A transformative and results-oriented leader, I bring over 25 years of experience driving organisational success through strategic vision, operational and service excellence, and a people-centred approach. I am passionate about creating positive, engaging workplaces where people thrive and organisations can excel.
My leadership philosophy is grounded in fostering a culture of collaboration, engagement and trust, empowering teams to deliver exceptional results and services.
I excel in navigating complex environments, aligning mission with purpose, and driving delivery of measurable outcomes. With expertise in cultural transformation, stakeholder engagement, and operational improvement, I focus on building and enabling great teams that drive organisational performance and enhance user experiences.
Strategic leadership, resilience, and a focus on innovation define my approach. Known for my authenticity, foresight, and ability to navigate challenges, I am committed to delivering sustainable success and leading organisations toward excellence.
Stevie is a dynamic and visionary Business and Technology leader with over 15 years of experience in Banking, Financial Services, Telecommunications and Consulting. She has proven experience as a Group Executive, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Board Director, Advisory Board and Committee Member and as an Executive General Manager of Technology for some of Australia’s largest organisations. Stevie has successfully led large, cross functional, global teams of over 600 employees, across Technology, Digital, Strategy and Innovation, Product and Distribution, Risk and Compliance and Enterprise Transformation. She has consistently delivered strong results across all IT operational metrics and has managed program delivery portfolios of over $200mill. In 2022 Stevie was awarded Executive Leader of the Year by Women in Digital and in 2024 Ishe was recognised as one of Australia’s top 50 CIOs in CIO50.
Experienced public sector Secretary and Chief Executive. Senior public servant in State, Commonwealth and UK governments.
National Telstra Business Women’s Award winner 2012.
International spokesperson on Climate Change and renewable energy transitions.
International Women’s Forum Australia.
IPAA Fellow.
I am a Partner of KPMG and KPMG's Global Mining leader. An Audit partner for over 20 years, I have over 30 years’ experience with clients across sectors but primarily in mining, metals and mining services. In this role I connect KPMG's mining expertise across all markets with observations and insights being sought and published by news feeds, print media, mining forums and conferences.
My professional client roles have given me experience across almost all mined commodities having worked across markets such as the US, Canada, UK, Hong Kong and Australia with mining operations in Africa, South America, Asia, and Australia. These have been roles in supporting Stock exchange registered financial statement audits, capital markets transactions raising equity or debt together with mergers and acquisitions and contract dispute matters.
I regularly consult with Board Audit Committees on matters of good governance, controls and financial reporting.
I also sit on the Board of Botanic Gardens and Parks in Perth Western Australia, a non profit statutory authority of the Western Australian State Government managing the beautiful Kings Park and Bold Park in Perth.
After 20+ years in talent solutions, I’ve pivoted into Learning and Development and Organisational Design. Partnering with a team of experts, I co-created Ascend, a groundbreaking leadership program designed to drive exceptional performance in senior leaders and their teams.
Driving Super High Leadership Performance
I empower leaders to break through barriers, inspire teams, and consistently achieve outstanding results. Through innovative coaching and performance-focused strategies, I help leaders elevate their impact and accelerate growth.
Ascend Leadership Experience
• High-Impact Coaching: Tailored to unlock peak performance.
• Actionable Workshops: Addressing real-world leadership challenges.
• Data-Driven Insights: Maximising leadership effectiveness and decision-making.
With Ascend, we’re transforming leaders into high-performing powerhouses who drive lasting organisational success.
Dinny Evans, based in Pennant Hills, New South Wales, Australia, is currently a Deputy Chief Financial Officer at New Horizons Enterprises. Dinny Evans brings experience from previous roles at Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety, Schneider Electric and Qantas. Dinny Evans holds a 2005 - 2007 CPA Australia. With a robust skill set that includes Budgeting, Accounting, Financial Reporting, Airlines, Forecasting and more. Dinny Evans has 3 emails and 1 mobile phone numbers on RocketReach.
Sunny is a trusted adviser with more than 15 years’ experience in providing accounting, tax and business advice to Australian and international clients. Sunny joined KPMG in 2015 and admitted to partnership in 2023.
Sunny’s areas of specialisation include:
Areas of expertise
With over 20 years of experience across engineering, professional services, and recruitment sectors, I am a seasoned People and Culture professional who is passionate about empowering organisations to thrive through their people. My expertise spans leadership coaching, talent acquisition, performance management, learning and development, engagement, and talent development.
Throughout my career, I have successfully designed and delivered impactful People and Culture strategies that align with business goals, ensuring the attraction of top talent and the retention of high-performing teams. I am skilled in providing executive coaching, career guidance, and employee counselling, fostering an environment where individuals and organisations can grow together.
I firmly believe that internal customers - employees - are as critical to success as external ones. I have led initiatives to elevate company culture, boost employee engagement, and deepen organisational commitment, creating workplaces where people are motivated and aligned with business objectives.
A key driver of my success is my ability to optimise contributions from diverse stakeholders while strategically managing resources to deliver outcomes. I excel in navigating complex matrix structures, building strong relationships, and leading teams through transformational change with a collaborative, results-driven approach.
Specialties:
• Recruitment & Talent Acquisition
• Performance Management
• Leadership & Talent Development
• Culture & Employee Engagement
I am the CEO of MapAI. This company is a subsidiary of FrontierSI, and has been created to commercialise world leading research from FrontierSI and the University of NSW combining Generative AI with Location Analytics. More at https://mapai.net
I am on secondment from my role as the Deputy CEO at FrontierSI (formerly the CRC for Spatial Information). This role supports the CEO in providing high level strategic, cultural and managerial leadership to ensure the achievement of both operational and strategic goals. I also lead our Transformation and Growth business function, seeking out significant new problems across a range of industry sectors, and investing in the spatial solutions that will solve these.
Previously I lead our significant Research and Innovation portfolio of projects, including leading a diverse team of strategy specialists, researchers, data scientists developers, and project managers to formulate and deliver a wide variety of research, innovation and advisory projects to FrontierSI's many partners.
I lead the development of major strategic and transformational initiatives including the 2026 Spatial Industry Growth Agenda (www.2026agenda.com), and the Australian Livestock Spatial Innovation Program (www.crcsi.com.au/redmeat). In addition, I am the project director on multiple projects including Value Australia $8.5 million data analytics project, as well as the managing NRM Spatial Hub, which focuses on cattle graziers across Australia and has now spun out as Farm Map 4D.
I have a MBA from Melbourne Business School, and am a GIS Professional with 20 years experience across industry, research and government, through roles in consulting services, relationship management and project management. I have a background in GIS and imagery analysis working across a broad range of application industries, including urban planning, environmental engineering, inundation and flooding, transportation, land use change mapping, renewable energy and natural resource management. I was the recipient of the 2014 Young Professional of the Year award, and the 2018 SIBA Chairman's Award at the Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards.
In my professional realm, I bring more than 30 years’ experience in higher education in the UK and Australia, including senior roles at Charles Darwin, Torrens, Deakin, Monash and Adelaide universities. I am currently the CEO at the Australian College of the Arts (Collarts), a dual-sector, independent provider, ranked #1 in Australia in student engagement for creative education.
I’m a specialist in conceptualising the future of higher education and inspiring organisations to meet customer needs. I believe that education transforms hope into agency, powering up the next generation of activists and changemakers. I’ve fallen in love with the staff and students of Collarts, seeing living proof every day that creativity is vital, difference is powerful, and stories change the world.
I am grateful for a recent stint in the remarkable top end of Australia, where I learnt that grief best leaves the body through the hands, and that linear time is only one way to approach a deadline. Once in a while I think about leaving the sector, but graduation still makes me cry: education has my heart.
I have served on several community boards, including as Deputy Chair of Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival, Chair of Adelaide’s Feast Festival, and the Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis Council, NTAHC. I currently volunteer for the Pinnacle Foundation and remain resolute about seeking out and supporting queer community wherever I live.
I’m an experienced guest and keynote speaker and enjoy offering opinions on topics close to me, including the future of the sector and the need for more models of queer leadership.
With over 18 years in legal, governance, and risk management, I genuinely enjoy helping organisations find their way through complex regulations and manage risk while building cultures that prioritise accountability, resilience, and continuous growth (not everyone’s cup of tea I know). My focus has been in financial services and insurance, where I believe risk and compliance can be
powerful tools for driving strategic success—not just boxes to tick.
I’m driven by a few key principles: continuous improvement grounded in data, pragmatic and practical risk management, strong governance rooted in collaboration, and customer-focused strategies that create real value.
Throughout my career, I’ve had some standout experiences that I thought I’d share here so you can see what I’m about.
- At WorkCover Queensland, I developed a risk framework that cut compliance breaches by 15%, while also streamlining vendor management to achieve cost savings and ensure we met essential
compliance standards.
- Great governance is all about people. As a Non-Executive Director at Communify Queensland, I led the establishment of the organisation’s first Enterprise Risk Management framework and chaired the Risk Sub-Committee, helping embed a stronger risk.
- Customer focus is always at the core of my work. At Suncorp, I led the rollout of a Complaints Management Framework that transformed how we responded to customer feedback, cut compliance breaches by 30%, and raised customer satisfaction.
My aim is to build risk management practices that support compliance and make a positive difference to the people we serve.
When I’m not working, you’ll find me in a Pilates studio. I completed my instructor qualifications in 2021 and whilst I don’t teach as much as I'd love to, I do love to keep my practice up.
Jim Clayton spent the first three years of his career practising law in the US before joining McKinsey & Company in the US, Germany, and Singapore where he advised large corporates on strategy.
Prior to becoming the chief executive of Breville Group in June 2015, Mr Clayton held a number of senior roles at LG Electronics including as executive vice president of new business division within its home entertainment company. He also spent 10 years at Symphony Technology Group where he sourced investment opportunities, executed acquisitions, led company transformation programs, and was chief executive for a Symphony portfolio company.
A senior commercial lawyer and commercial manager with extensive experience working in leading construction and energy organisations, operating in Australia, UK, USA, EAME and SE Asia. Rob has also worked for tier one legal firms in Australia and the UK in the areas of construction, engineering and major projects.
Rob's expertise relates to the drafting and negotiation of EPC, construction, consultancy, joint venture and alliance-style agreements, the resolution of complex construction disputes and the management of insurance programs and claims.
I am a strategic finance executive with a passion for leading finance teams that help organisations solve complex challenges and grow.
Starting in professional services with 6 yrs at KPMG, I have spent the past 12 yrs leading finance and commercial functions in ASX listed organisations.
In my current role as CFO at Myer, one of Australia’s largest Department Store Groups, I am responsible for the financial management of Myer, and group finance functions.
Prior to this I spent six years in finance and commercial leadership roles at global transport and logistics company Toll Group.
Experienced General Manager with a demonstrated history of working at executive management level in hotels, hospitality and contracted services. Strong operations professional with a Masters of Business & Technology focused in Business from University of New South Wales, and a graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Strategic senior executive with a unique blend of HR and commercial capabilities and a record of achievement in Australian and global blue chip organisations. He has held a number of Executive, line management and specialist roles in the IT&T and resources industries throughout Australia, UK and SE Asia.
Colin has over 15 years HR functional experience in workforce planning, learning and development, performance and reward, HR operations and acquisitions. In addition he has 15 years of broad commercial experience in commercial pre-sales, strategic planning and finance roles in both operational and Corporate environments.
