Our people

WHH Publishing

Virginia has an unsurpassed reputation for being able to ‘see’ a draft text quickly – to understand its structure, key messages, and important subtleties in complex passages; to determine how to convey these in plain English; and to improve communication of the key messages through visual aids or tools to assist document navigation.

Virginia was substantive editor of the family of documents that supported the Australian Government’s negotiations on climate change at Kyoto in 1997. She was the managing editor for the Report of the Task Group on Emissions Trading in 2007.

Since 1997, Virginia has provided high-level editorial advice to more than forty Commonwealth government organisations. This experience has given her a deep understanding of public policies across a broad spectrum of issues, the public policy-making environment, and considerations related to various stakeholders and audiences. 

As director of an integrated publishing company, she has served as managing editor for more than 2,500 publication projects over the past ten years. As well as directing the in-house design and print management capacity at WHH Publishing, she has worked closely with most of the leading design and print companies in Canberra.

Virginia is the inaugural chair of the Council of the Institute of Professional Editors; immediate past President and a former Treasurer of the Canberra Society of Editors; former managing editor of the Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration; and was an ACT Finalist in 2003 in the Telstra Businesswoman of the Year awards. She has a strong background in languages and is an experienced teacher and trainer.

Janette Ryan brings senior executive experience in the Australian Public Service to WHH and our clients. Before joining WHH in 2005, she was Assistant Secretary for Information Resources at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Janette offers a deep understanding of Australian government policies and processes, executive management experience, and a talent for working productively with a wide variety of people. She provides high-level project management, client liaison services and general publishing advice.

Educated as an economist, Janette has over twelve years policy experience at DFAT, the Departments of Treasury and the Prime Minister and Cabinet. At the international level, Janette worked for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Geneva preparing for the 1992 Rio Conference. Later she was a member of Australia’s delegation to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in 1993–94. Pursuing an early interest in social policy, Janette was involved in the ‘Social Justice in Australia Project’ at the ANU Research School of Social Sciences in the mid 1980s.  

Karen Deighton-Smith has worked in publishing for 20 years. She has performed a variety of editing, project management and senior management roles for general book and educational publishers in Sydney and Melbourne. She has also provided consultancy services to cultural institutions in Canberra. She offers WHH clients her extensive knowledge of the latest publishing solutions and advice about how to achieve value for money.

Before joining WHH Publishing in 2007, Karen worked for three years with Aboriginal Studies Press, the publishing arm of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. She project managed and edited complex books, including Aboriginal Darwin: a guide to exploring important places of the past and present, and wrote and edited marketing copy for both print and web. Karen was also involved in updating the Aboriginal Studies Press website. In recent years, Karen has also worked closely with the Canberra International Film Festival, National Archives of Australia, and Hodder Headline Australia (now Hachette Livre).

Larissa Joseph joined WHH as a full-time senior editor in May 2007. Before joining WHH, Larissa was a senior editor for ten years in the Philadelphia office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a large international law firm. Her responsibilities included editing legal documents and marketing materials for readability and accuracy, coordinating and managing projects, and training new editorial staff. At Morgan Lewis, Larissa edited white papers, news releases, seminar papers, legal briefs, practice group newsletters, and estate planning documents. She also edited two handbooks: the Handbook of Investment in the United States and the Hedge Fund Deskbook.

As an editor in Australia, Larissa has worked on documents for a range of government departments and private sector clients. She has edited annual reports, practice guides, procedures manuals and research reports. Larissa has quickly gained a reputation in Canberra for the excellence and precision of her work. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet valued highly her significant structural editing work on the sensitive and complex Report of the Task Group on Emissions Trading, released in May 2007. Larissa earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Ancient Greek and Latin. She graduated summa cum laude and received the university’s senior classics prize.

Les Brown manages production services—including outsourced printing—for WHH Publishing, and is heavily involved in costing these services for customers. He began his career as a hot metal lithographer with the Sydney Morning Herald, and in the 1970s came to the ACT to help introduce new technology at the Canberra Times. Les then founded a typesetting company to support lodgement of Australian government advertising, which completed more than 50,000 time-sensitive jobs without missing a deadline.

Les was managing director of Brown & Co Typesetting and director of a joint venture with WHH—Brown & Wilton Integrated Publishing—before selling his successful page design and layout business to a large graphic design company. After overseeing consolidation of Brown & Co operations within the acquiring company, Les joined WHH. Les brings the approach of a master craftsman to our publishing team along with ‘old school’ humanity and, in season, cut flowers from his garden.

Robyn Leason manages implementation of new publishing technologies at WHH. She brings 15 years experience as a publishing all-rounder for public agencies and peak organisations in Canberra including the National Farmers’ Federation, Airservices Australia and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Robyn received her Masters in Internet Communication in 2004 and has been busy applying her learning on a range of challenging projects.

Robyn is our expert in single-source publishing—creating a single master file that can be transformed into both print and online versions of publications. Collaborating with experts in other organisations, she has found innovative ways to ‘nest’ texts in publications.

Andrew Bairnsfather develops and implements graphic design and layout concepts. He works with Robyn Leason and our editors on ways to use design to communicate information better. Before coming to WHH, Andrew worked for Geoscience Australia, the Office of Spatial Data Management, Inter-Governmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping, and private clients. He also taught at the Canberra Institute of Technology.

Andrew is interested in innovative graphic design that attracts attention and focuses on the message. A knowledgeable technophile, he has helped less sensitive workmates to understand what their computers are thinking and feeling.

Jaana Smith has worked as a typesetter and desktop specialist in the Canberra publishing industry for 22 years. Before joining WHH in May 2007, Jaana spent five years with ZOO. Jaana’s calm, unflappable and highly professional manner makes her a delight to work with, especially at the page proof stage of a publishing project, when clients are typically working to tight deadlines and under significant pressure.

 

WHH Learning and Growth

Bruce Hanford focuses on linking learning, research, communication and business development to deliver innovation. His consulting has spanned insurance, financial services and computer marketing; economic infrastructure; public policy; space-based communication; subsidised human services; criminal investigations; and higher education. Since 2000 he has led a team that delivers the Graduate Program in Scientific Leadership for the University of Melbourne. He also collaborates on WHH publishing projects.

Bruce has worked as an investigative reporter and editor (News Ltd, Rolling Stone, Fairfax), a project leader in commercial research (Reark Research) and an Australian public servant; with excursions in the music, film and broadcast industries. He is an associate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors; and accredited in Team Management Systems. His writing has won awards and been published internationally.

Ginny Bateman manages WHH learning programs and coordinates operations that involve complex project administration, including stakeholder communications, end-user research and community of practice development. She brings experience gained in working for John R Pola & Associates PR, Johnson & Johnson, Jones Lang Wootten, Woolworths advertising and marketing department, and the Tuggeranong Tennis Centre.

Ginny is a skilful coordinator of events and networks, capable of creating common ground between people with different mindsets and sensibilities. Her work ranges from marketing to the management of relationships, so essential to sustained delivery of quality services.

WHH internal management

Leonie McCulloch manages WHH’s office, IT support and financial systems. She started her career as a technical officer in a medical research laboratory, before becoming a small business proprietor and bookkeeper.