Niven is a strategy, leadership and culture consultant partnering with clients in diverse industries around the world, to (re)ignite the discretionary energy of people and teams, build an enabling culture and develop meaningful strategies.
An expert in organisational politics, Niven is the author of the best-selling book If you don't do politics, politics will do you - A guide to navigating office politics ethically and successfully (published in 2020). Her articles and ideas can be found in various well respected media and podcasts. Niven is a Harvard Business Review contributor and a visiting lecturer at Henley Business School.

Niven has had a wide and varied executive career across multiple organisations and sectors, including CEO of the Businesswomen’s Association (BWA), CEO of NOAH (Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity), Head of External Strategy and Head of the SARB Academy at the South African Reserve Bank, and Head of Leadership and Culture for the Standard Bank Group.

Her keynotes on organisational politics, leadership, culture and women’s leadership have been delivered to audiences of up to 60,000 people. Niven is a Doctoral student and holds an Executive MBA in Systems thinking, Human capital development, knowledge management, leadership and change. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Future Studies and a BA in English Political Science. Niven has been awarded with the Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship in 2007. Niven has served as Reserve Police Officer for 2 years and is Chairperson of the Board at Cotlands. She lives in Johannesburg with her partner and gets to be the proud and happy aunt to 6 niblings in South Africa, Kenya and New Zealand.