Colin has a particular passion to develop leadership that embraces diversity, supports a culture of continuous learning and inclusion that drives innovation and business growth, and proven record of developing key internal relationships, maintaining external networks and engaging and managing outcomes through external specialists.
Proven influencing skills at the Executive level and strong understanding of managing workplace systems and cultural change issues. Strong analytical and problem solving skills, combined with an ability to synthesise key issues, evaluate, conceptualise options, and deliver innovative business solutions.
An experienced retail leader, I have held Managing Director and CEO roles across the liquor, fresh foods and hard flooring sectors. As the Managing Director of Dan Murphy's, I led large teams across retail merchandising and operations within the liquor sector, with prior experience in the fresh food categories at both Coles and Woolworths. I specialise in leading high performing teams, retail execution and strategy. I am currently the CEO and a Board Director of National Tiles.
It is an honour and a privilege to lead the dynamic National Tiles team and take this iconic family-owned business on a growth journey. Having had the experience of elevating the growth of other well respected Australian brands, I have a clear vision to optimise and transform the business from good to great.
A well-known and much-loved B2C and B2B business with an incomparable customer offering, the National Tiles brand has benefited from a strategic and unified approach. Investing in an extraordinary team of professionals right across the business, and driving strategic thinking with energy and enthusiasm, is taking the company to a whole new level.
Formulating a clear road map and involving all parties in the execution has been integral to our success to date. Having a passionate team that supports each other builds a very strong culture and develops values and principles that reflect the brand. Driven by integrity and authenticity, we have a clear direction, investing in the company’s infrastructure and strategic positioning with innovation, technology, operational excellence, and precise execution. Our customers are our centrepiece, our positive culture our core, and our team is committed in delivering an unrivalled customer experience.
Purpose-driven leader with 25 years of progressive experience in operational, corporate, and executive leadership roles. A trusted Functional & P&L Executive that successfully leads teams in delivering cultural and business performance outcomes. Experienced in multiple work locations including Australia, Africa and North America having led multidisciplinary teams and businesses in these regions.
Results driven and business focused C-Suite leader with a proven track record in both Functional and P&L executive roles.
Experienced in P&L/Executive leadership, M&A/Due Diligence, Strategic Alignment & Planning, Executive Compensation, Board Engagement, Culture, Inclusion & Diversity, Strategy & Governance, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Operating Model Design, Executive Coaching, Facilitation and Strategic Planning, Team Leadership, Continuous Improvement (Lean), Employee Relations, Cross-Cultural Engagement, Communications.
Spanning 25 years, across public and private sectors, Craig’s career has been built on the challenges of providing world class technology services of significant scale, in cost contained and ever-changing environments.
With extensive hands-on CIO, programme delivery and business leadership experience in Australia and the UK, Craig has the ability to evaluate and overcome business challenges, specialising in IT Strategy and Operations, Technology Transformation and Service Management.
Craig is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Six Sigma Black Belt Certification and an MBA from Edinburgh Napier University. The combination of his experience, education and drive ensures that technology will make a significant contribution towards the delivery of ACH Group’s strategy.
Matthew has over 35 years in business, providing management and leadership across a diverse range of industries. As Managing Director of FMG Engineering, Matthew is responsible for the strategic leadership and commercial direction of the firm.
A CPA qualified Accountant and long-time member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, Matthew provides the motivational guidance and vision for the continued National growth of the business.
Experienced Executive with a demonstrated history of working across a range of industries. Skilled in Business Development, Corporate Affairs, Governance and ESG, Crisis Management, Public Affairs, Investor Relations, and Government Relations. Strong business credentials with a MBA focused in Finance, Strategic Management from Macquarie Graduate School of Management.
I am a demonstrated Executive with experience working across many diverse organisational structures including; not for profit associations (in both disability services and aged care); privately owned businesses; a co-operative; ASX100 and internationally listed corporations.
My strengths include change leadership and management of large operational teams; strategic planning; strategy delivery; partnering & strong communication skills; building relationships & business engagement; service delivery & customer focus; financial / commercial leadership & management (budgeting, forecasting, reporting & performance analysis); acquisition and merger integration & transformation; Corporate governance, controls & risk management; project management; and process optimisation.
Other key experiences include Property management & Procurement; designing and identifying system requirements and ERP implementation; Executive & Board level communication and presentation to Finance, Audit & Risk Committee / Board; member of Remuneration Committee and Project Boards.
I am passionate about high performance team development, mentoring, coaching and am experienced in leading teams through times of complexity and change. I am also well practiced in organisational design, recruitment, job description development, restructures, performance partnering and management.
Experienced executive with a successful track record as CEO / Divisional Head for global blue chip companies with focus on developing and executing high impact strategies to enable greater operational efficiency and profitable business growth.
I have delivered rapid revenue growth across European & Australian operations, facilitated the turnaround of underperforming operations and entry to new markets such as Russia as well as developing top-performing support teams. Prior to CEO roles, I have gained valuable experience as a Commercial Director and Strategic Consultant / Six Sigma Master Black Belt. I have been recognized as a top performer who possesses exceptional analytical and problem solving skills, excellent communication and negotiation skills and the ability to achieve and exceed challenging business targets.
Experienced ASX listed General Counsel & Company Secretary with a strategic, problem-solving approach and experience across a range of sectors.
My previous roles include Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel & Company Secretary for Syrah Resources, Capitol Health, the Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute and PRB Foods. Other in house legal experience includes Medibank, Telstra and the University of Melbourne.
Born and raised in England, Alexa built her expertise in the IT space, starting as a graduate in a cyber security role, before her then-boss moved across to Rabobank, and suggested she do the same.
For the past 17 years she’s worked in Rabobank’s London, Utrecht and now Sydney offices, in a diversity of roles such as Head of Security Integration and Tooling in the Netherlands, to Australian Head of IT Systems.
During her stellar career, Alexa also hasn’t been afraid to take a side-step, taking an unexpected role as a Process Improvement Specialist in 2014.
“Everyone assumed that I would automatically continue to move up the management layers as roles became available, but I felt I needed to move away from a leadership position for a while, it’s very easy to get pigeon-holed in security – or any department for that matter – and I wanted to broaden my skillset.”
Nikola is a highly regarded executive, lawyer, regulator, governance professional, NED and change agent with a passion for bringing about demonstrable, meaningful and sustainable cultural and organisational change in a diverse array of situations and settings.
With a strong and ethical ‘people focus’, she can unpack and rebuild work-place cultures to create an environment where staff feel valued and supported; services to clients, customers, and external stakeholders are better and fairer; and future visions are planned and realised whilst achieving KPIs and ensuring financial sustainability.
Equipped with a multi-disciplinary background, she is an experienced NED, executive, project manager, researcher, and reviewer of systems. She has led projects and reforms at local, State, and National levels including in development, infrastructure, planning, integrity, health, research ethics, regulation, and governance.
In her current role as a senior executive in local government, Nikola’s day-to-day work combines her passion for construction and infrastructure development with management of a highly-skilled, committed team that has responsibility for economic development, infrastructure planning, strategic and development planning, and development regulation.
In her most recent past role as Queensland Integrity Commissioner, Nikola was the primary ethics and integrity advisor to elected officials at state and local government level, chief executives of government departments, statutory office holders, and the more than 300 government boards and bodies among other advisees. With her ethics and public law knowledge, she set leading standards on a range of complex ethics, integrity, and interest issues; and her work has been widely cited including in administrative tribunal decisions. In that role she was also the regulator of lobbying in Queensland and, together with her team, she introduced lobbying reforms and initiatives that have led to greater scrutiny of the sector and meaningful change, in the public interest.
Nikola has a history of community volunteerism spanning more than three decades and sits on a number of boards and committees; works with boards and organisations in a private capacity on request through her small business Liminality & Co., and continues with academic work including supervising PhD students and publishing in peer-reviewed journals on a range of governance, ethics, and law topics.
Nisha Padmanabhan is The University of Sydney’s Chief Risk Officer. Previously, Nisha was the Chief Risk Officer at The Salvation Army, Australia Eastern Territory, and held a senior risk leadership positions at BPAY, Macquarie Group Limited, and Insurance Australia Group. Nisha has also held a number of non-executive director and advisory roles in not-for-profit organisations, including Baptist World Aid Australia, The Salvation Army Australia Eastern Territory and Habitat for Humanity Australia. She has found a place in her career to use leading risk management principles to define and achieve strategies and missions that benefit the world.
Nicholle Sparkes is an accomplished strategist and operational leader, currently holding the position of General Manager for Delivery & Operations at Frasers Property Australia. In this capacity, she provides oversight to critical areas including Construction, ESG, and HSE functions. Nicholle's career spans well over two decades within the property and construction industry, with her joining the Frasers Property team in 2012, after holding senior management roles at Laing O'Rourke and Lendlease.
Over the past decade, Nicholle's role has undergone a significant transformation, with her primary focus on strategic risk management. Her extensive experience and dedication have resulted in a distinguished track record of leading high-performing teams on major property development projects. This has solidified her reputation as a leader who consistently delivers excellence across a wide spectrum of the industry.
Nicholle is a member of the Residential Development Council for the Property Council of Australia, the leading representative for Australia’s residential developers, providing powerful advocacy on behalf of the industry that drives Australia’s economy. A member of the NSW Government Construction Industry Advisory Group, focusing on retaining and encouraging women into the construction industry. And recently completing an appointment with the Decennial Liability Insurance Ministerial Panel for the NSW Government. A panel established to oversee and report on the investigation and development of a policy framework for provision of DLI insurance to enhance consumer protection of owners of multi-unit apartment buildings.
Business leader and elected Councillor on Northern Beaches Council, Audit & Risk Committee member and former Chair of Transport & Traffic Strategic Reference Group.
Most recently COO of UNICEF Australia developing and executing a strategy resulting in double digit growth, a complete digital transformation (during COVID), strengthened governance and risk management. Member of UNICEF global think tanks on governance, finance & operations.
Previously ran boutique strategy & management consulting business; Sydney Airport (Finance & Strategy - Commercial) and began career at LEK Consulting.
Qualified Director (AICD), University Medal (Economics)
Damien is an experienced senior executive, having worked in leading organisations in a variety of industries including financial services, renewable energy, government, legal and education.
He has deep experience both locally and globally, leading large transformational projects, digital innovation, managing complex internal and external stakeholder relations and creating financial sustainability.
Damien is a highly skilled influencer, with networks at the highest level in industry and government, and is able to connect stakeholders and drive strategy development and implementation. He is a values-led leader who gets satisfaction from building high performing teams where people flourish professionally and personally.
He is a skilled relationship builder, passionate about team well-being and creating an environment where people feel they have the opportunities to progress.
In his current role, Damien has responsibility for strategy and business planning, financial management and increasing revenue. He leads a large and varied team to increase alumni engagement and philanthropic support to help students with scholarships and fund discoveries, education and research to benefit communities and have a global impact.
Prior to joining Monash, Damien worked in government relations at NAB and in corporate affairs / government relations at an ASX-listed renewable energy company.
Damien has served as Board Member and Director for a number of commercial and not for profit bodies including Xavier College Foundation, Monash University Indonesia, Advisory Board Member of Monash Institute for Health and Clinical Education, and Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA).
He graduated from Monash University, Australia with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) (majoring in politics). He completed the Advanced Leadership and Management Programme at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, and the High Potentials Leadership Program at the Harvard Business
Claire is the Chief Executive of Life Without Barriers, one of Australia’s leading charitable organisations with services in every state and territory including remote areas.
