Disaster Resilience Advisory
Adapt. Deliver. Sustain.
Supporting leaders in complex environments
Sarah Foxe working at the State Emergency Operations Centre
The funding is secured.
The intent is genuine.
But somewhere between the policy and the people, the work gets stuck.
Foxe Advisory helps the work land.
Why us? 20+ years inside government, disaster management and international development.
In disaster resilience, conditions shift faster than systems and people adapt. Funding rules create friction, decisions stall, teams burn out and communities are left waiting. The intent is rarely the problem. Progress breaks down in the gap between policy and delivery.
I founded Foxe Advisory after watching what gets lost in delivery. I work with leaders to align teams around a shared goal, build governance and delivery conditions that hold under pressure, and keep outcomes on track without burning out the people delivering them.
Our services
Foxe Advisory works at the points where complex work most often breaks down. Strategy becomes shared direction. Governance that enables decisions to move forward. Delivery that reaches communities, not just plans on a page. A culture that learns, adapts and leads what’s next.
Strategy and Alignment
Clarify the purpose, the community outcomes that matter, and the priorities to align on, even when complex funding arrangements and competing demands pull in different directions.
Governance and Decision Making
Set up the structures and decision pathways that surface risks and issues early, sharpen decisions, and keep delivery moving when complexity and pressure is high.
Delivery and Leadership
Strengthen delivery, build confidence, and embed the rhythms and ways of working that keep leadership and teams moving in fast-paced environments. Often that means flying the plane while you build it.
Learning and Future Readiness
Build the learning culture, capability, insight and evaluation that make organisations more adaptive and ready for the future.
Ways to engage Foxe Advisory
Foxe Advisory offers executive‑level guidance and hands‑on support across strategy, governance, delivery, and facilitation.
Advisory
Strategic and operational support tailored to the complexity of the work, the funding environment and the outcomes that matter.
Fractional Leadership
Senior leadership on a flexible basis. Foxe Advisory steps in to establish direction, set up programs and guide teams through early or complex phases of work.
Facilitation
Independent facilitation for strategy days, team development, cross-agency workshops and multi-stakeholder processes. Ideal when neutrality and skilled guidance matter.
Expert Contribution
Foxe Advisory partners with consulting agencies as a senior specialist, bringing depth across strategy, governance, delivery, grants, PMOs and complex funding arrangements.
About Sarah Foxe
I'm Sarah Foxe, founder and principal of Foxe Advisory. For more than 20 years, I've led major programs and reform across local and state government, the social sector, purpose-driven organisations and corporate partnerships. My career has spanned Australian disaster management and international development, including work with communities facing the direct impacts of climate change. This experience has shaped how I think about complex program design and delivery and what it takes for outcomes to reach the communities they were built for.
Drawing on Human-Centred Design, I bring people together, break down silos and find a path forward when the way isn't obvious. Facilitation is central to how I work, whether that means helping an executive team find shared direction, supporting a delivery team in the thick of it, or working with community partners to shape what success should look like. I'm passionate about centring people around the why so shared purpose drives the work. I love designing ways of working and tools that align teams and bring focus and helping leaders and organisations adapt as conditions shift.
My family lives close to the Royal National Park on Dharawal Country. We love spending time outdoors on our mountain bikes or in the surf and being active in our community.
Experience and Qualifications
My experience spans the full disaster management cycle. I've operated in the State Emergency Operations Centre during the 2022 Northern Rivers floods, worked alongside recovery leaders across Australia and internationally, and supported programs across prevention, preparedness, response and recovery in Asia and the Pacific.
I've also led change management and machinery of government transitions, including establishing enterprise PMOs, grants management functions, monitoring and evaluation teams and program delivery teams across complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
My qualifications include an MBA from UNSW AGSM, where I was awarded a 2020 Centre for Social Impact Scholarship in recognition of sector leadership. I also hold a Master of Social Development from UNSW, and a Bachelor of Business and International Studies from UTS. I am a Certified Program Director and bring experience as a Non-Executive Director across the social sector.
Who is this for?
Local Councils and Joint Organisations
Direct recipients of DRF and DRFA funding, managing and delivering programs across their communities.
Not-for-Profit and Community Sector Organisations
DRF recipients, DRFA delivery partners and DFAT funded organisations managing complex program delivery across communities.
Innovation and Social Impact Focused Corporates
Private sector organisations working across disaster resilience, shared value, innovation and social impact.
Federal and State Government Agencies
Overseeing complex program delivery across prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
How we work
Outcomes, not just outputs
Funding requirements and compliance obligations matter. Keeping them on track is part of the work. But every decision comes back to whether it serves the communities it was built for.
Adaptive by design
Plans set direction but rarely survive contact with the real world. The work is built to move, learn and adjust as conditions change.
Listening across all layers
The best insight rarely sits at the top. We draw on data, community experience and frontline knowledge alongside leadership perspective to understand what is actually happening.
ALIGNMENT BEFORE ACTION
When people are clear on the real problem, what success looks like and the risks, the work moves differently. We build that shared understanding early, so purpose drives delivery rather than assumption.
