Speaker Profile

Hansini Gunasekara is an organisational behaviour and leadership practitioner, researcher, and the Principal Consultant at Upthrive Leadership, where she develops evidence-based strategies to enhance psychological safety, leadership capability, and cross-cultural competency in organisations. Over the past decade, Hansini has partnered with organisations across diverse sectors to elevate leaders from early-career through to executive level, delivering training, coaching, and strategic guidance that enable leaders and their teams to stay engaged and perform effectively. She is currently completing her PhD in organisational behaviour at Auckland University of Technology, undertaking Aotearoa New Zealand’s first systematic research into psychological safety, with a particular focus on how leaders drive psychological safety within diverse teams.

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In addition to her consulting work, Hansini is an active contributor to thought leadership in her field. She regularly speaks on panels, facilitates workshops, and delivers talks and lectures in both industry and academic settings. She publishes peer-reviewed research as well as industry articles, and is deeply committed to bridging the gap between research and practice to create practical, real-world impact. Hansini brings a distinctive blend of extensive consulting expertise, in-house organisational development experience, and a research-backed, human-centered collaborative design approach to organisational behaviour and leadership. She holds a Bachelor’s (Hons) in Psychology (USA) and a Master’s in Research Methodology (UK), academic foundations that underpin her evidence-based practice. She is dedicated to helping organisations create environments where all people can thrive and belong.