Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, July 2025 – Karen James has joined Wesley Mission as Executive Director – Strategy, People and Partnerships, marking a significant milestone in her journey of purpose-driven leadership. In her new role, Karen will lead strategic priorities, people transformation, and collaborative partnerships to elevate the impact of Wesley Mission’s community services and faith-based initiatives.
Karen brings over three decades of cross-sector leadership experience. Most recently, she served for approximately two years as Director, Natural Capital APAC at Palladium, where she delivered nature-based solutions that generated measurable benefits for people and the planet.
Before that, Karen was CEO of Business for Development for around four and a half years, where she leveraged her background in systems thinking and engineering to scale social impact across Asia-Pacific and Africa. Her leadership helped unlock sustainable, inclusive business solutions addressing complex development challenges.
Earlier, she was the Founder and CEO of On Purpose Hub, a consulting firm known for helping organizations activate cultural change, systems redesign, and purpose-led innovation. In this role, she also worked with government and financial sector leaders to develop platforms and ventures focused on indigenous language revival and fintech transformation.
Karen spent nearly eight years at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where she held senior leadership roles including General Manager of Corporate Financial Services and General Manager of Local Business Banking Direct. She was instrumental in launching the Women in Focus community and co-creating leadership programs in collaboration with The Hunger Project and McKinsey & Company.
She has also held senior leadership roles at Dimension Data, Nortel Networks, and Ascom Timeplex, managing P&L, service delivery, and international operations across Asia-Pacific and Europe. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Sydney, and has pursued MBA coursework at Seton Hall University.
About Wesley Mission
Wesley Mission is one of Australia’s most impactful not-for-profit community services organizations and a church with over 200 years of history. The organization supports vulnerable individuals across life stages through services addressing homelessness, addiction, mental health, disability, domestic violence, and more. Wesley Mission also operates Lifeline and champions systemic change on issues such as housing and gambling reform. Guided by a bold faith and relentless commitment to social good, Wesley Mission continues to #DoMoreGood for communities in need.
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