Samira (Sam) Richards is a Partner at SHK Asia Pacific, where she leads the firm’s Chief People Officer practice. With over 25 years of executive leadership experience, Sam specializes in advising Boards and CEOs on the appointment of senior People and Culture executives. Her expertise is defined by her recent tenure as the Chief People Officer at Ambulance Victoria, where she led a division of over 160 staff supporting 8,000 employees and volunteers through major cultural reform and organizational restructuring. Her professional background also includes significant leadership roles at Benetas and a decade at Monash University, where she directed recruitment and HR business partnering at an enterprise level. Sam is recognized for her ability to align workforce strategy with organizational performance and long-term sustainability in highly scrutinized, operationally intensive environments. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources Management from La Trobe University and a degree from the University of Sheffield.