Koala has appointed Lori Ghezzi as its first ever chief people officer. She brings over 24 years’ experience in strategy, talent, technology and culture, and is responsible for overseeing Koala’s people and culture (P&C) team across Australia, Japan and South Korea.

At Koala, Ghezzi will define and establish the P&C and DEIB strategy, taking Koala’s disruptive approach, while bringing non-traditional engagement to the traditional furniture industry.

This includes re-thinking the employee experience, through implementing unconventional employee moves, such as going to a nine-day per fortnight way of working as well as focusing on organisational development, talent and leadership development, employee engagement and cultural change management.

Prior to Koala, Ghezzi worked with many of the worlds’ most successful companies including Atlassian, Cisco Systems, Dell, FMC Technologies, and National Oilwell Varco. She has not only lived in 14 countries but has presented and consulted globally to build and grow teams within Asia Pacific, Europe and the US.

Ghezzi earned her Bachelor of Science Degree, Speech Language Pathology from Western Illinois University and Masters Degree in Adult Education, from Concordia University. She is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management, Human Capital Management Advisory Board, New Talent Management Network, and volunteers regularly with local animal rescue organisations.