Michaela Browning

Michaela has served as CEO for Asia Pacific since April 2024, driving strategy for the firm in-region while overseeing client engagement and advisory.

Michaela was previously Vice President and the Regional Head of Government and Public Policy for Asia Pacific at Google, across all its business groups, managing the company’s interactions with governments, institutional and corporate policy partners and civil society stakeholders in the region. She also sat on the Asia Pacific Operations, Global Affairs and Risk leadership committees.

Michaela held a range of senior positions in the Australian government prior to this, including as a senior diplomat of more than 27 years with a focus on Asia, trade and security. This included roles as Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau (2017-2020), inaugural CEO of the National Foundation of Australia China relations (2020), leading global investment promotion and trade deal teams across established markets at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (2015-2017), a trade negotiator at the WTO and on the Australia USA and Australia Singapore Free Trade Agreements, and as Senior International Adviser to ministers for Defence and Foreign Affairs.

Michaela is a Prime Minister-appointed Australian representative to the APEC Business Advisory Council where she chairs the Finance and Economics Working Group, and a Non-Executive Director of the board of Singtel Optus. She also sits on the board of the US-ASEAN Business Council, the Australia Japan Business Co-Operation Committee, and Asia Society Australia.

She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) and Masters in Foreign Affairs and Trade from Monash University.