HR Leader · Podcast Interview
Media & Press
On stage, on air, in print.
A growing collection of conversations and features. For media enquiries, interview requests, or to book me, get in touch.
Watch
Featured talks & interviews.
Success Curious Podcast · Andy Reid
Is FUN the real key to success?
Real Math of Business · Alena Bennett
How to stay human in a world ruled by technology.
Live+Work More Human Podcast
Bringing More Human Into A Tech-Obsessed World with Dara Simkin
Made For More · Ally Nitschke
Why Play Is the Missing Link to Innovation at Work
Brave Feminine Leadership Podcast
Unlocking Leadership & Mindset Growth
As featured in
Listen
Podcasts & conversations.
Spotify playlist
Read
Press features.
Fast Company · Feature
Your workforce doesn't need more AI - it needs play
Read the piece →
Qantas Travel Insider · Feature
Mind Matters
Read the piece →
SmartCompany · Feature
The playful work equation: the qualities every company needs
Read the piece →
The CEO Magazine · Feature
How play can unlock potential in your workplace
Read the piece →
The CEO Magazine · Feature
Avoid the leadership trap
Read the piece →
HR Leader · Feature
Employees who play are employees who stay
Read the piece →
Bios
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Professional bio
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Experience how to make friends with uncertainty and change.
With her characteristic wit and practical rigour, Dara shows us why play is the most underrated tool in business. For more than a decade, Dara has been changing the global conversation on play at work, exploring the human capabilities no algorithm can replace and the ones your business can't afford to lose.
She is Director of Organisational Play at the National Institute for Play, the research institute founded by acclaimed play researcher Dr Stuart Brown. She led the design and delivery of a global play-at-work program in partnership with a major international toy foundation, working alongside organisations including IKEA and Sesame Street Workshop across multiple regions. Her industry research partnership with RMIT University is among the first to use an experimental intervention design, running play-based workshops inside real organisations and measuring the impact on engagement, belonging and learning adaptability.
Co-author of Full Stack Human: The Mindset Upgrade You Need to Stay Human in a World Ruled by Technology (Wiley, 2026), Dara writes and speaks about the human capabilities that organisations are quietly losing, and what it actually takes to get them back.
Her clients include McKinsey, PwC, AGL, MYOB and Country Road Group.
Smart, soulful and thoughtfully rebellious, she brings humour, science and lived experience to every stage she walks onto.
Short bio
For social media, event programs, speaker listings, anywhere under 80 words
Experience how to make friends with uncertainty and change.
With her characteristic wit and practical rigour, Dara shows us why play is the most underrated tool in business. For more than a decade, she's been changing the global conversation on play at work, exploring the human capabilities no algorithm can replace and the ones your business can't afford to lose.
Director of Organisational Play at the National Institute for Play, industry research partner with RMIT University, and co-author of Full Stack Human: The Mindset Upgrade You Need to Stay Human in a World Ruled by Technology (Wiley, 2026), Dara is smart, soulful and thoughtfully rebellious, bringing humour, science and lived experience to every stage she walks onto.
Press kit
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For high-resolution photos or topic one-pagers email hello@darasimkin.com or download the kit.
For speaking enquiries, use the contact form.
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