MELISSA SWEETLAND

Melissa Sweetland is a Partner at SHK with extensive experience in commercial leadership, organisational transformation and people-centred advisory. She has spent more than 25 years working across sectors including financial services, higher education, major events, regional manufacturing and fintech, partnering with executives, leadership teams and Boards to navigate complex change and achieve strategic outcomes.

Melissa’s career began in professional services and financial services, where she held roles in audit, strategy, marketing and digital transformation. As Vice President, she went on to lead GE Money’s first e-Business function, delivering world-first digital innovations and building cross-sell engines that generated more than a billion dollars in annual volume. In subsequent executive roles, including Chief Commercial Officer at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Engagement at RMIT University, Chief Customer Officer at Hume Bank and CEO of The Riverina Dairy, Melissa has been responsible for driving growth, strengthening organisational capability and leading teams through periods of transformation and performance uplift.

In her role at SHK, Melissa consults with organisations during periods of change, providing strategic advice and support to leadership teams. Melissa also works with teams and decision-makers to build capability, strengthen engagement and align people strategies to business outcomes. Her approach is grounded in commercial insight, practical structure and a deep understanding of how individuals and organisations thrive in times of transition.

Melissa’s leadership and advisory style is pragmatic, thoughtful and highly collaborative. She is known for creating psychologically safe spaces for reflection and growth, and for helping clients and participants build clarity, confidence and capability. She believes that sustainable success comes from aligning strategy, culture and individual potential.

Melissa holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, is a Chartered Accountant (CA ANZ) and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).