Kimberley Swords
Kimberly Swords is a founder and CEO of Riffle Advisory, Program Director of the Oxford Transformative Project Leadership Program at University of Queensland. Swords was recognised as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences in 2025.
Education and Early Life
Swords was a vet in her early career, working as a large animal country vet, and her passion for the environment let to a career transition to Natural Resource Management. She has a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Queensland and an MBS from RMIT. She also is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.Career
Swords was previously a McKinsey and Nous group management consultant. Her experience includes advising on net zero strategies, as well as climate risk and nature and natural capital leaderhip, as well as coaching. She has worked at UNESCO, UNEP and Interpol as well as other international agencies. Swords was Chair of Southern Queensland Landscapes and University of Queensland Industry Professor. In 2010, Swords was appointed as the Deputy Secretary within the Australian Government, working in heritage and conservation as well as protection of the environment.Swords is a member of the Working group on the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, a Program Director for the UQ Transformative Leadership Program. She is also the Chair of the Southern Queensland Landscapes.