Having access to quality healthcare in metropolitan areas is essentially taken for granted these days. When disaster strikes, no-one is left in doubt that help is nearby, easily reached and able to provide total care. This isn’t always the case in regional, rural and remote Australia.

For rural communities in the back of beyond, healthcare can often feel out of reach. That wasn’t good enough for Anna Klis, Founding Director and CEO of ASAC Consultancy. A trusted, purpose-driven organization working to bring world-class health services to remote communities across the nation, ASAC’s efforts have changed lives and earned Klis a finalist spot in the Healthcare category at The CEO Magazine’s 2025 Executive of the Year Awards.

“I’m proud that ASAC Consultancy has grown to deliver meaningful outcomes across rural, remote and First Nations communities,” she says.

“We work alongside aged care, healthcare and community service providers to stabilize essential services, strengthen governance and build local capability where continuity of care truly matters.”

Focus on community

Established in 2019 as an effort to bridge health inequities, ASAC Consultancy has blossomed into something much greater. Klis has guided the company to deliver over 100 national projects, stabilizing high-risk services, restoring compliance and building sustainable, community-led models of care.

“We don’t just deliver projects,” Klis says. “We build capability that lasts long after we leave. My favorite part of my job is seeing proof that change can happen anywhere when people are backed with the right support and leadership.”

ASAC Consultancy provides a steady hand in getting these projects off the ground. From feasibility studies and risk management to assistance with funding and grants, staff training and compliance assistance, the company is there end-to-end – and so is Klis.

“I don’t lead from behind a desk; I lead beside people,” she says. “I step into places where others often walk away, not because it’s easy, but because it matters.”

Her collaborative approach to leadership places Klis within the heart of the communities ASAC Consultancy supports – walking beside local leaders, health workers and elders to create solutions that are truly community-driven.

“Those are when a community lets us in, when a team finds belief in themselves again, when care becomes safer and when hope returns to places that were losing it,” she says.

The deeds and mission of ASAC Consultancy align neatly with advice that inspired Klis early on in her career. Even after 20 years of clinical, governance and executive leadership, she says this advice continues to spur her on to greater heights.

“It was, ‘leadership isn’t proven when things are going well, it’s revealed in how you show up when they’re not,’” she says. “It’s true in every environment; anyone can appear capable in calm waters.

“Real leadership is measured in uncertainty, when pressure rises, when people are looking for direction and when decisions require courage rather than comfort.”

Ready for a challenge

When challenges arise for the CEO, Klis says she responds rather than reacts.

“Leadership isn’t about noise or authority; it’s about clarity, consistency and accountability. It’s a test of character,” she affirms.

Now, Klis’ leadership has been rewarded with a nomination for the Healthcare Executive of the Year Award. The honor taps into her belief that great leadership leaves a mark.

“It should grow people, strengthen systems and create change that endures beyond the individual,” she says.

Elsewhere, that change continues to take shape thanks to ASAC Consultancy’s innovations. The firm’s hydrogen-powered medical drone initiative, Wildu Aero, is improving access to healthcare in regional, rural and remote regions.

The company is also partnering with government, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and regional providers to widen its footprint, embed cultural governance and shared decision-making in service design, and ensure local leadership is meaningful rather than symbolic.

“Across every area of reform, our focus remains clear,” she says. “Build capability, embed quality and deliver change that lasts, especially where it’s needed most.”

This is more than today’s achievement; Klis believes it’s the foundation of even greater future change.

“Where someone lives should never determine the standard of care they receive,” she says. “My hope is to see a system that is proactive, not reactive; one that invests in prevention capability and continuity rather than waiting for crisis intervention.

“The future must be community-led, evidence-informed and designed with communities, not for them.”

The practical reform ASAC Consultancy works so hard to bring about will help to shape that future, Klis adds.

“Australia cannot achieve health equity without rural, remote and First Nations equity. One cannot exist without the other,” she says. “We will continue to lead in the work, with community, turning commitment into action and action into impact.”