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Senior Research Fellow, Curtin Not-for-profit Initiative, Curtin University

Penny Knight is a strategist and researcher. She is an expert in the development of evidenced based strategy and in change management, and has extensive knowledge of research and data analysis, performance management and reporting across a wide range of sectors.

She began her career working in a commercial research, undertaking quantitative and qualitative studies for retailers, manufacturers, service providers and government. She then moved to KPMG London where she lead teams undertaking organisation evaluation and strategy, across a range of areas spanning mergers and acquisitions, privatisation, market strategy and program evaluation. She later moved to PriceWaterhouseCoopers Hong Kong where she was responsible for a two year whole-of-government service improvement program. Since returning to Australia, she has held senior government roles, most recently with the Strategic Policy Unit in WA Treasury where she was responsible for reviewing WA Government’s performance management framework, program and agency evaluations.

Since joining the Curtin Not-for-profit Initiative in February 2011 she has lead projects including the evaluation of governance for the Australian Institute of Company Directors, costing and pricing in the disability sector and a five year study to evaluate NFP funding policy for the WA Government. She was the lead author for the inaugural Curtin Australian Charities Report 2013 for the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

She is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australian Social and Market Research Society and a volunteer director of Therapy Focus, WA’s largest provider of services for children with disability.

Experience

  • –present
    Senior Research Fellow, Not-for-profit Sector, Curtin University

Education

  • 2010 
    University of Western Australia , MBA