I'm Annie.
I help startups and grassroots organisations run well.
I studied law and co-wrote a study of the domestic violence order process for the University of Tasmania Law Review.
I co-founded Dara, a new kind of service taking on the unpaid mental load women carry, and built its systems from scratch.
After that, I moved into startup operations. As Chief of Staff at Blackbird, I worked alongside its 11-person leadership team to run strategic planning, board processes and reporting to more than 300 investors. As General Manager of Nonna's Grocer, I ran all of it, from supply chain and marketing to partnerships and strategy.
Now I work across not-for-profits, government and social enterprise. Recent work includes running operations for sustainable fashion platform RIISE, advising City of Sydney Councillor Lyndon Gannon, and working with space engineer Chloe Chang on Ionique Missions.
Outside work, I volunteer at the Women's and Girls' Emergency Centre. I'm also being humbled by my foray into horse riding.
Next, I would love to help build a grassroots gender equity organisation from the inside.
Say hello at annie@anniephelan.com.
What I do.
- Operations and project coordination
- Systems and CRM
- Hiring and onboarding
- Supplier and contract management
- CEO and founder support
- Board, governance and compliance support
Kind words.
“Working with Annie was transformative for Nonna's Grocer. She is that rare combination of big-picture strategist and hands-on operator. Annie spun up and managed our manufacturing relationships, fulfilment, new product launches and strategic marketing function, and her commercial insight has given us a solid foundation to scale. Beyond that, she is a natural relationship builder who has represented our brand with warmth and intelligence in every interaction.”
“Annie was exactly what RIISE needed. As a small team with no dedicated HR, operations, retail or tech support, we had a lot of ideas and not enough structure. Annie took the time to understand how we worked, then built the systems and documentation that let everyone do their job, including a proper onboarding process for every new team member. She turned ideas into action and gave me back time to focus on growing the business.”
“Annie was one of the first people I called when I had the idea for Ionique Missions, and she was instrumental in turning it into a real program. She kept the project moving, secured letters of support from senior leaders in business and government, and helped us through the process of obtaining charitable status. Annie also led the storytelling for our pitch, which opened doors to some of Australia's leading family offices and ultimately led to the program being acquired by an established STEM education provider.”