There’s Louise Richardson (Principal), and then there’s The Associates – no, not the indie band from the 80s that vanished without trace, but an association of talented individuals each of whom brings their skills and perspective to our clients’ projects.
Oh, and then there’s our emotional support animals.
Louise Richardson
Principal
Louise helps her clients connect with their stakeholders and their communities, with the goal of achieving the best possible outcome for their projects.
She uses a range of tools, from workshops to online platforms, face to face meetings to round table discussions, but the aim is always the same – to kick start conversations and build relationships.
Louise draws on her background as a journalist and communications consultant to present and share information. And she uses her engagement practitioner skills to facilitate discussions, identify common ground and enable informed decision making.
Things to know about Louise:
- Louise started out as a journalist in London. She has always loved writing, and it remains a core part of her work.
- She spent almost two decades working as a PR consultant, which gave her a solid grounding in understanding organisations’ relationships with their ‘audiences’.
- Her passion is helping organisations develop an authentic, two way conversation with those who can impact their activities (or those whom their activities impact).
- Louise is nosey – she loves learning about different industry sectors, the internal dynamics of an organisation, the ins and outs of an emerging issue, an individual’s passions or pet hates.
- Her favourite thing about her work is that every day she meets new people, learns new things and gets caught up in other people’s excitement about their projects.
- There is little difference between the Louise that clients see and the Louise her friends know. She doesn’t blind clients with jargon, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know her stuff. She will happily discuss the merits of Deliberative Democracy for hours if you’re interested, but generally finds that clients are more concerned about achieving an outcome that pontificating about the theory.
- Sleep is important to Louise. And to sleep well, she needs a clear conscience. So she will always add value, and she will never ‘upsell’ or overcook her approach just to leverage a larger budget.
Zoë Croft
Associate (Communications & Engagement Practitioner)
Shaping content to effectively communicate the client’s message is the foundation of everything Zoe does for her clients. This includes developing website content, writing and editing award submissions, policies and technical documentation, communications strategies and more.In particular, Zoë is known across the infrastructure sector inWestern Australia for her talent in developing industry responses to government requests for tenders. She has perfected the dark art of pulling together content from multiple sources and technical disciplines, and shaping it into a coherent narrative -always within a tight deadline.
Things to know about Zoë:
- Zoë is a unicorn – a rare breed that successfully combines creativity with attention to detail – a right brain/left brain combo that is rarely seen in the wild.
- One of her many talents is her ability to make highly complex and technical information understandable to mere mortals. What’s more, she really enjoys doing it.
- If herding cats was an Olympic sport, Zoe would be a Gold Medal winner – we know this because we have watched on as she corrals clients, pulling content together from multiple sources and technical disciplines, and shaping it into a coherent narrative for new business proposals, bids, tenders and award submissions.
- Whilst we all may claim to have never missed a deadline – Zoe genuinely, honestly and truthfully HAS NEVER MISSED A DEADLINE. There’s that unicorn thing again.
Jack Cooke
Associate
Jack is a communications specialist with experience in public affairs, political engagement, and government policy. His skill set encompasses all forms of writing, from media releases to speeches, social media content to fact sheets, as well as stakeholder engagement and public affairs. Jack has a highly tuned political antenna, gained through both professional experience working for State Government Ministers and Elected Members, and through his own personal interest in current affairs and issues. This ability to read the political landscape, and shape compelling narratives to achieve client outcomes makes him an invaluable asset to our clients. He is particularly experienced in stakeholder relations, and has the ability to help clients navigate and balance complex and sometimes competing stakeholder priorities.
Things to know about Jack:
- Don’t be misled by the tattoos – Jack graduated with First Class Honours in International Relations and National Security Studies, has had papers published by a globally recognised think tank, and has been both a Research Officer and Electorate Officer for WA State Government members including former Minister Alannah MacTiernan MLC.
- Jack spent time volunteering in Milingimmbi, a remote community on an island within East Arnhem Land, where he was privileged to learn about the culture of some of Australia’s First Nations people, as well as the challenges they often face.
- Soccer is Jack’s passion – from learning it aged 4, to playing it for more than two decades, and to coaching it. If he can’t do any of those things, he can be often be found watching live Arsenal matches, usually at 3am.
Chris Hoppen
Associate
Marrying creativity with technical expertise is the key to good digital design, and this is the essence of what Chris brings to the LRAA team.
A digital designer with more than twenty years’ experience, Chris combines creative solutions with technical functionality.
What does this mean in plain English? On Planet Chris you don’t have to sacrifice good looks for functionality – you can have both.
Chris can also go Old School – with a passion for print design and photography complementing his technical understanding of UI and UX.
We think it’s a winning combination
Things to know about Chris:
- Chris is German by birth, but spent his formative teenage years in Thailand. We believe that this is the secret to his ability to combine technological wizadry with imaginative creativity.
- He is a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. Motorbikes, kite surfing, mountain biking – if it’s fast and a little bit dangerous he’s in.
- He is a good person who never ever gossips. Which is impressive and disappointing in equal measure.
The Support Animals
Frankie (right) & Marshall (left)
Things to know about Frankie & Marshall:
- Frankie & Marshall live with Louise.
- Marshall only has one eye because his mummy bit him when he was two days old and his eye had to be removed.
- Frankie is scared of almost everything but Marshall is teaching her to be brave.
LuLu
Things to know about LuLu:
- Lulu lives with Zoe (or Zoe lives with Lulu…).
- Lulu is the prettiest girl in the world, and perhaps the most eccentric.
- She likes pouncing on light spots and sun rays, and never never never says no to playing.
Danny
Things to know about Danny:
- Danny is the wisest and most chilled horse you could ever meet.
- He will do whatever is asked of him (especially if there is a carrot on offer).
- At the grand old age of 24 he has every right to just loll about in his paddock, but is always happy to be taken out for a trail ride or a play in the arena.