Built for the actual problem
No two programs are the same. We work to understand what is happening before reaching for solutions, which means asking harder questions and resisting the pull toward easy answers.
Conditions over heroics
High-pressure environments don't have to break the people working in them. We build the conditions where teams have clarity, know their contribution and can do meaningful work without burning out.
Service Details
A closer look at how each service works in practice
Strategy and Alignment
Clarify the purpose, the community outcomes that matter, and the priorities to align on, even when complex funding arrangements and competing demands pull in different directions.
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Clarity and alignment determine whether the work moves, stalls or drifts. We help leaders understand the real problem, define what success looks like on the ground, and set a direction that can adapt as conditions shift and learning builds. We draw on impact data and assessment to ground the work in what communities are experiencing, not just what was planned. This includes policy, direction-setting, risk identification and the alignment needed across agencies, systems and leadership layers, keeping community outcomes at the centre, particularly where funding rules and constraints define the boundaries of what can be done.
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We listen across frontline, operational, executive and political layers to surface what is getting in the way and agree on what progress actually looks like. This includes building measurement in from the start so you can see what is working and adjust course. You walk away with clear direction, a coherent narrative and a plan built to adapt as the work evolves.
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A new program or initiative needs clear direction before the complexity sets in. A program already in motion has lost its centre and teams are pulling in different directions. Funding rules and agency boundaries are defining the work more than community need. Leaders across agencies are not aligned on what success looks like or who is responsible for what. Risks haven’t been identified or don’t have clear owners.
Governance and Decision Making
Set up the structures and decision pathways that surface risks and issues early, sharpen decisions, and keep delivery moving when complexity and pressure is high.
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Governance is often the difference between momentum and gridlock. Many disaster resilience programs operate within complex funding arrangements, including the Disaster Ready Fund (DRF) and Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), each with different rules, compliance requirements and governance pressures that shape how programs must be delivered. We strengthen how decisions are made, communicated and coordinated across agencies, programs and leadership layers. We surface risks and issues early, clarify roles, responsibilities and escalation pathways, and design governance that supports delivery rather than slowing it down. We bring discipline to how information flows and how leaders stay connected to what is happening on the ground, through timely data and insights.
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We work alongside you to design governance that is fit for purpose and satisfies funding requirements. Together, we clarify who makes which decisions, simplify reporting, and establish operating rhythms that keep leaders informed without overwhelming teams. This can include establishing or resetting Program Management Offices, improving the use of data and insights, or introducing AI and tools that create efficiency without turning the process into the work. The result is governance that creates clarity, reduces noise and keeps the work focused on what matters.
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When decisions are bottlenecked and delivery is stalling. When compliance requirements are consuming more capacity than the work itself. When risks are surfacing too late, accountability is unclear, and no one is sure who decides what.
Learning and Future Readiness
Build the learning culture, capability, insight and evaluation that make organisations more adaptive and ready for the future.
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The work of disaster resilience does not end when the immediate work does. The real opportunity is in understanding what worked, what did not, and how learning can be shared so that next time, everyone is better prepared.
We help agencies capture lessons in real time, make sense of them, and turn them into better ways of working. This includes after-action reviews, evaluations, micro learning events and facilitated learning across agencies and community partners. We focus on building a culture of learning, strengthening leadership capability, and creating simple practices that help people learn and improve over time, so organisations are more adaptive and better prepared for what comes next.
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We work with leaders to surface the lessons that matter and make sure they don't get lost once the urgency fades, turning insights into practical improvements before the moment passes. You walk away with stronger learning capability and an organisation that is more adaptive and better prepared for what comes next.
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When the urgent work is done but the learning hasn't been captured and the moment is passing. When after-action reviews are happening but insights aren't translating into better ways of working. When leaders want to build an organisation that genuinely improves over time, not one that faces the same challenges again next time.
Delivery and Leadership
Strengthen delivery, build confidence, and embed the rhythms and ways of working that keep leadership and teams moving in fast-paced environments. Often that means flying the plane while you build it.
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Programs in climate and disaster resilience operate in environments where urgency is high, conditions shift quickly and teams must deliver while learning in real time. The leadership challenge is not just keeping delivery moving, it is knowing when to adapt direction, empowering teams to make timely decisions at the right level and maintaining momentum when the situation keeps changing. We focus on the day-to-day of delivery: the operating rhythms, ways of working and leadership practices that keep programs moving when conditions don't sit still, and the clarity people need to act with confidence.
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We work alongside leaders to understand where delivery is slowing down and build the operating rhythms, ways of working and decision-making clarity that get teams moving with confidence. You walk away with a program that is steady, coordinated and adaptive without burning out the people delivering it.
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When a program is moving but not fast enough, and the team is stuck in reactive mode rather than driving delivery. When leaders are making decisions that should be sitting lower in the team, or decisions aren't getting made at all. When the operating rhythm is broken, too many meetings or only hallway conversations, unclear ownership, and no one quite sure what good progress looks like.
Get in Touch
If you're working through a complex challenge, exploring an opportunity, or simply want to think something through, reach out. There's no obligation and no sales pitch. Just a conversation to see if there's a fit.
Email sarah@foxeadvisory.com.au or submit the form below