Performance and wellbeing specialist The Positive Group (Positive) has announced the opening of a new office in Sydney, Australia, with Melinda Upton taking the role of Asia Pacific CEO.

“Over the last few years we’ve seen first-hand the want and need for Positive in the Asia Pacific region,” says Dr Brian Marien, Positive Co-Founder and Chairman. “This development will allow us to better serve our existing clients and reach more organisations at a time when there are widespread challenges around upskilling and managing change.

“As former Co-CEO of DLA Piper Australia, a long-standing board member of Minds Count (a charity dedicated to mental health in the legal sector) and more recently the Corporate Mental Health Alliance (CMHA), Melinda brings a wealth of experience to the role. She is an established advocate for improving conditions around mental health in law, business and government, and we’re thrilled to have her on board as our Asia Pacific CEO.”

The announcement was made at today’s Corporate Mental Health Alliance Australia conference.

Positive was founded in 2011 by father-son team Dr Brian Marien and Will Marien. The organisation was set up following ground-breaking work by Dr Marien into burnout in GPs within the NHS, which highlighted the importance of psychological health and the power of ‘risk factors’ and ‘protective factors’.

Since then, Positive has become established as an industry-leading learning provider, working with organisations around the world to optimise wellbeing and performance. Championing a proactive, ‘leaders-first’ approach, their mission is to empower individuals and teams with the psychological skills they need to adapt and thrive.

“We’ve been supporting clients in Asia and Australia for many years,” says Will, “and it’s fantastic to be able to consolidate that with our new Australian office. We’re so excited to be working with Melinda to bring our proven products to the Asia Pacific market.”

Melinda says, “I have long been aware of the significant contribution that Positive has made to organisations and their leadership around the world. Given the current global challenges, building the core psychological strengths of corporate leaders has never been more important. I am looking forward immensely to working with the Positive team to bring those learnings into the Asia Pacific region.”