Brisbane leadership firm launches AI coaching platform aimed at the workers development budgets never reach
Announcement posted by LeadershipHQ 24 Aug 2026
Worksparks, built by LeadershipHQ founder Sonia McDonald, is already used by more than 100 people and opens crowdfunding today to fund its next stages.
Brisbane-based leadership consultancy LeadershipHQ has launched Worksparks, an AI coaching platform designed to reach the frontline supervisors and team leaders who are typically excluded from corporate development spending.
More than 100 people are already using the platform. Unlike most crowdfunding launches, the campaign opening today on Indiegogo funds the product's next stages rather than its existence.
Worksparks addresses what founder Sonia McDonald calls an access problem rather than a talent problem.
"In eighteen years of running leadership programs I've seen the same pattern in nearly every organisation," McDonald said. "The development budget goes to people who are already senior, already identified, already doing fine. Meanwhile the team leader promoted six weeks ago is managing people she used to have coffee with, and she's figuring it out alone."
"That's not intent. It's arithmetic. A facilitator can only be in one room at a time, and coaching has a price per hour that doesn't bend. You cannot buy traditional coaching for four hundred frontline leaders."
The platform opens with a single question — what's going on right now? — and offers coaching in response to situations described in plain language, either spoken or typed. It is built on the behavioural and neuroscience research underpinning LeadershipHQ's leadership programs.
McDonald said the design responds to when leadership decisions are actually made.
"Leadership doesn't happen in the workshop. It happens at 2pm on a Tuesday when someone's crying in your office and you have no idea what to say. In that moment nobody is opening a learning platform. They're deciding what to do next, alone, in about a minute."
Privacy built in
Worksparks operates a content boundary that McDonald describes as non-negotiable. On team accounts, administrators can see seat allocation, whether individuals are active and aggregate group usage, but never the content of any conversation. Aggregate usage figures are suppressed below five active users.
"If people can't be candid in it, it doesn't work," McDonald said. "So we built the boundary first."
Crowdfunding to fund the roadmap
McDonald said the decision to crowdfund a working product was deliberate.
"People are using this every day already. What I'm asking for isn't a bet on whether it works — it's a decision about how fast the next parts get built, made by the people who'd use them."
The Indiegogo campaign funds development stages in sequence, beginning with an expanded AI leadership coach and structured support for difficult conversations, and progressing to leadership pathways, engagement surveys and recognition tools.
Founding pricing starts from $19 and includes a team tier of ten seats for A$1,950, held permanently.
The campaign runs until 10th October - https://www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/soniamcdonald/worksparks
About Sonia McDonald
Sonia McDonald is the founder and CEO of LeadershipHQ, which she started in Brisbane in 2008 as a sole parent after approximately forty job rejections. She is a keynote speaker represented by Saxton Speakers Bureau, an executive coach, and the author of three books including First Comes Courage. Her prior career included HR leadership roles across retail, hospitality and executive search.
About LeadershipHQ
LeadershipHQ is a Brisbane-based leadership development consultancy operating since 2008, working with organisations across construction, government, health and professional services.
Media contact
Sonia McDonald
Phone +61 424 447 616
Email: Sonia@leadershiphq.com.au
Assets available: product screenshots, founder photography, campaign imagery, logo files.
Sonia McDonald is available for interview on leadership development access, first-time manager failure, AI in workplace coaching, and founding a business as a sole parent.