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Elle
Meredith

Executive consultant and leadership coach, with 20+ years in software engineering.

Currently — Blackmill Previously Director of Eng at thoughtbot and orderly meds 20+ years in software
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Elle is a well-rounded executive consultant and leadership coach with a background in software engineering. Her strengths are asking difficult questions while focusing on the bigger picture and business goals, growing high performing teams and leaders, and communicating with all relevant stakeholders.

Elle is passionate about creating an environment that brings out the best in people. While she is an accomplished technologist, she believes in balancing business results with people retention. She leads with curiosity, understanding the “why” gives her the context to lead with integrity.

Elle developed and ran two six-month engineering academies for Qantas Hotels and Disco. The curriculum covered programming fundamentals, clean code, refactoring, and agile workflows. She was on the Victorian Government’s Industry Advisory Panel to help assess digital skills training courses for the new Digital Skills and Jobs Program.

In 2021, she completed a post-grad certificate in Psychology for Business and Management at Curtin University. In 2025, she started her Masters in Leadership and Management (organisation dynamics) with NIODA.

She believes in writing clean code, driven by automatic tests, with agile practices, an even work/life balance, and a respectful and inclusive team culture. Her aim is to deliver clean, functional and user‑friendly applications in an appropriate timeframe without wasting resources.

When she is not immersed in the Ruby community, she is probably immersed in water, or lately, in bread flour.

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Community

Elle has a passion for helping people learn to work better. She appreciates the value of strong communities. In 2014, she organised Rails Girls events in Sydney, RubyConfAU 2014, and was a member of the Ruby Australia committee. In 2015, she co-organised Gotham Ruby Conference (GORUCO) in New York City, and started a monthly work jelly for women in tech. In 2016, she co-organised Rails Camp USA East Coast in the Catskills, NY and once again co-organised GORUCO X. In 2018, she helped with the last GORUCO conference.

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Testimonials

Elle’s coaching has helped me to work through challenges comprehensively and with confidence. This coaching approach helps me go back to first principles, challenge my assumptions and ensure I’ve considered situations from multiple perspectives. Elle also knows when to use her own experience to step into ‘advice mode’ and does so sparingly and with explicit permission. A coaching partnership with Elle is an easy recommendation to make.

In the demanding realm of management, the higher you climb, the fewer sources of support you encounter, leading to a profound sense of isolation. With Blackmill, the experience is remarkably different — Elle provides a trusted and safe environment where I can openly discuss challenges and explore ideas. Her background in engineering leadership enables her to offer nuanced, industry-specific insights that are both practical and transformative.

I find my ongoing coaching sessions with Elle to be the most beneficial engagement with Blackmill. Elle draws on her years of experience to offer appropriate guidance when facing difficult situations like rapid growth, interpersonal conflicts and dysfunctional team culture. Beyond the practicalities of ‘how to be effective in the workplace’, Elle demonstrates genuine compassion and care for me as a person.

Elle brings clarity, honestly, and empathy to our discussions about engineering management challenges. I’ve been fortunate to benefit from her experience and judgement on a variety of issues including strategic thinking, capacity planning, and conflict resolution. As our team and mission grow I’m often encountering new challenges and Elle’s counsel has helped me navigate these situations with greater confidence.

Stu Liston, Engineering Operations Lead
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Work values

  1. 01 Work with friends, or people who will become my friends
  2. 02 Write clean code accompanied with tests
  3. 03 A learning and growth mindset culture
  4. 04 Values collaboration and people’s opinions
  5. 05 Good work etiquette and respect for peers
  6. 06 Maintains work‑life balance
  7. 07 Flexible with remote work
  8. 08 Autonomy and agency
  9. 09 Good pay
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Talks

  1. Overcoming communication failures Tech Leading Ladies, Aug 2024
  2. Rails anti-patterns Ruby Conf AU, Apr 2024
  3. Levelling UP — A Careers Special Panel by F-Factor Mar 2024
  4. Confronting difficult conversations Web Directions Code Leaders, Nov 2023
  5. Learn to delegate, like a boss RubyConf TH, Oct 2023
  6. Writing a talk proposal Tech Leading Ladies, May 2023
  7. Strategies for saying no Rails Conf, Atlanta, Apr 2023
  8. Grow your leadership style Tech Leading Ladies, Sep 2022
  9. A blessing in default, or so fetch Ruby Australia, Dec 2021
  10. Work life balance, what it is and how to get it Ruby Australia, Jan 2021
  11. Start your own apprenticeship program Ruby Conf AU, Melbourne, Feb 2020
  12. Story telling with Git rebase workshop, Git Merge 2020, Los Angeles
  13. Story telling with Git rebase Ruby Conf, Nashville, Nov 2019
  14. Start your own apprenticeship program Ruby Conf TH, Bangkok, Sep 2019
  15. Story telling with Git rebase Write/Speak/Code, San Francisco, Aug 2019
  16. Algorithms to live by and why should we care Ruby Conf AU, Feb 2019
  17. Story telling with Git rebase Full Stack Conf Toronto, Nov 2018
  18. Algorithms to live by and why should we care Keynote, Ruby Conf India, Feb 2018
  19. Rails Anti-Patterns Ruby Melbourne meetup, Nov 2017
  20. Rediscovering Chrome DevTools Web Directions Summit, Nov 2017
  21. Workplace culture and hiring for diversity Web Directions Culture Workshop, Nov 2017
  22. Algorithms to live by and why should we care Keynote, Keep Ruby Weird, Oct 2017
  23. Feedback matters AlterConf, Melbourne, Sep 2017
  24. Learning to learn Elixir Girls Melbourne, Sep 2017
  25. Two heads are better than one Ruby Melbourne meetup, Jul 2017
  26. About Product Design Sprints Ruby Melbourne meetup, May 2017
  27. Self-learning is a Marathon, not a Sprint Ruby Conf AU, Melbourne, Feb 2017
  28. Conference organisers Panelist Write/Speak/Code, Chicago, Jun 2016
  29. Self-learning is a Marathon, not a Sprint Ruby Nation, Washington DC, Jun 2016
  30. Feedback Matters Ruby Conf AU, Gold Coast, Feb 2016
  31. Introduction to TDD in Ruby Railscamp Sydney, Jun 2015
  32. Just in Time Rails Israel, Tel Aviv, Nov 2015
  33. Just in Time Brighton Ruby, Jul 2015
  34. A Case Study in Time Zones Railscamp Perth, Nov 2014
  35. Regular Expressions with Ruby What Do You Know Sydney, Apr 2014
  36. Source Maps for Debugging Web Directions Code, Melbourne, May 2013
  37. Better Web Typography with Modular Scale What Do You Know Sydney, Mar 2013
  38. Sass Primer Girl Geek Dinner Sydney meetup, Dec 2012
  39. Smarter CSS with Sass Web Directions South, Oct 2012
  40. Intro to Minitest Rorosyd meetup, Sydney, Aug 2012
  41. Dying Kittens and Vendor Prefixes Dramas Brisbane Web Design Meeting, Feb 2012