Designing workplaces people love

KATHRYN Bonning and Dayna White first met years ago while working as HR managers for a large retailer in the Geelong region. At the time, they were both immersed in the realities of operational HR – supporting leaders, navigating complexity and trying to create people practices that were not only compliant, but genuinely human.

Their careers eventually diverged, with each going on to establish their own HR consulting businesses. Independently, they were successful, but over time a shared appetite for collaboration and for having someone truly alongside you became impossible to ignore.

After several collaborative projects in 2024, last year HMNKND HR (pronounced humankind) was launched.

Like most founders, Kathryn and Dayna built the business from the ground up themselves – shaping the brand, writing the copy, building the website – and almost always after 8pm when the small humans were tucked up in bed.

During these late night sessions, what they were clear on from the start was the kind of consultancy they wanted to create: modern, thoughtful and human centred.

Today, HMNKND HR is a forward-thinking HR consultancy with a clear purpose: to help businesses build workplaces employees genuinely love being part of.

Between them, Kathryn and Dayna bring more than 40 years of combined HR experience. They are seasoned generalists, with deep exposure across strategic HR leadership, including learning and development, performance, remuneration, employee relations, change management and everything in between.

They understand what strong HR looks like in practice, and they’ve seen the consequences when it’s treated as an afterthought – rushed, poorly designed or ignored altogether.

As women in business, Kathryn and Dayna have been intentional about designing a way of working that supports both ambition and impact.

HMNKND HR has been built to allow them to show up fully for their families, while still undertaking work that is meaningful, challenging and professionally satisfying.

It’s a model that reflects a broader truth – that women can build serious, successful businesses without sacrificing either their capability or their care.

Based in Geelong and Melbourne, Kathryn and Dayna work with clients across a wide range of industries, including professional services, property, retail, investment, not-for-profit and more.

Every client relationship is grounded in transparency, honesty and simplicity. There is no over-engineering and no unnecessary complexity – just practical, considered HR advice and solutions that make sense in the real world.

Like many of their clients, Kathryn and Dayna understand the realities of running a small business, with everything from business development to client delivery sitting on their desks. That perspective keeps their approach real and commercially focused.

Through clear, accessible HR support – from projects to fractional and ongoing advisory – HMNKND HR helps businesses put strong people practices in place that support sustainable growth and healthy workplaces.

Their commitment to HMNKND HR is long-term and intentional. It’s a sustainable model for the future – one that grows alongside their families, evolves with values-aligned organisations and continues to prove that thoughtful, human-centred HR is not only possible, but powerful.