Team Spotlight: Donna Gibson

Our newest team member, Donna Gibson, joined us in October 2024 as a Communications Specialist. She has since taken on the role of Senior Consultant, working with clients to deliver strategic communications and engagement support, as well as the marketing of Aha! Consulting's services.

Donna has a wealth of experience in stakeholder and community engagement, having worked in major water, energy and road projects for the Victorian, Queensland and West Australian Governments since 2009.

She led community engagement on key water projects in Victoria, including the Melbourne to Geelong Pipeline, the Northern Recycled Water Plant for the Shell Refinery, the Armstrong Creek Recycled Water Plant and the recycled water supply to the Armstrong Creek development, which was the first purple pipe system for homes in the region.

In Queensland, Donna led landowner and community engagement for the $660 million Bruce Highway upgrade from Caboolture to the Steve Irwin off ramp north of Brisbane, a project funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments and delivered in partnership with contractors Aurecon, Acciona and Fulton Hogan.

Donna also has substantial experience in regional Western Australia, having led engagement for the state's first standalone power systems project in the Goldfields Esperance region. This project is transitioning large commercial farms from an overhead network supply to renewable energy solutions, incorporating solar, battery storage and back-up diesel generators.

This was a first for an Australian government-owned utility and was launched in 2015 in the wake of devastating fires that destroyed large sections on the overhead power network north and east of Esperance.

"I'm a firm believer in an integrated approach to communications and engagement," says Donna. "Although both are disciplines in their own right, when applied in a cohesive and supportive manner, they can be the key to the success or failure of a multimillion dollar infrastructure project. They are not nice-to-haves. They are a critical component of any project, large or small.

"Although I have worked in different sectors, my approach to communications and engagement remains quite similar. While the type of infrastructure, service or product may be different, what motivates and concerns people doesn't change much, no matter where they live, or what their cultural or socio-economic background is.

"Fundamentally, we all care about the same things: food; shelter; jobs; a roof over our heads and the opportunity to build a better life for ourselves and our children through education and quality of life.

"It's about listening and having empathy; about understanding what motivates people and what they care about and then making sure that the communications and engagement programs are designed and implemented to address those concerns in a manner which makes it easy for people to join the conversation and participate."

If you would like to chat to Donna about support with your project, email her at donna@consulting.net.au or call her on 0447 997 669.

Senior Consultant Donna Gibson