Life Without Barriers supports around 25,000 people each year in the areas of; disability support, aged care, mental health and drug and alcohol services, services for refugees and people seeking asylum and support for families in the child protection system.
As Chief Executive, Claire leads a collective of over 8,000 people and 3,000 foster and kinship carers. Claire’s approach is founded in a strong commitment to values led leadership where relationships, respect, responsiveness, imagination and courage are the compass for all her decision making.
Claire is a uniquely skilled strategist, with over 20 years’ experience in the human services and community services sector, with a career that began in essential frontline services. It is this direct experience in the provision of care which honed Claire's extraordinary ability to make high level and critical decisions with a sharp relevance for practical, human centred implementation.
With a strong reputation in the sector and with government, Claire is revered for her ability to collaborate and partner in a truly authentic way, and is a prominent, reliable voice and trusted friend across industries. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Claire was sought out by various Government committees to provide guidance and advice about the impact of COVID on vulnerable people in our community. She continues in these roles today.
Claire has a clear and firm ethos that in our communities, every person, their human rights and choice about how they want to live is central to an inclusive and equitable society.
Claire holds a Bachelors Degree in Arts, Sociology and Social policy, a Graduate Diploma in Psychology, an Executive Master of Business Administration and is an active Board member with the Community Council of Australia.
Kate has more than 20 years in-house and private law practice experience gained working for corporate and top tier law firms in Melbourne and London.
In her current role as Chief Legal Officer for Toll Group, she reports directly to the Managing Director and is a critical member of the Global executive leadership team, contributing to the strategic leadership of Toll.
Kate is responsible for managing all legal and compliance issues which arise in the business including corporate, potential M&A/JV transactions, commercial contracting, compliance, ESG, insurance and risk, and dispute resolution.
She provides leadership to a team of approximately 30 lawyers and 7 compliance professionals located in Australia, Asia and the US. Kate has extensive experience working with various internal and external stakeholders including the board, shareholders and external regulators.
Prior to joining Toll in 2018, Kate spent 17 years at Herbert Smith Freehills based in Australia and London.
In her current role as Head of Sustainable Investment, Australia, Rena is responsible for the development and execution of the global sustainable investment strategy and its application in the context of Australia. Working in close partnership with the Client Solutions and Strategy Team, she advises on investor and market expectations and supporting client engagement on sustainability related matters. Rena leads the Sustainable Investment team in Australia and is a member of IFM's Global Leadership Team.
In her prior role as Global Head of Business Development, Rena was responsible for developing a global fundraising strategy and collaborating with the regional Client Solutions teams on local implementation. Before relocating to Sydney, Australia in September 2021, Rena worked with IFM Investors' New York office, where she joined the firm in April 2012 as Director, Business Development, supporting IFM's fundraising and investor relations in North America prior to her promotion to Global Head of Business Development in July 2019.
Prior to joining IFM in April 2012, Rena was Principal, Investor Relations with Ares Management LLC where she was responsible for developing and executing the firm's investor relations program for their commercial real estate debt group. Prior to Ares, Rena was a Managing Director with Macquarie Group, leading the tax structuring of their real estate fund investments in North America and Europe. Earlier in her career, Rena worked at Ernst & Young conducting audit, tax, accounting and compliance engagements for their entrepreneurial clients.
Rena has a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia and a Bachelor of Business from the University of Wollongong, Australia. She was previously a chartered accountant in Australia.
Leandro Perez leads marketing across the Asia-Pacific region for Salesforce setting the vision, developing the go-to-market strategy, and executing it with his teams across the region. As the APAC executive sponsor for the Latinoforce Equality Resource Group at Salesforce, Leandro champions diversity and equality, fostering an inclusive environment within the organization. Previously at Salesforce, he led the global corporate messaging team in San Francisco which is responsible for crafting and disseminating the Salesforce corporate narrative to 75,000 employees, and millions of customers globally each year.
Leandro has worked for leading technology firms such as TIBCO, HP, and Autonomy and holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours), from the University of New South Wales, Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business & Technology, and is a Marketing Academy Fellow.
Born in Argentina, raised in Sydney, with extensive international experience, including time spent in the United States Leandro's multicultural background has shaped his global perspective and deep appreciation for diversity. Leandro now lives in Sydney with his wife and two children.
Carmen is a senior executive with over 20 years experience gained across leadership roles in Not for Profit, Professional Membership Organisations, Peak Body and University sectors.
In particular, Carmen has deep experience in corporate governance having spent 13 years in various senior roles at the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In 2017, Carmen Co-Founded the Global Governance Initiative, a governance advisory and consulting organisation which is focused on making governance information, education and tools accessible to all.
Carmen is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect), Australia's largest autism specific service provider with one of the biggest autism school programs in the world. Carmen leads a large multi disciplinary team across People and Culture, Quality and Safeguarding, WHS, Capital Projects and the Project Management Office. With sector reform afoot as a result of a comprehensive review of the NDIS and macro funding changes, Carmen is leading a comprehensive transformation initiative to position Aspect for future growth and sustainability.
Carmen is also a member of the Catholic Care Diocese of Broken Bay Advisory Council.
Over 15 years experience in real estate investment and development, capital transactions, major urban renewal projects (ie Parramatta Square), public private partnerships, social infrastructure and government. Admitted as a lawyer in 2011. Co-Founder & CEO of Good Housing and Kirribilli Capital, building smart and healthy disability homes that are enabling extraordinary lives and other social infrastructure that meets the requirements of ESG capital. Passionate about doing well, by doing good.
Honoured to be named in The Australian and Barron’s List of Top 100 Financial Advisers in Australia for 2023.
Will and his team at Morgan Stanley manage the investments of a select group of high and ultra-high net worth families and NFPs. They help clients protect and grow their wealth by providing strategic investment advice across global sharemarkets and other asset classes in line with risk profiles, with the backing of one of the most respected wealth management firms globally.
If he can help you in any way, I’d like to hear from you.
An experienced leader combining more than 30 years’ technical engineering and construction experience and a demonstrated history of achieving sustainable outcomes in the infrastructure industry. Skilled in strategy development and execution, joint venture establishment and governance, project systems and controls, project estimation, risk management and the fundamentals of construction law. Experienced in both the Australian and Asian infrastructure markets, with a passion for developing organisational culture and upholding core values. Characterised by collaboration, teamwork and a practical, results-based approach to ensure improved outcomes for all in the delivery of key infrastructure projects.
Tony joined the EPA in August 2022 with strong experience in highly regulated
industries and a commitment to the environment. His experience across the public and
private sectors, and in regulated industry means Tony brings a useful understanding and
perspective of what is required of licensees, as well as the community impact of industry
actions.
Prior to joining the EPA, Tony was Executive General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Legal
Risk and Governance at the Australian Energy Market Operator. His role included
responsibility for stakeholder engagement, regulatory strategy and policy, working with
all Australian governments to ensure the delivery of safe, reliable and affordable energy,
and to enable the energy transition in the interests of consumers.
Tony holds a master’s degree in Environmental Change and Management from the
University of Oxford and a master’s degree in Environmental Technology from Imperial
College, London. He has also worked as a researcher at the Smith School for Enterprise
and the Environment in Oxford.
Jeremiah has a wealth of experience in data and analytics leadership, delivering complex enterprise-scale data science transformations. He enables CDOs and CTOs to drive meaningful change by leading high-performing teams to discover tangible business value, scale production systems and uncover new commercial opportunities.
Trudi’s extensive knowledge of the housing and homelessness sector, coupled with her deep regiaconal connections and commitment to social justice drives Haven Home Safe’s successful delivery of integrated homeless supports and housing.
As CEO of Haven Home Safe, Trudi is focused on the growth and delivery of our extensive housing portfolio and homelessness services throughout metro Melbourne and Northern and Western Victoria. A vocal advocate for vulnerable people and the positive impact housing with wrap-around supports has on health, wellbeing and economic participation, Trudi also champions the need to establish a pipeline of housing across the entire housing continuum.
Having been elected and served as a Local Government Councillor for City of Greater Bendigo, Trudi understands and acknowledges the importance of collaboration, compromise and consultation when advocating for others and places importance on having a voice and using those platforms to create change for those that don’t.
Trudi is Chair of CHIA Victoria, a Victorian Director of the Australian Housing Institute and was part of the Property Council of Australia’s 500 Women in Property 2022 program, in recognition of her dedication and leadership in the sector. Trudi has recently been appointed to the Geelong Chapter of the UDIA after finishing a two year term on the UDIA Inclusion and Diversity Committee.
Trudi’s other credentials include GAICD, MBA with honors, Harvard Executive Leadership Graduate, Certified Senior Professional with the Australian Housing Industry (SPAHIc) and Justice of the Peace.
Josh is the Global Chief Operating Officer of IDVerse, the new name for OCR Labs.
IDVerse uses generative AI to deliver an internally developed end-to-end SaaS solution for
Digital Identity Verification & Fraud Prevention for businesses in 220+ countries, supporting 142 different languages and typesets, utilising an independently certified Zero Bias Biometric engine.
Josh has over 25 years of experience in Leadership Roles across Sales, Product and Operations in Software, Data and ICT B2B organisations. He is an innovative organisational and people leader with proven commercial and technical acumen, who thrives on building highly engaged performance environments.
When not working Josh enjoys his family & friends, food & wine, fitness & charity work – actively raising money for Cancer Research through participation in the Tour de Cure cycling events across Australia.
Tom is an in-house legal, governance, risk, and compliance expert. He is currently General Counsel at Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc, a NASDAQ-listed, US corporation. Tom has worked in senior in-house legal roles at HUB24 (head of legal), ANZ Bank (Company Secretary), and Macquarie Bank. prior to that, he worked at large Australian law firms, including HWLE and Clayton Utz.
Paul joined oOh!media in 2023 and is an experienced digital leader who has spent more than 20 years transforming businesses to thrive and grow in the digital landscape. In his most recent role as Vice President & Head of APAC for Yahoo, Paul led the ad technology business across Australia and the APAC region, responsible for all revenue and 1200 people.
With a personal passion to ‘move the world forward for good’ he transformed Yahoo’s CSR program and embedded social responsibility into the company’s fabric, all while achieving record commercial growth and employee engagement results.
In 2021 Paul was appointed a board member of Australia’s media/marketing industry social purpose organisation, UnLtd, following several years of active involvement. Additionally, he served as a long-standing IAB board member, where he influenced digital standards and trends that shape the media industry.
Carla Ramchand is a senior executive with experience leading hyper-growth businesses in the technology and telecommunications sectors in Australia and international markets.
As Avanade’s Growth Markets Chief Operating Officer (COO), Carla drives the implementation of the organisation’s global business strategy, oversees business performance and manages the 4,500 Microsoft-skilled consulting workforce across Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. In addition, Carla is an executive sponsor for inclusion and diversity, particularly in leading initiatives to attract, retain and cultivate senior female talent.
Prior to her current role, Carla was Avanade’s Growth Markets Modern Workplace Executive and Executive General Manager for Cybersecurity at IBM. She also held several senior executive roles within Telstra's Enterprise and Government Business, including Head of Business Development and Head of Networks, Applications and Services Sales.
Carla holds a Bachelor of Social Science & Policy (Applied Research & Political Science) and Graduate Diploma of Commerce (Information Systems & Management) from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a Graduate Certificate of Management from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM).
Carla is recognized as an inspiring role model and business leader to her team members, the global community in Avanade and women across the technology industry. She is married with two children and enjoys travel, theatre and following both the Carlton Football Club and New York Rangers.
