Conversations for clarity
Helping people navigate complexity, change, and pressure
Tanya Gawthorne
Founder and facilitator
Tanya Gawthorne is the founder and facilitator of Balanced Consulting, offering speaking, workshops and facilitation for people and organisations working through demanding times. Drawing on more than 20 years of management experience across health, government, environmental and community settings, she helps groups clarify their direction, strengthen working relationships and agree on practical next steps.
Her services include strategic planning, workplace governance, and facilitation for meetings, forums and conferences. Tanya also delivers talks and workshops exploring burnout and resilience, leading change, the cost of caring, and wellbeing at work. She provides tailored programs and retreats that combine practical learning, reflection, coaching and peer connection, including her key offering - Sustainable Leadership for leaders under sustained demand. Her approach creates space for conversations that bring clarity and support sustainable ways forward.
About my work
My work sits at the intersection of lived experience, professional practice, and systems thinking.
Over many years, I have worked alongside individuals, teams, and organisations navigating complexity, responsibility, and change — particularly in health, environmental, community, government, and not-for-profit contexts. This has included roles in strategy, facilitation, coaching, leadership development, public health, and environmental management.
Alongside this professional path, life has provided its own lessons through periods of illness, recovery, uncertainty, and transition. These experiences continue to shape how I work: with patience, realism, and deep respect for the challenges people may be carrying, whether visible or unseen.
I am particularly interested in how people make sense of complexity — how they find clarity amidst competing demands, navigate change with wisdom, and create ways of living and working that are both meaningful and sustainable over time.
Education and learning
My background spans environmental science, public health, strategy, facilitation, and coaching.
Over the course of my career, I have worked across health, environmental, community, government, and not-for-profit settings, supporting individuals, teams, and organisations to navigate complexity, change, and competing priorities. This work has included roles in policy, leadership, program management, strategy, and advisory services.
I hold qualifications in environmental science and public health, and continue to deepen my practice through ongoing learning in areas that support meaningful conversations and sustainable change. This includes coaching, facilitation, behaviour change, yoga teaching, meaningful gathering, and bibliotherapy.
I see learning as a responsibility rather than a credential. The aim is not to collect qualifications, but to develop the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to work thoughtfully with people, communities, and complex systems.
Beyond work
Outside of my professional work, I am an active volunteer with WA Seabird Rescue and the Mandurah Angels Breast Cancer Social Support Group. These communities reflect many of the values that underpin my work — care, contribution, connection, and the importance of showing up for one another during both ordinary and challenging times.
When I’m not working, you’ll often find me hiking, camping, dabbling in watercolours, or spending time with books that help me think differently about people, communities, and the world around us.
These interests continue to shape how I see and engage with the world — reminding me of the value of perspective, curiosity, and paying attention to what might otherwise go unnoticed.
If you're considering working together
You don't need to have a clear plan or a clearly defined problem to get in touch.
Many conversations begin with a question, a challenge, a sense that something needs attention, or simply a desire to think things through with someone else.
If you're navigating complexity, change, or pressure, and wondering whether this approach might be a good fit for you, your team, or your organisation, you're welcome to reach out. An initial conversation can help bring clarity to what might be helpful, without obligation.