Combining some of my favourite pastimes: meeting new people, exploring different cafes, enjoying a hot latte and talking practical challenges and innovations in data governance. 

This instalment is another virtual cuppa, this time with Karina Blackman, Master Data Governance Manager at GrainCorp.  Karina joined me for a coffee and a cracking chat about all things human-centred data governance. With a background in finance, transformation, and process excellence, Karina brings a refreshingly people-first lens to data governance—something we both agreed is often missing. She’s deep in the thick of a major transformation and is using the opportunity to build not just frameworks and standards for master data, but genuine trust and buy-in across the business. I have found that the term Data Literacy can mean so many different things to various people across industry.  I enjoyed one way that Karina helps to increase data literacy at her organisation is through posting her “Master Data Minutes”, just a quick 1 minute read of an explanation or example to help people understand some component of data governance.  She uses storytelling with topics as seemingly random as the many names a greyhound can be called by, to make governance real, relatable, and (maybe?) a bit of fun. We talked about ownership challenges, data literacy, and the value of curiosity. “Put the people at the forefront of everything. What’s in it for them? Make it human-centred before you worry about frameworks and tools.”   I agree.  Gotta love her style, her smarts, and the way she’s quietly changing the way we think about data. 

Thanks for the cuppa and connection, Karina!