Ruth Clare

Strategic solutions to complex problems

For over twenty years, I have helped organisations unpack complex issues and solve difficult problems so they can better support their people and serve their communities.  

My consultation work spans strategic communication, psychologically safe and inclusive workplace support, and lived experience co-design. I mostly work with institutions, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations focusing on mental health, social support and disability.

Strategic communication

Effective communication is not about saying more. It’s about saying what matters, in an accurate and engaging way people can use.

I work with organisations to:

  • define vision, establish priorities and create results-driven communication to achieve organisational aims
  • translate multiple stakeholder inputs and complex multi-faceted information into cohesive communication that is clear, accurate and useable by diverse audiences
  • translate ideas into engaging stories that connect with communities and gain media attention
  • reduce barriers and obstacles to understanding through plain language communication that empowers people and aides decision-making
  • support leaders to communicate powerfully and strategically through highly-credible thought leadership materials across speeches, public-facing communications and media
  • bring clarity to complex communication challenges, defining outcomes, establishing priorities and establishing frameworks for measuring success
  • build online communities to increase engagement and impact across diverse mediums and digital channels

Lived experience co-design

The communities you serve are the reason your work exists. Despite this, many organisations fail to capture the value of lived experience perspectives, missing out on the opportunity to bring real-world insights to entrenched problems, identify unrecognised barriers and ensure their services meet the true needs of the community.


I work with organisations to:

  • embed lived experience feedback and oversight at all business levels including governance, leadership, operations and service delivery
  • establish ethical, inclusive, trauma-informed and psychologically safe lived experience participation guidelines for before, during and after engagement
  • translate lived experience insights into clear, usable recommendations to drive strategic organisational and communication responses
  • drive genuine system change through focus groups, interviews and workshops, capturing lived experience data and feedback from diverse communities without tokenism or extraction
  • integrate lived experience perspectives into policies, procedures, operations manuals, service manuals and internal and external communication materials

Psychological safety and inclusion

In many organisations, psychological safety is undermined by everyday work conditions: unclear role descriptions and work expectations, poorly managed change processes, unresolved conflict in teams, low emotional intelligence in leaders, and lack of effective options for the type of meaningful or inclusive feedback that creates robust organisations. In high-pressure and high-risk environments, these issues are intensified by ongoing exposure to stress, trauma or scrutiny.

 

I work with organisations to:

  • clarify roles, responsibilities, priorities and decision-making processes so people know what is required of them
  • improve communication during change, uncertainty and high-pressure periods
  • reduce silence caused by confusion, fear or unresolved interpersonal conflict to improve innovation and team cohesion
  • strengthen feedback and recognition practices so people feel seen and valued for their work
  • develop trauma-informed, high performance, high responsibility protocols in high-risk or emotionally demanding environments
  • build individual and team psychological safety from the nervous system up to improve organisation-wide capacity respond well under pressure
  • establish neuroinclusive protocols and practices 

Ruth Clare is an author, TEDx speaker, and intergenerational trauma educator whose work breaks silences and drives system change, especially for military families.

Developer of the Parenting After Trauma (PAT) program, Ruth's award-winning memoir, Enemy, was published by Penguin in 2016. Her TEDx talk, The Pain of Hiding Your True Self, has been viewed more than 600,000 times.

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