High-stakes risk by day, inspiring leadership by design.

Ishara is an experienced governance, risk and audit professional with over twenty-five years of experience in risk management, audit and corporate governance, and particular expertise in the banking, financial services and government sectors. She brings a strategic, outcomes-focused perspective to board and committee settings, supporting responsible decision-making and effective oversight across complex, highly regulated and operational environments.

Ishara’s executive career includes senior leadership roles in risk, audit, relationship banking and portfolio management within a major financial institution. During her audit role and in her capacity as Chief Risk Officer for the American Territories, she held direct responsibility for governance and risk oversight spanning 21 countries across Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and America and its territories. In her relationship banking and portfolio management roles, she held direct responsibility for a diversified global client portfolio with a portfolio size exceeding AUD $1 billion.

She brings deep expertise across the First, Second and Third Lines of Defence within banking, from client portfolio management and risk ownership, through to independent challenge, oversight and assurance, giving her a rare, rounded perspective on how risk is managed, governed and assured at every level of a highly regulated organisation. She has applied this experience at board and committee level as a Non-Executive Director and Audit and Risk Committee member across a number of organisations, consistently bringing independent judgement, constructive challenge and strong governance discipline to Board and Committee-level oversight.

Ishara holds a Bachelor of Information Systems and a Master’s in Finance, has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Company Directors Course, and is a Member of the Institute. She has a strong track record helping organisations anticipate emerging risks, strengthen risk oversight and respond decisively to an increasingly complex risk landscape.