Susan Biggs is the Chief Executive Officer of Adara Development (formerly The ISIS Foundation), an international development organisation.

Adara Development was established in 1998 and provides services to people in poverty in rural communities. Today, Adara Development helps over 30,000 people in poverty a year.

Adara Development funds and manages, in partnership with local community groups, numerous health and education projects in Nepal and in Uganda. All of its projects focus on the remote delivery of health, education and community development services to local children and women.

In 2013, Ms Biggs was a finalist in the 2013 NSW Telstra Business Women's Awards. She was selected as one of four women from across the state in the Community and Government category for her outstanding contribution not only to Adara, but also for her career to date.

Ms Biggs was the Chair of a Standards Australia committee to develop a Gender Inclusive Job Evaluation Standard which would assist Australian employers to undertake job evaluations in a way that will minimise gender bias.

Before joining Adara, Ms Biggs was the National Policy Manager of the New Zealand Human Rights
Commission. Prior to that, she was the Deputy Director of Australia�s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) - both senior positions in the New Zealand and Australian public service.

Ms Biggs began a career in work and gender issues in 1986 when she founded and ran a small business, eventually employing 50 people, called Families At Work, and for 12 years was a consultant to businesses wanting to establish more family friendly work practices. During this time she also wrote a book called Time On Time Out, Flexible Work Practices to Keep Your Life in Balance, and was the Chair of the Premiers Council for Women from 1997 to 2003.

Ms Biggs has a BA, Post Graduate qualifications in business and in education, and a Masters in International Relations.

Areas of Expertise