Stephen Blackadder is the Managing Director of Local Partnership and brings over 36 years of leadership and consulting experience in local government across Australia. He has personally worked in seven diverse city and rural councils in NSW, including Warringah, Rockdale, Woollahra, Wyong, North Sydney, and Canterbury, and served as Chief Executive Officer in three councils for more than 20 years.

Since 2007, with Blackadder Associates, Stephen has provided independent management consulting advice to over 150 councils in NSW, Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. His work spans executive recruitment, community strategic planning, culture improvement programs, leadership development, performance management, and Councillor and executive team development.

Stephen has a long-standing focus on leadership assessment and development. He has been accredited in Hogan Personality assessments for over twelve years and Hogan 360 Degree Ratings for eight years. As an experienced Hogan assessor, Stephen evaluates the leadership potential of candidates for executive roles and delivers tailored leadership development programs for executive and middle management teams. He also provides one-on-one coaching to build high-performing leaders.

His extensive consulting and executive experience enables him to work effectively with Mayors, Councillors and executive teams to deliver practical solutions that strengthen governance, refine leadership strategies and build cohesive, resilient executive teams. Stephen has personally recruited over 110 local government and not-for-profit CEOs and has supported executive teams to enhance performance, improve relationships, and operate effectively under pressure.