis
As an Investment Lending Manager Team Leader, Nick is responsible for leading, coaching and developing our team of Investment Lending Managers. He works directly with brokers to strengthen technical capability, lending strategy, compliance and overall performance, while driving consistent service standards and exceptional client outcomes across the organisation. Through regular coaching, performance reviews, and deal strategy workshopping, Nick plays a key role in building broker capability, embedding best practice and fostering a high-performing culture focused on delivering outstanding client outcomes.
Investment Lending Manager Team Leader
Nicholas Avramides
As Director of Business Services, David oversees the financial, operational and commercial aspects of the School. In this role, he contributes to shaping and implementing strategic initiatives, supports business sustainability and enables the next phase of campus development, including the 10-year Master Plan and Strategic Plan (2026–2028).
He is an accomplished executive leader with over 25 years of experience at C-Suite and Board level spanning diverse sectors including education, not-for-profit, disability, sport and professional services. He has extensive experience shaping and executing strategic plans, driving income growth and diversification, master planning and major capital projects, stakeholder engagement, leading high-performing teams and managing complex budgets.
Director Business Services
David Sexton
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Adam Basaldella
Manager – Claims
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Product Manager
Claire Watson
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
“Having close connections with our parents, staff and community, is integral to a rich learning environment. When we work together, we can achieve amazing things”
Karen Yager,
Hills Grammar
“I believe that students learn in a supportive environment with passionate and inspiring teachers and staff. We surround our students with positive creative and inspiring people, enthusiastic about their own learning and keen to immerse students in the spirit of life-long learning across the whole community”
Karen Yager,
Hills Grammar
Red Jacaranda Group exists to support HR practitioners navigating the growing complexity, pressure and emotional load of modern workplaces. As expectations on the people and culture function continue to expand, often without the resources to match, many professionals find themselves stretched thin, balancing strategic demands, people challenges and their own wellbeing.
Our mission is to provide HR professionals with a confidential, strategic coaching partnership that restores clarity, builds capability and protects long‑term resilience. Like the jacaranda tree, which sheds its leaves, renews and bursts into a crowd-pleasing display of purple, all within a short span, Red Jacaranda Group thrives on impactful support that drives positive reflection and outcomes.
Red Jacaranda Group enables the people who enable everyone else, so they can keep making organisations a better place to be.
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Santa Harvett
Digital Services Director
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Culture
Diversity, equity and inclusion
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Sustainable programs
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