Drew Baker

General Manager
Centre for Public Management

Drew Baker is the General Manager of the Centre for Public Management Pty Ltd. His areas of professional expertise include leadership development; strategic planning and facilitation; executive coaching and career management; and generational change.

Drew joined CPM in 2007 and delivers a range of programs to the public sector, with a focus on management and leadership development at the Executive Level. He presents on public programs open to staff from across the public service, as well as leadership programs delivered to clients including the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the Department of Defence and the Family Law Courts of Australia.

Prior to commencing consulting in 2007, Drew spent over twelve years working in the Commonwealth public sector, including four years at the Senior Executive Service (SES) level. His most recent experience at the Senior Executive level was as part of the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the former Department of Industry Tourism & Resources (DITR). Other work prior to that was with the former Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business (DEWRSB); the Australian Customs Service (ACS) and the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA).

During his time in the public sector, Drew was involved in a range of projects and reforms with a particular focus on service delivery improvement and the implementation of major change initiatives. These included budgeting reforms, online services for small business, grants management and whole-of-government service delivery.

Drew has a number of areas of expertise:

• Leadership Development – delivery of leadership programs to public sector employees at the APS and Executive Level, including transitioning from APS to EL roles. Recent engagements have included work in developing countries and mentoring a young employees group.
• Strategic Planning and Facilitation – working with divisions, branches or sections to facilitate planning sessions and develop strategic priorities. Recent engagements have included planning days with cross-agency representation and work on an industry-wide strategic plan.
• Executive Coaching and Career Planning – individual development through one-on-one coaching with an emphasis on career development and achievement.

Drew is an accredited Master Project Director; a member of the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM); and a Senior Member of the Australian Computer Society (ACS). He sits on the ACT Council of the Institute of Public Administration of Australia (IPAA) and is also a member of the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) and a Certified Professional with the Australian Human Resource Institute (AHRI). Drew holds or is in the process of gaining accreditation in the DiSC behavioural model, the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) and Executive Coaching.