Formally qualified in Industrial Design and Business Administration, Dominic possesses a unique balance of management skills and design thinking.
In 2000 Dominic joined with two partners founded Diadem, a multi disciplinary brand implementation consultancy, specialising in corporate re-branding and wayfinding.
With over thirty years of industry experience, career highlights include design and management roles in several of Australia’s most prominent design and re-imaging projects. These include the re-branding of Telecom Australia to Telstra, BMW Australia’s dealer point of sale design program, and ANZ Bank’s corporate re-imaging program throughout Australia and the Pacific region.
This invaluable experience, combined with that of his co-directors distils throughout the company, providing first hand experience and inspiration to staff to achieve their best work.
He instils a purpose lead culture at Diadem that is focused on achieving meaningful success for each client. Equal emphasis is given to commercial parameters, as is preserving the creative vision and innovation. This approach will has ensured Diadem's resilience and success over 23 years.
Geyash Geyash (GG) is Vice President & General Manager at Motorola Solutions, a global leader in public safety and enterprise security technology.
Geyash is responsible for talented teams across Product Management, R&D and Delivery Engineering, Program Management, Customer Success, Operations and Go-to-Market with full P&L responsibility of the business.
Together, these teams conceive, build and deliver software that empowers thousands of first responders in Australia and internationally to manage emergency response and deliver critical services to communities all over the world.
Geyash holds a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Accountancy and an Associate Degree in Marketing. He is a CPA and completed his Executive MBA from Melbourne Business School.
Seasoned Leader, Business Development and Marketing professional with over 20 years of experience. I focus on integrating BD and Marketing strategies to generate competitive advantage. What we do has to be innovative and bold.
Experience working within the legal industry both as a lawyer and BD/marketing professional in Europe, Brazil, New York, London and Sydney, fluent in 5 languages.
Gitanjali Bhalla is an accomplished, commercially focussed, and innovative business leader with over 20 years’ experience and achievement across global and Australian professional services firms and corporates. Highly experienced in human capital management, mergers and acquisitions and business services alignment, she has delivered strategic, high-impact and pragmatic solutions in complex and fast paced environments to increase shareholder value in organisations varying in size from 100 to over 50,000 people across up to 70 countries.
Gitanjali began her professional journey in consulting at Andersen and Ernst and Young in the areas of tax and strategic human capital management solutions. Her other corporate roles have included leading human resources and corporate services at UGL Limited and at Cushman & Wakefield leading the Asia Pacific and Greater China businesses through the challenge of operational integration and transformation to deliver cost synergies, whilst continuing to support opportunities for growth through business transformation projects.
Currently at Seven Group Holdings Limited, Gitanjali leads the People & Culture and Safety portfolios across the Seven Group and its companies across a diverse range of industries that include industrial services, media and oil and gas assets.
In 2018 she was appointed as a Director of Coates and WesTrac.
Gitanjali is on the Board of Carriageworks. She is also a dedicated Ambassador for Good Return, a not-for-profit organisation committed to empowering women through microfinance, and an active member of HBET, an organisation that awards scholarships for underprivileged children in India to further their education.
Richard leads and transforms businesses for sustainable growth. Starting with a clear and compelling vision for the business’s strategic situation, he brings together the people, plan, and processes to achieve that vision and focus on working as one to deliver results, learn, have fun, grow, and realise full potential. As a business leader, and in senior executive roles in strategy, operations, growth, and M&A, Richard led, reshaped, and grown large, complex businesses in the WATER, industrials, building materials, waste, management consulting, and downstream oil sectors in Australia, New Zealand and south-east Asia. This diverse experience helps him identify and deliver lasting growth with a blend of strategic insight, commerciality and pragmatism, and by leading whole-heartedly. Richard sees his role as a leader as shaping an environment where people and teams can become their best. By doing this, he had the privilege of seeing talent unleashed by building trust, found courage in using values to guide critical decisions, felt the joy of solving tough challenges together, and experienced the progress and innovation that’s possible when we take responsibility, collaborate and learn from setbacks.
Philip is a lawyer and senior executive at IPH Limited. IPH Limited is an ASX 200 company that has grown from a single IP professional services business which has been listed on the ASX in 2014 to a group valued at approximately $2bn, including by means of more than ten acquisitions in Australia, New Zealand, China, HK PRC and Canada. This included the 2019 acquisition of listed IP group XIP, and most recently the c.$400m acquisition of Smart & Biggar in Canada. IPH is now operating intellectual property professional services firms in nine countries across the Asia-Pacific region and Canada.
As Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, and as a member of the board of each business forming part of the group, Philip has been integrally involved in these transactions and the operation of these businesses, as well overseeing the development and operations of the group's governance, risk and compliance and ESG functions. He has 30 years of experience as a solicitor and governance professional, in private practice and in-house, with experience in a broad range of areas of law including corporate and commercial, competition, ICT, intellectual property, and litigation.
Most importantly, Philip also has a role supporting his son, Patrick Heuzenroeder, a young Australian racing driver as he takes on the British F4 by FIA racing championship series in 2023 and looks to build his career in Europe.
Tim is currently undertaking a rollup of childcare centres in New Zealand partnering with a PE group. Previously, he was the former CEO of Evolve Education Group (ASX: EVO), comprising 132 childcare centres across Australia and New Zealand. my experience and expertise are in the development, growth, and transformation of medium to large businesses within a listed and/or roll-up space. In addition, Tim has worked in Asia Pacific and Middle East real estate, education, and architectural sectors and has a special interest in different business models, including franchise/licensing methodologies.
He is a Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors and an Associate of CPA.
In 2017 Andrew co-founded Leap in! with the backing of UnitingCare Queensland and Uniting NSW-ACT. Since then, the business has grown rapidly, with 40,000+ NDIS participants and their families across Australia using Leap in!'s digital platform and plan management services as they navigate the complexity of the NDIS.
In 2021 Leap in! was recognised by Brisbane’s Lord Mayor as an Outstanding Social Enterprise and by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) as the #2 Most Innovative Company in the Government, Education & NFP sectors, #10 AFR Fast Starter list and #17 Deloitte Fast 50 Tech companies.
Andrew was a founding member of the Inclusive Employment Movement, a group of employers committed to increasing workplace accessibility and participation for people with disability, and is a Non-Executive Director of Disability Intermediaries Australia, the NDIS peak body for the plan management and support coordination sectors.
Prior to Leap in! Andrew spent 20 years in executive roles specialising in customer experience, marketing, and digital transformation.
A passionate supporter of the arts, Andrew was previously Chair of Craft Queensland – Artisan and Non-Executive Director of the Australian Design Centre.
Samantha Stevens is the Executive General Manager, Corporate Affairs of Origin Energy with more than 25 years of experience in managing national and international corporate affairs projects, stakeholders, and issues, and in leading global teams across several markets/jurisdictions.
Part of the Executive Leadership Team at Origin Energy, with responsibility for corporate affairs, including external affairs, employee communications, and the Origin Energy Foundation (partnering with NGOs focusing on education and breaking the cycle of disadvantage).
She is a member of Chief Executive Women and married to Matthew, proud Mum of two great kids, and lucky Step-Mum of two more.
Naren is an accomplished digital transformation executive with compelling expertise across customer experience & information technology, strategy, and implementation. He has held leadership roles in high profile companies across private and public sectors globally.
He is passionate about driving change and helping strengthen an organisation's digital mindset, cyber resilience and innovative culture and deliver even better value for customers by making the right investments into the future.
He has a solid track record of delivering customer experience and digital transformation programs across all levels of New South Wales public sector which include delivering on Premiers priorities at Service NSW, Transport for NSW, Dept of Planning, Infrastructure & Environment and Northern Beaches Council.
Naren holds a master’s in computing and a bachelor’s in physical therapy. He has held adjunct fellow and research associate positions and is a regular speaker at conferences on digital transformation, citizen engagement and the management of complex digital projects. He has keen interests in sustainable technologies, digital trust and the application of blockchain and AI, assessing the policy implication and building solutions to ensure governments can access and respond to the opportunities and challenges they raise.
Steven Bonnici is the Chief Information Officer for the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and African regions, a $17B division of the Ford Motor Company, where he has achieved record business results applying technology to transform business performance and customer experience. He has served in many technology-based roles within Australia, the United States, Thailand, and China, spearheading the launch of vehicle connectivity, E-Commerce, and digital services at a global scale.
He is passionate about working with teams to deliver outstanding business outcomes. Steven has over 20 years of experience within the Automotive and Financial Service industries, a bachelor’s degree in Business Information Systems and a Master’s in Business Administration from RMIT.
As a senior executive with over 25 years of business experience in engineering, aviation, and government financial services, Kelly’s passion lies in operations management supported by her ability to think strategically and act tactically.
Kelly has worked in New Zealand, Australia and the UK where she has held leadership positions within a number of global and domestic organisations.
At Ausgrid, Kelly is responsible for leading the Network Delivery Services Group, responsible for HIGH VOLTAGE Transmission services, major capital projects, contract management and delivery, fleet and logistics, procurement, and security operations.
Kelly sponsors the data and era transformation stream and is a champion for inclusion and diversity. Kelly was also responsible for leading Ausgrid’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cate Hathaway is currently Chief People & Transformation Officer with GrainCorp, responsible for transformational change, people, safety, environment and technology. Cate's early career involved twelve years in the Insurance sector in line management roles. She then decided to move into HR, she has a Bachelor Of Commerce in Property Economics, completed the AGSM MBA and the Harvard Leadership Program. Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). For more than 20 years, Cate has held senior executive positions across the banking, building resources and insurance industries for global companies and her responsibilities included their NZ, Asian and international operations.
Cate is passionate about providing a competitive edge for the business by contributing to improved and sustainable business performance.
Steven Cail is a senior financial executive with over 20 years of experience working across a broad range of business environments, encompassing banking, resources, retail, and FMCG. Steven is a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) who holds a Bachelor of Business Accounting and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Deakin University.
As an executive leader at General Motors, Carter Holt Harvey, Calendar Cheese Company and Target Australia, Steven has managed P&L accounts of up to $1b. He has specialist expertise in implementing commercial strategies for growth while building opportunities to improve stakeholder engagement and drive business processes.
Steven was appointed Chief Executive Officer of The ORIGINAL JUICE CO LIMITED (ASX: OJC) in July 2021 following his appointment as Chief Financial Officer in March 2021.
Steven is a people-first leader, and creative innovator shaping how a business can positively impact the communities in which it operates and consistently deliver results.
Kate Crous is the Executive General Manager of Everyday Banking for the Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest bank and leading provider of integrated financial services.
The Everyday Banking business is part of the Retail Banking Services arm of the Commonwealth Bank which serves over 9 million retail customers with personal transactions, savings, retail foreign exchange, CommBank Rewards and retail payment solutions. In Kate’s role as EGM Everyday Banking she is responsible for strategic direction and day-to-day P&L management of the bank’s transaction accounts, forex, retail payments and deposit products, as well as the portfolio of investments within the Everyday Banking business. Additionally Kate is responsible for the evolving Shopping ecosystem and associated investments, Open Banking and the Consumer Data Right for the Group and Digital Identity.
Prior to Everyday Banking, Kate spent 3 years in Digital, running digital strategy and operations and the digital banking business and 6 years in CBA’s product teams working across deposits, transactions and mortgages products. Kate joined CBA from Westpac in Australia and has previously worked for leading financial institutions: Capital One, GE Money and First National Bank in the United States, UK and South Africa.
