The team behind your endorsement
As an Endorsed Employer, you’ll work with a Senior DEI Account Manager and a team of DEI Advisors who stay with you for the long haul.
- Tailored advice for your organisation
- Benchmarking against global best practice
- Resources and training to support your goals
- Support amplifying your employer value proposition
Meet the Customer Success Team
Every Endorsed Employer is supported by the same team structure and the same service standards. Meet the people you’ll work with across your endorsement journey.
Valeria Ignatieva
Chief Customer Officer
Valeria co-founded WORK180 and has spent over 11 years working directly with Endorsed Employers across Australia, UK and the US. She’s particularly passionate about sharing what she learns from employers in non-traditional industries, and she brings those insights back into the products WORK180 builds. Outside work, she’s with family, tending to her indoor plants, or on a basketball court.
Jacquie Connaughton
Senior DEI Account Manager
Jacquie has more than five years of account management experience and has served on the board of VIC ICT for Women. She previously partnered with Vision Australia to set up a work experience programme for people with vision impairment, and she loves that her role at WORK180 lets her deliver tangible results for both employers and the women who find great workplaces. She and her husband recently renovated a vintage 1973 caravan and love travelling in it with their young daughter.
Julie Taylor
Senior DEI Account Manager
Julie brings decades of account management experience, working with everyone from individual business owners to multinational corporations. As one of the first women to work as a sports trainer in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), she knows firsthand what it takes to challenge norms in male-dominated fields. Julie draws on her experience as a facilitator and advisor to help stakeholders at every level drive meaningful change. Based in Noosa, she’s usually swimming, surfing, playing touch football, or enjoying good food and wine with family and friends.
Bel Yorston
Senior DEI Account Manager
Bel partners with Endorsed Employers to build more inclusive workplaces, working across systems, policies, education, and training to create a genuine sense of belonging. She brings nearly two decades of experience in senior, people-centred leadership roles. Before joining WORK180, she was CEO of youth charity yLead, leading programmes for more than 30,000 young people across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand each year. She’s passionate about creating workplaces where everyone can thrive and lead authentically.
Sarah Beltran
Senior DEI Account Manager
Sarah brings over 25 years of experience in client relationship management, business development and sales. Starting out in retail management and wholesale, she’s worked across HR consulting, digital and brand marketing, and industry associations, with roles at the Chamber of Commerce & Industry WA, Dilate Digital, Bloom & Grow and Billabong. She gets a real buzz out of building partnerships with people-focused businesses that value equity, integrity and work-life balance. Based in Perth, mum of two, a music lover and self-confessed noodle fanatic. On weekends, you’ll find her chasing the sun or performing with her live drum & bass band.
Alex Mercer
Senior DEI Account Manager
Alex brings nearly 30 years of sales and account management experience across insurance, corporate technology events, financial planning software, & workplace strategy, design, and construction. She also recently spent time as a contractor at Black Dog Institute, working with the Dept of Health to deliver free mental health training and support for emergency service workers and health professionals. Having grown up in the US and Portugal before working in London, Singapore, and Sydney, she loves to travel and is always looking to learn from past experiences to help improve the future. Based on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, she is a keen pickleballer, dog owner & lover and is currently studying a Certificate IV in Community Services.
Louise Rogers
Senior DEI Advisor
Louise brings an intersectional, research-led approach to the pursuit of equal access for all. With a career spanning the public and private sectors, she partners with organisations of all sizes to progress inclusion in ways that are practical and sustainable. She’s especially known for her work in accessibility and disability inclusion, gender equity, and employee consultation. Based in Sydney, Louise spends her downtime among her plants, on the tennis court, or volunteering with community, youth, and family violence support services.
Hannah Davis
DEI Advisor
Hannah brings a varied career spanning community development, higher education equity, and diversity and inclusion in sport. She established the Girls in Business and Women in Business Ambassador programmes at the University of New South Wales, and helps Endorsed Employers find where to grow while building on what they already do well. Based on Worimi Country in Port Stephens, she’s a mother of two who loves surfing and camping. Before WORK180, she won Olympic bronze in kayaking at Beijing 2008.
Kathlene Campbell
Operations & Administrative Assistant
Kathlene’s career spans hospitality, real estate, and commercial office fit-outs, as well as running her own businesses, including an award-winning restaurant she opened at 21. Along the way, she’s stayed curious and quick to pick up new tools, including artificial intelligence. As a working mother, she’s passionate about supporting women’s career pathways and sharing the stories of women who’ve achieved more than was expected of them. Born in Brisbane and based in Sydney, she plays soccer, loves to sing, and volunteers with Meals on Wheels.
How we work with you
Endorsement isn’t a badge you buy. It comes with a team
that shows up, checks in, and helps you move the needle.
Know better
Tools, insights, and expertise to build internal buy-in.
Do better
Practical actions to attract, nurture, and retain a diverse workforce.
Be seen better
A trusted seal of approval that reaches the right candidates.
Expect better
A community of women who expect the workplaces they choose to deliver.