The Brisbane Olympics organising committee has named Cindy Hook as the Games’ Chief Executive Officer. Hook spent over three decades at Deloitte before retiring in June.
Just months after retiring to the US, former Deloitte Australia and Asia Pacific boss Cindy Hook has made a surprise return to the Australian public arena – appointed to oversee the delivery of the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. A Californian native, Hook first arrived to Australian shores in 2009, before five years later being appointed as the first woman to lead one of the local Big Four professional services firms.
“The idea of being able to create the vision, build the team, set the strategies, and ultimately build up to delivering a smooth and successful Games is very exciting and I expect it will be both challenging and rewarding,” Hook stated.
Describing the role as a once in a lifetime opportunity, Hook said. “It’s my dream job and plays to my passions for the Olympics and Paralympics, Australia, and the importance of well-being.”
Replaced by Deloitte Australia veteran David Hill, Hook only stepped down from her most recent role as inaugural CEO of the firm’s amalgamated Asia Pacific region in June, at the time citing a desire to be closer to her family in the United States. Ostensibly in retirement, one month later she received a call from the Olympic organising committee – which includes KPMG partner Shelley Reys – and is now busy hunting for houses in Brisbane.
“One of the greatest rewards out of this will be delivering a successful games, and I’m keen to see it through to fruition,” Hook said of the ten-year commitment, with Brisbane Olympics organising committee president and former long-time Dow CEO Andrew Liveris adding; “I have dealt with a lot of global executives over my time, and I’m just gobsmacked that we have managed to attract someone like Cindy.”
Deloitte, the largest professional services firm in the world with global revenues now in excess of $50 billion, will likely be especially pleased with Hook’s appointment, having signed up earlier this year as a top-tier Olympics sponsor and partner, the strategic and digital consulting support deal extending through to the 2032 Brisbane Games. Hook spent altogether more than three and a half decades at the firm.
First joining as an auditor in San Francisco in 1986, Hook was admitted to Deloitte’s partnership in 1998. She then crossed with the firm to Sydney in 2009 to take on the role of Assurance & Advisory national managing partner, before being appointed CEO of Deloitte’s Australian and then Asia Pacific operations – the latter helping to propel the firm to global ascendancy as its leading international growth market.
“I think there are two aspects that keep me going,” Hook stated in a 2021 interview published on Consultancy.asia. “The first is that I am incredibly competitive, and want to make Deloitte the best professional services firm in the world. The other thing that really drives me is a desire to help people reach their potential. Developing talent and building capability is core to our business but it's also incredibly rewarding for me.”
Sourced from Consultancy.com.au