Belinda has worked in the Australian and international energy markets as an advisor, executive and director for 2 decades. She is constantly amazed by the rollercoaster that is the Australian renewable industry. Belinda is currently the Country Manager and Managing Director of X-ELIO's Australian operations.
X-ELIO is a global leader in utility-scale renewable and storage projects, with 2.6GW built and 25 plants operating on 5 continents. Belinda heads and supports a brilliant team of professionals who manage 1.3GW of development projects and 200MW of operational assets in Australia.
Appointed in 2016, Alex Joiner is Chief Economist at IFM Investors. He is responsible for the firm’s economic, financial market, and geopolitical risk analysis that is key in IFM’s investment process. In this capacity, he engages with IFM’s domestic and global clients on macro-investment trends and themes. He is a frequent commentator on economic and markets via traditional and social media and regularly speaks at public forums and conferences.
He has over two decades of professional experience in economic and markets and prior to joining IFM was the Chief Economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Australian & New Zealand) after being a senior economist at ANZ Bank. He holds a First Class honours degree in Economics and a PhD in Econometrics from Monash University. Alex is also committee member of the Australian Business Economists.
Since joining the NHVR as Chief Executive Officer in May 2014, Sal has focused the NHVR to becoming a customer-centric, risk-based, data-driven modern regulator.
By driving a significant program of reform across Australia’s heavy vehicle industry, he has enabled a more streamlined approach to service delivery, education, compliance and enforcement, and a greater degree of consistency in how heavy vehicles are regulated.
He has led the NHVR far on its journey to becoming a single national heavy vehicle regulator, successfully transitioning, to date, regulatory services from four states and territories improving compliance and safety outcomes.
From a Portal where the heavy vehicle industry can conduct all service transactions, to the automation of identification of the operators and vehicles who pose the greatest safety risk, Sal has championed data-sharing, new technologies and innovative practices to deliver enhanced productivity and safety outcomes for governments and industry.
Over six years of the HVSI grant program, he has overseen the provision of $22.8 million for 89 projects that deliver tangible safety benefits to the industry and the community.
Sal brought to the NHVR extensive knowledge of heavy vehicle policy, strategy, regulation, and business reform, having held senior leadership roles in transport, freight, ports and logistics, strategic land use and transport planning, business process improvement and innovation across state and local government and the private sector. This has proved invaluable in understanding the needs of, and building effective relationships with, the NHVR’s diverse range of stakeholders across the freight and supply chain sector.
Sue Houghton brings more than two decades of experience in the Financial Services sector to her role leading QBE Australia Pacific.
An accomplished senior executive with a career spanning operations, finance and strategy, Sue is known for her sound judgment, deep industry knowledge and passion for purpose-driven leadership. Her successful track record driving positive change, championing customer-centred thinking, and cultivating diverse and high performing teams has earned her a reputation as one of the industry’s most highly regarded leaders.
Before joining QBE, Sue was Managing Director of Insurance for The Westpac Group. She has also held senior leadership and management roles at organisations including Wesfarmers Insurance, Insurance Group Australia and Arthur J Gallagher.
Sue is a member of the Champions of Change Coalition and is a Director and immediate past President of the Insurance Council of Australia.
Jennifer was appointed Chief People & Corporate Services Officer in October 2022, with responsibility for human resources, organisational effectiveness, Global Business Services, risk & assurance and legal.
Jennifer previously held the roles of Chief People Officer and VP Risk & Assurance, as well as a number of senior finance roles in Group Finance and Manufacturing & Supply. Before joining Orica in 2014, Jennifer spent over 13 years with EY working in Melbourne and London
Andrew Sharkey is the CFO of Mission Australia. He is a commercially focused leader with a proven background and extensive experience in leadership, RISK, GOVERNANCE, strategy creation and delivery, finance, commercial management, and transformation.
Shaun Reardon is Executive General Manager of Jemena’s Network Distribution business which services over 350,000 electricity customers in the northwest of Melbourne and delivers gas to more than 1.5 million homes, businesses, and industrial customers in New South Wales. The role includes responsibility for strategy, commercial, regulation, customer services, asset management, and network operations.
Shaun has over 25 years experience in the energy industry, having held management positions in marketing, regulatory, strategy, and commercial. He holds a Master of Marketing, a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, and is a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Shaun is a past President of the Australian Pipeline and Gas Association.
Elliott Rusanow is the Chief Executive Officer of Scentre Group.
Elliott first joined Scentre Group in April 2019 when he was appointed Chief Financial Officer leading the Group’s finance, treasury, investor relations, and capital transaction functions.
Prior to Scentre Group, Elliott was the Chief Financial Officer of Westfield Corporation, based in the United States.
Elliott’s career with Westfield spans more than two decades. He joined Westfield in 1999 and has held a number of senior executive leadership roles based in Sydney, London, and Los Angeles including the roles of Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Head of Corporate Finance, Director of Finance United Kingdom & Europe, and Director of Investor Relations & Equity Markets.
Prior to Westfield, Elliott worked at Bankers Trust Australia Limited.
Elliott is Deputy Chair of the Shopping Centre Council of Australia, a Director of the Property Council of Australia, and is a Member of The Champions of Change Property Group.
Elliott holds Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the University of New South Wales.
Professor Alec Cameron commenced as Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT University in January 2022. Prior to joining RMIT, Professor Cameron was Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at Aston University in the UK since 2016, during which period Aston was awarded University of the Year by the Guardian newspaper in 2020.
Professor Cameron is a Rhodes Scholar (1986) with a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University in Robotics (1989). He is also a graduate of the University of Sydney with Bachelors’ degrees in Science and Electrical Engineering, with First Class Honours and the University Medal.
His early career involved executive roles at Telstra and Sun Microsystems. Prior university appointments include, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources & Infrastructure), University New South Wales (2003-6), inaugural Dean of the UNSW Business School (2006-12), and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), University of Western Australia (2013-16).
In 2022, Professor Cameron was appointed as a Director of AARNet.
Pauline Blight-Johnston is CEO of Helia, Australia’s largest lenders mortgage insurer. An actuary with more than 35 years of global industry experience in wealth management and insurance, Pauline is passionate about driving customer-focused innovation and building inclusive working cultures.
Across her career, Pauline has held senior leadership and strategic roles in Challenger, AMP and RGA Reinsurance Company. She has also served as Chief Financial Officer and Appointed Actuary of Asteron Life and consulted to the insurance and wealth management industry at KPMG and Tillinghast-Towers Perrin.
An active industry participant, Pauline has also served on the boards of the Institute of Actuaries, the Financial Services Council and the Australian Institute of Insurance and Finance.
Pauline is a Fellow of each of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, the New Zealand Society of Actuaries, the Actuarial Society of South Africa, Finsia, the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance & Finance and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She also holds a Master of Economics from Macquarie University.
Elyse is Chief Operating Officer at Angus Knight Group and previously held executive roles in health, not for profit and government. She has a background in legal, governance, and risk.
Simone is the Chief Human Resources Officer of Victoria University have commenced at the University early in 2022. As a Strategic Human Resource leader, Simone has worked with business leaders to build capability, people and performance. She has a track record in the execution of major transformation programs where business models are changing.
Simone is most known for designing and delivering globally admired leadership and wellness programs within a multinational business while working with senior teams in all areas of HR including organisational design and employee relations.
As well as having a strong track record in building HR teams, Simone has led a number of communities of practice including sales effectiveness, diversity, equity and inclusion, and talent management. She is passionate about building human businesses and using design thinking to enhance employee experience while leveraging technology for positive change. She likes to be innovative with HR practices so seen as a positive disruptor looking for workplace improvements with an authentic leadership style and a desire to deliver operationally with excellence
Craig joined Big River in July 2013 as General Manager of the Wagga Wagga manufacturing facility, progressing in 2017 to General Manager Manufacturing and Supply Chain, reorganising the groups manufacturing footprint and building a global supply chain to support Big Rivers growth strategy.
In Jan 2022, Craig was named Executive General Manager Panels and supply Chain retaining responsibility for end-to-end management of Big Rivers global supply chain and leading the development of a market leading Panel & Board supply business across ANZ.
Prior to joining Big River, Craig held several positions in both Australia and China at CSR Building Products including NSW Operation Manager (Viridian Glass), Operations Manager and Production Manager for Bradford Insulation (Australia), Project Manager for Guangzhou Rockwool (China), and Project Engineer for CSR Roofing.
Craig holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of New England, Master of Supply Chain and Logistics from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and is a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors
Matthew is the managing director of UST, a digital transformation and management consultancy. Founded in California in 1999, UST has expanded into 30 countries with 35,000 staff, backed by the $400B Singapore private equity firm, Temasek.
Having successfully led some of the largest and most complex digital transformations across APAC, Matthew has proven his ability to align business objectives and technology investment with customer outcomes. His hands-on approach sees him regularly advising boards and CxOs on growth strategies and cost transformation, as well as innovation and technology investment.
Prior to joining UST, Matthew has worked as Cognizant’s consulting leader in APAC and Middle Eastern markets, and as the managing director for a private technology strategy firm.
In addition to his honour’s degree in psychology and anthropology, Matthew holds a master’s in international management and a master’s in business and IT strategy. Championing data driven, research-backed decision making for boards, Matthew leads UST’s research collaborations with both universities and advisory firms. His current research focus is on the changing nature of business in a hybrid world, and cost optimisation strategies.
Matthew has a range of current board interests, including the Board of Governors for the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).
Scott is an experienced CEO and executive leader with 20 years of experience across mining services, automotive & wholesale distribution, plant & equipment hire and construction materials sectors.
Since July 2021, Scott has been the CEO of Coxons Group, Australia's largest cooling component design, sales, service, and exchange provider - specialising in leading service exchange programs and pioneering the nosecone exchange system for major mining fleets.
Scott has a proven track record in high-growth environments through delivering organic/same store growth and inorganic growth through numerous successful acquisitions and integrations.
Colleen Harris commenced with Ramsay Health Care on 8 January 2018 in the role of Group Chief People Officer.
In this role, Colleen is responsible for the talent strategy for the Group including mapping where key expertise will be needed in the future, talent development, and succession planning for the most senior leaders across our organisation.
Colleen is a successful Human Resources (HR) executive with more than 20 years of experience across a variety of industries where she was responsible for designing and implementing talent, diversity, performance, and reward programs linked to both individual and business performance outcomes. She has served in several senior executive HR positions reporting to the Group CEOs of National Australia Bank, Federation Centres and MyState Limited. She has also held senior HR positions at Crown Ltd and Yellow Pages.
She holds a Bachelor of Education (Science) from the University of Melbourne, is a Member of the AICD, and a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute.
Colleen is also a Director of Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care, Ramsay Health Care’s joint venture with Sime Darby and Ramsay Santé.
Matt joined boutique tier-one construction company, Roberts Co in February 2023 as CEO.
Prior to Roberts Co, Matt was the NSW/ACT GM of John Holland Building for four years. Matt’s tenure saw John Holland re-establish itself as a leading builder in NSW including the successful delivery of several major projects such as the recent Sydney Football Stadium Redevelopment (Allianz Stadium) and lead the successful strategy to re-enter several market sectors including major health and medical projects.
Prior to John Holland, Matt enjoyed a 24-year career at AW Edwards Pty Limited. Developing from an undergraduate site cadet to an Associate Director.
