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Biography

Of all the things I’ve done in my career, none have been more fulfilling and rewarding as leading training workshops and brainstorms. Based in Sydney, Australia since 2002, I work primarily between two masters:  my own private clients (some of which have been clients for more than 15 years) and various registered training organisations across Australia.

My Career in Statistics

  • 37,000 hours facilitating 7,000 workshops for 12,000 participants in 26 countries on 5 continents. I’m only missing Africa (hopefully so) and Antarctia (possibly not).
  • More than 700 different clients in 75 different industries
  • Curricula design and development and competency assessment
  • Blogging since January 2009
  • Keynote speaker and guest presenter at conferences in Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, the UAE and the USA

Career Positions

  • AQUS Pty Ltd, my own training consultancy, since 2006
  • National Facilitation Manager for the Australian Institute of Management, overseeing 375 facilitators, faculty and assessors across Australia
  • Worldwide Creative Director for Burson-Marsteller (now BCW soon to be just Burson) and its 90+ offices globally
  • Managing Director of Global Training, Burson-Marsteller University
  • Regional Creative Director for Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific and the Middle East
  • Vice President of Marketing Communications, MasterCard International, New York
  • Executive Vice President, Weber Shandwick, Chicago and New York
  • Senior Vice President at Golin-Harris (now Golin), Chicago

Formal Accreditations and Practical Experience

  • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
  • Team Management Systems
  • GENOS Emotional Intelligence
  • LEGO Serious Play
Also, I’m experienced in the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, Communications Problem-Solving, Learning Styles Questionnaire (Honey and Mumford), and Communications Style Flexing.

Education and Certification

  • Bachelor of Arts, Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Iowa, USA
  • Advanced Diploma of Leadership & Management, Australian College of Commerce and Management
  • Certificate IV in Adult Training and Assessment (TAE40110), University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
  • Associate of Arts in Graphic Design, University of Iowa, USA
  • Past lecturer at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Columbia College in Chicago

Some Personal Things

  • Many moons ago I thought I thought I could be a concert pianist.  You can visit my YouTube channel to hear my music, if not see Andy with a baby beard
  • International traveller: to date, I’ve visited 57 countries.
Andy Eklund
Photography by Zoom In With Eden