Hello, I’m Penelope Mavor, founder of Earth Converse.
My work weaves inner development, relational leadership and planetary responsibility as a result of both lived personal experience and professional practice.
I bring over 30 years’ experience working with leaders, teams and organisations across sectors and countries. My background includes strategic planning, sustainability, leadership development, organisational change, coaching and facilitation in complex systems. I have worked with CEOs and senior leaders in diverse industries as well as entrepreneurs, change-makers and founders navigating growth and transformation.
How I understand leadership
Through my own journey – and through working with thousands of leaders – I have come to see that there are three critical leadership thresholds:
At Earth Converse, I describe these as:
Leading Self — how you relate to yourself, your inner authority and your capacity under pressure
Leading Others — how you build trust, relationships and environments where people can thrive
Leading Big — how you relate to the wider system and lead in service of people, planet and the common good
These are not linear stages. They are ongoing thresholds that leaders and organisations encounter again and again as complexity increases and context changes.
Experience shaped by thresholds
My own growth has been shaped by many such thresholds.
They include graduating in sustainability to leading transformational leadership programmes with the United Nations; working as a freelancer, team leader and “tri-sector” practitioner across private, public and not-for-profit organisations; and living and working in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain.
My leadership practice is informed by long-term contemplative and embodied learning, including Vipassana meditation, wilderness-based vision fasts and guiding retreats with Original Intelligence®.
Alongside this, I bring a strong academic and professional foundation, including three master’s degrees – one of which is an MBA in International Business – and I am an ICF-accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
From these experiences, I have weaved a whole‑systems, mindful, nature‑based, experiential and regenerative approach which keeps evolving.
Why Earth Converse
Earth Converse is itself an expression of Leading Big for me.
The name reflects a simple belief: that life is always inviting us into conversation – with ourselves, with one another and with earth that is our home.
The stirrings, tensions, challenges and insights you may be experiencing in your leadership are not problems to fix. They are often signals – invitations into the next leap of maturity, responsibility and contribution.
Earth Converse exists to support leaders and organisations to recognise those signals and respond with clarity, courage and care.
Let’s start a conversation about your needs
“No leadership can exist without a genuine connection to people. But can that connection truly happen without first connecting deeply with yourself?
The road to self-connection often leads through nature — through stepping outside everyday organisational, team, and personal pressures, and allowing yourself to see beauty, life, and perspective beyond them. Finding meaning in what we do is essential, and this is where we arrive at the fundamental question: why?
Penelope’s approach is truly unique. She guides you through powerful experiences in nature, combined with equally powerful questions directed inward. The result is not just reflection, but real insight. You come out energised, grounded, and with a deeper understanding of yourself.
Only then are you truly ready to lead”
Maksim Melamed, Leadership roles in Telecom, Insurance and Automative
“How to capture what felt so truly different and special about this 6-month training. An unexpected freshness and vitality, crisp language, real depth of knowing and understanding – these are some of the qualities Penny Mavor brings to this Earth Converse programme. Plus, tremendous generosity sharing her learning, experience and wisdom, and commitment to guiding participants in their coaching journey, wherever they each might be at. She offers rigour and she brings in fun. The week-long intensive in particular offered an opportunity to sink deep into exploration and learning, feeling supported, held and challenged. Oh yes, there were surprises and challenges. The best learning – thank you”.
Andrea Dechamps,Director of Patient & Family Support, St Wilfrid’s Hospice
Read about more of our work below