A relationship-driven leader; Matt is passionate about the future of construction. Specifically, diversity, technology, and ensuring the growth of all those around him. A Customer-focused and visionary senior executive with 28+ years of experience leading innovation and setting precedence within the commercial construction (tier 1 and tier 2) sector.
Matt is on the Industry Advisory Board for the Bachelor of Construction Management at the University of Technology, Sydney and enjoys involvement in several other industry bodies.
Matt has received several awards as a Project Manager including National AIB Professional of the Year in 2009.
Matt holds a Bachelor of Building (Construction Management) from UTS and a Global Executive MBA from the University of Sydney.
Greg is currently the Executive GM for InfraBuild Distribution & Processing a position he has held since July 2022. Having joined InfraBuild (then OneSteel) in 2007 Greg has held a number of senior roles across the organisation including CEO Liberty Steel USA, MD InfraBuild Rural & Wire Products and CFO InfraBuild Steel.
Greg has a passion for developing and implementing strategic plans which drive business improvement, encourage employee engagement, and deliver stakeholder value. With a finance background, Greg is a qualified CA and has extensive international experience working in multi-national organisations across four continents in the industrial, distribution, manufacturing, agriculture, electrical infrastructure, and pharmaceutical sectors.
Anthony was appointed as Managing Director of Ticket Manufacturers Australia Pty Limited in 1996. In October 2008 Anthony was appointed Managing Director of Mark Sensing Limited and to the Board of Queensland Gaming & Wagering Supplies Pty Limited.
In November 2008 he was appointed to the Board of Parking Australia and in 2010 as Executive Chairman of TMA Group of Companies Limited. In 2011 Anthony was appointed as a member of the Maronite Diocesan Finance Council where he served for 12 years. He also served on the Board of the Parking Association of Australia for over 7 years and in 2015 was appointed as Vice President of Parking Australia. In 2022 Anthony was appointed to the Board of Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese Limited. He also holds several director positions in companies located in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Europe, China, Hong Kong and The Philippines.
Beverly Lennox is a seasoned finance executive who currently serves as the CFO and Head of Corporate Services for ANC, a leading last-mile delivery service provider in Australia that delivers over 5 million packages annually while prioritizing exceptional customer experience.
Prior to joining ANC, Beverly held the CFO position for two different family-owned wine businesses in Australia, where she faced significant competition and DIFFICULT market conditions including China wine tariffs. Despite the CHALLENGEs, Beverly found these roles to be both rewarding and valuable experiences.
Beverly's career ALSO INCLUDES 16 years of international finance roles with Diageo, where she worked in the UK, Canada, and the US in various senior finance positions. In her last role at Diageo, Beverly led the finance transition for Diageo Chateau and Estate Wines to Australian-based Treasury Wine Estates.
Beverly is a member of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand.
Robert van Barneveld is Group CEO and Managing Director of the Sunpork Group of Companies which Collectively produces approximately 20% of Australia’s pork. In addition to his work with SunPork, Dr van Barneveld is also a Director of the Australasian Pig Research Institute Ltd, Chairman of the Autism CRC Ltd and is a Non-Executive Director of the ASX-listed Ridley Corporation (Australia’s largest stockfeed manufacturer).
In addition to his corporate roles, Robert has extensive experience as a scientist and nutritionist for pigs and poultry in Australia and overseas and specializes in the characterization and understanding of feed ingredients. He has worked widely with feedmills and livestock producers in Asia over the past 30 years and has a PhD in amino acid nutrition of monogastrics. Robert is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Australasian Pig Science Association, a Life Member of Autism Queensland, is a Registered Animal Nutritionist and is an Adjunct Professor within both the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England and the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Queensland.
Nicole has 20+ years’ experience providing legal, governance and risk advice to C-suite executives and Boards across a diverse range of industries including property, infrastructure, FMCG, manufacturing, construction, energy, mining and private equity. As a Special Counsel in the Corporate Advisory team at top-tier law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth she advised on public and private mergers and acquisitions, complex restructures, ASIC and ASX relief, FIRB approvals and ASX listing rules including continuous disclosure and capital raisings. She also undertook secondments to the Australian Government Takeovers Panel, Goodman Group, NBN and Rank Group.
Nicole is currently responsible for legal, risk and compliance, company secretarial, regulatory and corporate affairs at the privatised NSW Land Registry Services – a registry and data insights business owned by Aware Super, The Infrastructure Fund, NatWest Group and UTA.
Nicole has a Global Executive MBA from the University of Sydney where she studied and worked on projects in Bangalore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cambridge and Tel Aviv. She was awarded Australian In-House Lawyer of the Year 2022 at the Australasian Law Awards and Construction and Real Estate Lawyer of the Year 2022 at the Lawyers Weekly Corporate Counsel Awards.
David is the CFO of MedHealth Group. He specialises in working with teams to grow businesses, solve challenges, and fix things that aren't working well.
Initial roles were as an Auditor, Insolvency, and small business Consulting. Then into financial services with National Mutual Royal Bank, State Bank Victoria, and over 20 years with the NAB.
NAB roles included CFO of Markets and Treasury; M&A head for HomeSide in the US; leading the Group's EVA program and Group planning; CFO of the highly successful Business Bank; creating the investment case for the Group's NextGen program; GM leading the Business Deposit and Transaction products; and leading a complex program that remediated over a million customers for a major processing problem.
Post NAB, David ran a successful consultancy business, and since April 2015 has been the CFO of the MedHealth Group – a high growth health solutions, employment and workplace rehabilitation business.
He rounds out his social and community interests with non-executive director roles with Victoria Legal Aid, and Chartered Accountants ANZ.
He is known for being energetic, enthusiastic and positive, and highly action oriented.
Outside of work David leads a busy and full life with family and friends and is a keen bike rider, and a bad golfer.
Mark is the President and CEO of VetPartners, the largest and leading consolidator and operator of high-quality Veterinary medicine hospitals across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore with over 270 locations. Our vision is to build world class Veterinary communities that deliver leading animal health care. What unites us is our why: For the love of animals, and the people who care for them.
As an experienced leader of large consumer businesses spanning both healthcare service delivery and retail, Mark is energised by the art of bringing together strategy, culture, transformation, digital and data into unison, empowering people to deliver excellence and exceeding the expectations of our customer, clients and patients.
Prior to leading VetPartners was the Managing Director of Bupa Dental, Bupa Optical and Payless Shoes. Prior to this Mark worked across a number of leadership, transformation and business improvement roles across Woolworths Group, SAS the data analytics and technology leader and OPSM.
David Watkins is currently Chief Financial Officer at JCDecaux Australia and New Zealand. David has been with JCDecaux for SEVEN years previously as general manager of finance and company secretary before stepping up into the CFO role in late 2019. He leads a finance team of 30 and oversees technology for the jcdecaux business.
John Fogarty is the CEO of Royal Freemasons Limited a Victorian based aged care, retirement living and home care provider. Prior to joining Royal Freemasons in May 2022 he had been providing high level consulting to a range of aged care and health care organisations for the previous four years.
John previously worked with St. John of God Health Care in Western Australia for five years. He served as CEO for St. John of God Murdoch Hospital, as well as Executive Director of Perth Southern Hospitals and then as Executive Director (COO) of Western Australian Hospitals where he held strategic accountability for a portfolio of 7 hospitals in WA with turnover of $1.2B.
Earlier in his career, John was Chief Operating Officer of Mercy Health Australia (Vic, NSW, ACT) and Chief Executive Officer of St. John of God Hospital Ballarat. John has completed a Master of Business Administration and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Anna has more than 20 years’ experience as an engineer, project manager and business manager in the resources and energy industry. With a background in process engineering, Anna has had a technical contribution to projects for more than 15 years.
More recently she has applied her expertise in engineering and project delivery to her current role managing the ENGIE Net Zero Energy Solutions team. The team is focused on integrating infrastructure, services and technology to deliver Net Zero precincts across Australia.
Anna holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from RMIT.
James Taylor has more than 20 years’ of experience across the media and telecommunications sectors and has been the Managing Director of multicultural and First Nations public broadcaster, SBS, since October 2018.
Taylor oversees a workforce of 1,800 employees working across television, radio, and digital. During his time as Managing Director, he has overseen the expansion of the organisation’s digital strategy, taking SBS On Demand to over 12 million registered users, and increased investment in innovative multilingual content and services for all Australians, including the more than 5.6 million Australians who speak a language other than English.
He also has also overseen the launch of SBS’s industry-leading Inclusion, Equity and Diversity Strategy, supporting SBS’s position as a best-in-class inclusive employer and as a leader for diverse and inclusive content in the media sector.
Prior to his appointment as Managing Director, Taylor was SBS’s Chief Financial Officer for more than six years, having joined the organisation as Head of Corporate Finance in June 2012. During his time as CFO, James had oversight of the Finance, Corporate Strategy, People and Culture, SBS Media, Legal and Corporate Services teams.
Before joining SBS, Taylor was Director of Strategy Consulting at Deloitte, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at British Telecom and Director, Corporate Development at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Hadrian Lee is a General practitioner, business owner, and CEO of MyHealth Medical Group.
Mark Tatit is the Group Executive, Head of development of Investa. A seasoned property executive with over 25 years of experience in the property building and development industry. An honours degree in Engineering (civil) and a Master of Property development.
Craig is a global senior executive having managed International, Australian and New Zealand pharmaceutical and complementary medicine companies including Warner Lambert, Novogen, Health World and Vitaco. He has an extensive background in general management and sales and marketing director positions and has a track record of growing and developing health and wellness businesses both locally and internationally.
Craig’s currnet role as CEO of Vitaco commenced in January 2018, prior to the CEO role, Craig held the postion of General Manager Supplements Vitaco Australia from July 2017.
From 2015 to 2017 Craig was the Director of Sales for Health World, one of Australia/New Zealands largest nautral medicine companies, responsible for the sales operations in the Pharmacy, Health Food and Naturopath channels (annual net sales $150 million).
For the two years before Health World, Craig was the CEO of McCann Health Advertising Agency, one of Australia’s most awarded and leading healthcare advertsing agency’s, working with clients and brands in the pharmaceutucal, OTC and natural medicine markets.
Prior to McCann, Craig was the General Manger for the international, Australian based Biotech company, Novogen Pty Ltd. During the nine years at Novogen he led the business into 23 countries. Novogen’s core business was the development, patenting and marketing of a range of complementary and natural medcines. A key brand was Promensil, a globalized, natural menopause brand.
Before Novogen, Craig worked 15 years in the Over The Counter (OTC) consumer pharmaceutical category including 9 years for Wellcome New Zealand and Wellcome Australia, 6 years for Parke Davis/Warner Lambert Australia and Pfizer Australia. He held senior sales, marketing and general management roles for all four companies.
He has a Batchelor of Management Studies from Waikato University in New Zealand and subsequently completed managerial development programmes at London School of Business and Duke University in USA.
Richard Satchwell is Managing Director, Country CEO, and Head of Investment Banking, Australia at Barclays, based in Sydney.
Richard is responsible for leading Barclays' Australia growth initiatives since the firm reestablished its Australia office in 2018 and building further upon the momentum with its local strategic partner, Barrenjoey Capital Partners. Under his leadership, Barclays has been a leader locally in the Australian leveraged finance market, successfully re-established its place amongst the strongest capital markets banks for offshore issuance, and played an active role in offering innovative Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESC) solutions as well as supporting key clients across their acquisition financing requirements.
Richard joined Barclays in London in 2005. Most recently, Richard was Co-Head of Banking, in Australia before assuming the role as the sole lead and country CEO in 2020. Before the re-establishment in 201 8, Richard performed a number of Investment Banking roles for Barclays in London and Sydney with more than a decade of experience in Australia.
Before joining Barclays, Richard worked for Allen and Overy in London for six years as a Senior Associate in the Acquisition Finance group.
Richard has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Sheffield Hallam University, a diploma from the
College of Law (Chester), and is a qualified Solicitor in England and Wales.
Nick was appointed Managing Director and CEO of Challenger Limited in January 2022 and has held a number of senior executive roles at Challenger since joining in 2015, including Chief Executive, Funds Management. Prior to joining Challenger, Nick held senior leadership roles at Colonial First State and Invesco.
Nick has more than 20 years of industry experience gained across Australian and international markets and has successfully led top-tier global equity and multi-asset businesses both in Australia and the UK.
Dee Arora is the Country Vice President of Startek. Broad experience leading large customer experience, sales and operations teams for global corporate clients. Proven track record in engaging executive decision makers of major corporate clients, and leadership of organisational transformation projects, including within ASX 50 listed businesses. Adept at maximising the capacity and capability of the business via devising/executing commercial strategies for revenue growth. Having formed responsive, flexible and customer-oriented units in lean and agile environments, she is a valued member of the GLOBAL executive leadership team of Startek.
As Managing Director for Asia Pacific and Japan, Brigid Archibald is responsible for leading one of Qualtrics’ fastest growing regions globally. In this role, Brigid ensures every aspect of the business is focused on driving success and outcomes for local customers, partners, and employees.
Brigid is a proven business leader and has held senior leadership positions at Salesforce and American Express where she accelerated sales performance across multiple industries. Drawing upon her experiences, she is passionate about helping create high-performance cultures for her teams and customers.
Brigid has served as a non-executive Board Member and Member of the Risk and Audit Committees within the finance industry.
Greg Adamson is a data communications engineer and now Chief Information Security Officer at the Victorian Department of Transport and planning. He has worked in federal and Victorian governments, at ANZ, with Fujitsu in the UK, at the University of Melbourne, for the asian development bank across South Asia, and in various other roles.
He has a post-graduate in cyber security from the University of Canberra, a PhD in e-commerce from RMIT University, and a Master of commercial law from the Melbourne law school. He is an honorary associate professor at the university of Melbourne school of population and global health and a recognised authority in professional codes of ethics, blockchain, and explainable artificial intelligence. his pro bono activities include with ieee as technical vp in the society on social implications of technology, and as a club Melbourne ambassador.
Dominic Del Giudice leads the Asia-Pacific & Japan geography for LTIMindtree, operating across all Industry Group segments and Service Line capabilities, to help organisations leverage cutting-edge digital and cloud solutions for competitive differentiation. He is a member of the LTIMindtree Global Leadership Team.
Dominic has a wealth of expertise in structuring complex business transformation programs, developing new business models and assets, managing client relationships, leading industry teams and Asia-Pacific markets. A natural entrepreneur, Dominic is focussed on harnessing the potential of LTIMindtree Services and LTIMindtree’s extensive Digital, Data, Enterprise Applications, IOT Assets, AI and Cloud capability for clients across Asia-Pacific. Dominic has a consistent track record of successfully delivering on client business outcomes and commitments including business led transformation programs, complex system integration, large-scale outsourcing, and unique AI and IOT engagements.
Dominic joined Mindtree in September 2021 following a successful career spanning 23 years in Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing services, with a variety of multi-national companies including IBM, Accenture, and Capgemini, operating across a variety of industries, including Energy, Utilities, Mining, Construction, Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Telecommunications, Government, Logistics, Consumer Products and Retail. Dominic also spent his early professional career as an SAP Consultant and Project Manager working on local and international assignments.
Dominic holds a Bachelor of Business Computing from Victoria University, a Master of Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Swinburne University, Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship.
Dominic is a citizen of Australia and the European Union.
Gaurav Oberoi is the CEO of Afea Care Services, an award-winning disability and aged care service provider. His passion is in innovating business outcomes by leveraging technology to challenge the status quo. He has previously been responsible for client solutions at large global tech companies such as Cisco and Toshiba Australia.
He first joined Afea in 2015 as the COO because he was motivated to translate his expertise in workforce optimisation to create more meaningful impact for the community’s most vulnerable. He spearheaded the digitalisation of Afea, which not only reduced the company’s carbon footprint, but distilled complex processes into a streamlined journey to provide better transparency, communication, performance tracking and financial management for all stakeholders.
As he transitioned to CFO, he developed a fisheye perspective of the business that allowed him to pinpoint areas to help Afea scale. Today, as CEO, Gaurav has led Afea to be named by the AFR as one of the fastest growing companies in Australia.
His success in strategic growth is complimented by a compassionate approach to leadership. An advocate for mental health, Gaurav has fostered a workplace that ranked third in the AFR Best Places to Work for two consecutive years.
Most recently, Gaurav was a 2022 Outstanding Business Leader finalist in the Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence.
Carmel Hourigan is Charter Hall’s Office CEO and is a member of Charter Hall’s Executive Committee, with over 28 years industry experience spanning key senior leadership positions and roles in funds management, research and advisory services.
She is leading the A$22 billion office sector from end to end including Funds Management, Asset Management, Development and Property Management teams, and helps develop the overall strategy and objectives for the office funds in conjunction with the Charter Hall Fund Managers and our Investors and helps guide the portfolio management, capital transactions, treasury and trust management teams to execute strategy.
Carmel held the position of Global Head of Real Estate at AMP Capital between November 2015 and August 2020. She was responsible for leading the group’s global real estate investment and management business, including the portfolio management and performance of real estate assets for pooled fund investors and separately managed account clients. Carmel also oversaw AMP Capital’s strategic global real estate partnerships with investment managers in the United States, Singapore and New Zealand. Carmel also oversaw AMP Capital’s real estate investment committees, which govern investment strategy and implementation.
Prior to AMP Capital, Carmel was Chief Investment Officer at The GPT Group and prior to that, Head of Investment Management since 2012. Her experience also includes senior roles at Lend Lease and Challenger Financial Services Group in addition to roles within Colonial First State, Stockland Group, Jones Lang LaSalle and Raine & Horne Commercial.
Carmel formerly sat on the Property Council of Australia Board of Directors and has previously held the position of Vice President. She also served as Special Advisor to the Property Male Champions of Change group, which is dedicated to increasing gender equality in the property industry; and is a Fellow of the Australian Property Institute. Carmel has also previously held the position of Deputy Chancellor of Western Sydney University and the Chair of the University Infrastructure Committee.
Carmel holds a Bachelor of Business (Land Economics), and a Graduate Diploma of Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia.
Since December 2019 Philip has led Port Authority of New South Wales, as CEO and Director.
Philip joined Sydney Ports Corporation in May 2011 as Executive General Manager, Operations and Harbour Master.
Following the amalgamation of the Sydney, Newcastle and Port Kembla port corporations in 2014, he became Port Authority of New South Wales Chief Operating Officer and Harbour Master, Sydney.
In 1998, Philip joined the UK's largest port operator, Associated British Ports (ABP) in a port operations role. Following a number of roles within ABP he became the Harbour Master for the ABP Port of Southampton and the Marine Advisor for the group's 21 UK ports.
Philip has spent his entire career in the shipping and ports industries, starting as a 16-year-old cadet when he joined Ropner Shipping Services and later moving to Souter Shipping where he gained his Class 1 (FGN) Masters certificate.
Philip is a Director of Ports Australia, Australia's peak body representing the port sector and is also Chair of the Australian Cruise Association, the peak cruise industry association growing and developing the Australia Pacific region as the world's leading cruise destination.
Philip is committed to strong governance and growing understanding and collaboration across the maritime sector.
Oliver (Oli) Goodarzi joined Angus Knight Group in June 2021 and His previous roles include as a CFO/Finance Director within private equity, PLCs, and small/medium enterprises, across big-ticket consumer goods, travel, leisure, hospitality, and manufacturing.
Oli has strong international commercial experience, leading large parts of corporate strategy and teams through multiple stages, including high growth, exit process, strategic transformations, accelerated e-commerce/digital investment and subsidiary divestments/carve-outs.
Oli is a Chartered Accountant and has passed all 3 levels of the CFA exams.
Rachel Wiseman is the Chief Executive Officer NRMA Marine Investments and NRMA Group Chief Investment Officer. Rachel is charged with the oversight of the operations of the Manly Fast Ferry, Fantasea, the award winning Gordon River Cruises and Coral Expeditions, Australia's only international cruise business. Prior to that as CEO of NRMA Expeditions, Rachel grew the organisation’s interest in experiential tourism, with a focus on bespoke product that showcases Australia’s natural environment.
As the Group Chief Investment Officer Rachel leads the commercial interests of the Group including corporate development, investments and strategy. A member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Rachel has held executive positions across the entertainment and media industries including Tabcorp, Fox Sports and Telstra.
Since joining the NRMA in November 2016, Rachel has also been responsible for NRMA partnerships and growth, public policy and research, community investment, as well as the corporate legal and company secretariat functions, safety, brand, external comms and marketing.
Before joining the NRMA, Rachel held the role of General Manager Corporate Development at Tabcorp Holdings, during which time she was responsible for establishing and overseeing Tabcorp's UK operations in London. Before this, Rachel held a number of senior roles at Fox Sports including Director Business Affairs and Commercial & Strategy Manager.
Rachel started her career as an accountant in New Zealand before becoming a corporate lawyer, first in private practice and then in-house.
Rachel holds a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), GAICD, an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and graduated from Havard Business School following completion of the Advanced Management Program.
Carol is a highly experienced senior executive with a solid track record of leading large-scale and highly complex enterprise-wide transformation programs in the corporate, education and not for profit sectors.
Effective communication and building trusted relationships have been the hallmark of Carol’s success. She successfully navigates complex stakeholder environments by partnering with key stakeholders, particularly with Boards, CEOs and senior executives. Carol's strengths include strategy development and execution, and creating pragmatic and achievable business plans that deliver organisational value and improved business results.
Being action-orientated and passionate about driving high performing teams, Carol empowers people to reach their potential and perform at their best. She has a collaborative leadership style and builds commitment to an organisation’s goals and priorities by working across functions and teams, to articulate mutual benefits and gain support.
Carol is currently Chief Transformation Officer at Melba Support Services – a leading provider of services to people with disabilities throughout metropolitan and regional Victoria. She is responsible for the Future Melba program, an enterprise-wide initiative that will transform the organisation to deliver the highest quality outcomes for the people they support.
Jon is currently the CFO and COO of The Big Issue and CFO of Homes for Homes.
Jon has over 25 years of financial and accounting experience working for commonwealth and state governments, industry, and financial services, and has held leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector for the last 14 years.
Drew is the CEO of The Civilmart Group. He is recognised as a leading business executive throughout the building & construction products industry. He has a reputation for delivering sustainable business growth by creating cultures whereby great people want to be and by gaining an understanding of who the customer is and how his teams can create the value they desire. Originally from Melbourne, Drew initially worked in the United States before returning to call Sydney home. From the outset Drew was quickly promoted into senior marketing, sales and operational leadership positions within a number of leading publicly listed and privately owned entities and Drew’s delivery extends across mature, turnaround and start-up businesses. He loves driving change and growth strategies.
His growth has been furthered through completion of a Master of Business Administration (MBA), the Columbia Business School (NY) - Digital Transformation program and the Melbourne Business School - Leaders Program. Drew has also held Directorship positions across multiple business’ in Australia and New Zealand. Outside of his working life, Drew is a proud husband and a father to two beautiful children. He takes great pride in coaching and mentoring their Australian Rules football, tennis and athletics ambitions.
Stephen Kowal is the CEO and Executive Director of Atturra. Stephen has been the CEO since early 2019 and, prior to his appointment, has held senior executive and non-executive positions in the IT and consultancy sectors since 2001. Prior to joining Atturra, Stephen led sales for the Australian and New Zealand division for DXC Technology, a US multinational business-to-business IT services provider.
Stephen was also previously the President of the Computer Sciences Corporation’s (CSC) Australian and New Zealand Insurance and Banking business. Stephen is highly experienced across the insurance, banking, government, and natural resources sectors, holding several Chief Information Officer roles within the US, Chile, and Australia.
Stephen holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of NSW, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia, and a Diploma of Insurance from the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIF). ANZIF awarded Stephen the PC
Wickens award in 2015.
Stephen is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia, Senior Associate of ANZIF and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
Vasyl Nair is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Mine Super. Mine Superannuation Fund (Mine Super) is a profit to members, public offer super fund dedicated to serving the retirement needs of all Australians. Its enduring purpose is to deliver an exceptional retirement for members, achieving peace of mind along the way. Mine Super employs 180 staff and manages over $12.5 billion in funds for approximately 57,000 members. In addition to superannuation and pension products, Mine Super offers its
members' insurance and access to financial advice.
Vasyl Nair is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Mine Super (prior to this, Vasyl held the roles of Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Chief Risk Officer and Chief Strategy Officer since he commenced with Mine Super in 2016). Vasyl has a strong background in law and corporate finance, having also held roles across operations, strategy, marketing and risk-related functions at Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Vasyl holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hon), Bachelor of Commerce, a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice and an Executive Master of Business Administration. He is admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW as a solicitor, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has achieved a
Certificate of Business Excellence from the Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley.
Kent is the CEO and Managing Director of MLC Life Insurance. He joined MLC Life Insurance as Chief Financial Officer in February 2020.
Prior to joining MLC Life Insurance, he was Chief Financial Officer of TAL (2012-2019), a Partner of Ernst & Young (2010-2012), and Regional Chief Financial Officer of AXA Asia Life (2007-2009). He has over thirty years' corporate and consulting experience in financial services, both in Australia and internationally.
Kent has a Bachelor of Economics, is a Fellow of the Actuaries Institute, a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He has served on a number of Boards, both in Australia and internationally, and is currently a Director of Hume Bank and a Board Member of the Country Fire Authority.
Gerald is Bupa's Former APAC Chief Customer and Strategy Officer with accountability for the Bupa’s Customer Transformation ambition, Corporate Strategy and new ventures in Digital Healthcare. Bupa’s purpose is to help people live longer, healthier and happier lives and making a better world.
To achieve Bupa’s global ambition of becoming the world’s most customer centric healthcare organisation, Gerald is driving the APAC enterprise customer transformative agenda. In 2021, Gerald released a thought leadership paper on the Growth of Virtual Care Models across Australia and the APAC region. Gerald is the executive sponsor of BenefitPocket, Bupa’s platform for everyday preventative health, part of Bupa’s Blua digital health ecosystem play.
With more than 25 years of working experience across Oceania, APAC, USA, Europe and the Indian Ocean, Gerald spent 15 years as a management consultant in Growth, Innovation and Digital Customer transformation at IBM, Deloitte and EY. As a former private equity investor for a global institutional PE firm, Gerald spent 5 years actively building and managing a portfolio of 10+ businesses.
Gerald started his career as a Corporate Intrapreneur designing and launching an internet banking growth venture for a well-established Banking Group. Gerald is passionate about innovation that creates value for customers and preserving the health of our planet for future generations and its biodiversity.
Martin is currently the CEO of Scentia Pty Ltd, a privately owned higher education business that operates heritage brands in leadership and management education such as The Australian Institute of Management (AIM) and the AIM Business School. Scentia also operates the Australasian College of Health and Wellness, Australia's leading higher education instituion for dermal science.
For the decade to 2020, Martin was the CEO and MD of two high-growth businesses. More recently, he was the CEO of a start-up disrupting the legal practice management industry. He has successfully led a disruptive challenger brand during its scale-up phase, an incumbent internet services business through a turnaround and ultimate transformation into a leading digital services business, and a start-up taking an innovative SaaS platform to market.
In addition to a dozen years of CEO experience, Martin has enjoyed senior leadership roles in functional areas including sales, marketing, product management, channel management, business development, and strategy and planning.
Professor Attila Brungs became President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales on 31 January 2022. Prior to joining UNSW Professor Brungs was Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Technology Sydney from 2014 to 2021 and previously the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research.
Professor Brungs has held senior positions with CSIRO and McKinsey & Company. He is a Rhodes Scholar with a Doctorate in Inorganic Chemistry from Oxford University and a University Medal in Industrial Chemistry from the University of New South Wales.
Some of Professor Brungs’s present key appointments include a member of the Universities Australia Board; the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council; Committee for Sydney; and the NSW Treasury Tech Central Industry Advisory Board. His experience also includes many distinguished past board and committee memberships, including not-for-profit organisations, in addition to numerous state and federal government and institutional appointments.
Joe is an experienced business technology and transformation leader who has been at the forefront of Digital IT strategy and innovation with global blue chip companies across several sectors and countries including Mainland China, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
He has been widely recognized within the technology industry and has received various CIO & innovation awards.
Joe has served as a Board Member and Council Member of the Société Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA),as well as numerous Advisory Boards for Governments, Universities and Statutory Authorities.
He is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD) and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Commerce from University of Melbourne, a Graduate Diploma in Marketing from Monash University, and has attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Jeremie is currently the Chief Financial Officer for Hitachi Energy in both Australia and New Zealand. Jeremie has an impressive background with over 17 years’ finance and operational management experience gained in senior executive roles with large multinationals in France, Germany, India and Australia including Alstom, ABB and Hitachi.
Specialising in the energy/power, engineering and manufacturing sectors with extensive large infrastructure project experience Jeremie has a broad skill set that allows him to excel in a variety of environments. Jeremie is driven, commercially focused and enjoys working with stakeholders across the business to foster growth and remove obstacles.
Over the years Jeremie has successfully implemented numerous successful change management and
improvement projects including ERP implementations, large scale reorganisations, mergers and acquisitions, governance framework implementations and refinancing
projects, to name a few.
Having lived in four different countries Jeremie has extensive experience working with colleagues from a broad range of cultures and understands both the positive impact that building diverse teams brings to an organisation and the importance of ensuring that stakeholders from all backgrounds are comfortable presenting their views in a secure and respectful environment. Jeremie enjoys mentoring junior employees and takes pride in turning employees into leaders.
Jeremie has a Bachelor's degree in economics earned at University of Cergy-Pontoise, a Masters in Finance and Management from NEOMA business school in France and is a registered CPA. Jeremie prides himself on working for organisations focused on making positive contributions to society whether that be through providing efficient and cost-effective transportation solutions or through the development of renewable energy solutions that contribute to a sustainable future for all.
Knowing that he is making a difference is what gets him up in the morning. When he’s not tackling the next challenge at the office Jeremie loves spending time with his two beautiful daughters and wife or taking his dog Selene out for a walk.
Deborrah is the CEO of Omnia Inclusive Employment Solutions Pty Ltd, a recruitment and consulting specialist, with a focus on disability and diverse characteristics. Our organisation provides pre- and post-employment support and training for people with a disability, or other diverse characteristics. In addition, we support training for students graduating from high school in becoming 'employment-ready' in a skills and social based framework, which underpins their progression to employment through the company’s 'pathway to employment'.
Omnia Inclusive also offers consulting services for employers in identifying their readiness in implementing their inclusive employment strategy.
Deborrah is a non-executive director in aged care and financial services and has previous experience as a business consultant and C-Suite executive with government and commercial organisations, across a range of sectors including banking and finance in the consumer, corporate and project financing and investment markets, higher education and professional services. Deborrah has worked in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
James Vincent is the CEO of NCS Next.
Senior people leader with twenty five years commercial IT experience. A proven track record for large scale strategic transformation in Enterprise environments. Committed to delivering successful business outcomes through technology.
Practice Manager for Strategic Consulting, Cloud and DevOps with specialist expertise in Enterprise scale cloud adoption. Mentor for diverse skill sets to expert level.
Takes a collaborative approach to team building and is highly regarded as a positive culture champion.
For three decades, Todd Harper has led organisations dedicated to global public health, including Cancer Council Victoria, Quit Victoria and VicHealth. Todd is a Board member and Past President of the NCD Alliance based in Geneva.
Since 2011, as Cancer Council Victoria’s Chief Executive Officer, Todd has led the organisation’s important work in cancer research, prevention, support and advocacy.
During this time Cancer Council has led research initiatives in tobacco plain packaging, screening campaigns, obesity prevention, been at the forefront of bans on solariums and campaigns on junk food, alcohol and smoking.
Todd has a bachelor’s degree in Economics, a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Promotion, a Master’s Degree in Health Economics, and an Honorary Doctorate by Deakin University for ‘outstanding contributions and commitment to public health and for willingness to be innovative and brave in advocating for public health.
Todd was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in June 2022 for significant service to cancer support programs and to medical governance.
Matthew Beattie was appointed Chief Executive Officer, SIXT Australia in December 2021. SIXT is one of the largest car rental operators in Australia and also operates in over 110 countries globally. Prior to this, he was Managing Director, Car Rental from May 2020. Matthew joined the NRMA Group in 2011, holding roles in strategy and product development, B2B sales as well as leading technology projects in vehicle connectivity and the initial customer experience design of NRMA’s electric vehicle fast charging infrastructure. Matthew was the General Manager of NRMA MotorServe, a retail automotive servicing and repair business with 24 outlets across NSW and ACT. This role was also accountable for the retail and wholesale distribution of NRMA-branded automotive products such as batteries, car electrics and vehicle inspections.
Prior to joining the NRMA, Matthew held leadership roles at ANZ and ING Australia leading business transformation that was focused on developing platforms to enable self-service, automation and an enhanced customer experience.
Matthew holds a MBA and Masters of Management from Macquarie School of Business as well as Membership with the AICD.
Antony was recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Australia in September 2022 and also serves HSBC Australia’s Board as an Executive Director. He is also a standing member on the Counsel of the Australian Banking Association.
Antony joined HSBC in 2003 and has worked across multiple roles within HSBC’s investment bank. Most recently, Antony was Head of Institutional Sales for Asia Pacific, the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, where he was responsible for covering HSBC’s global and regional institutional clients of the bank across 20 markets. Since 2019 he has also served as Global Head of Wealth for HSBC’s investment bank, focused on growing the bank’s service proposition for retail and private banking clients.
Prior to HSBC, Antony worked within investment banks including Macquarie Bank and Deutsche Bank in London before relocating to Asia.
Amit Yadav is the CEO for GE Healthcare in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific Islands. Amit joined GE Healthcare in 2004 and has since held a number of senior executive roles with GE. Amit was appointed as an Executive Director of GE Healthcare Australia Pty Ltd in June 2021.
Amit has also held Non-Executive Director, Board Member, MD and Executive Director with over a decade of board level experience with particular expertise in the healthcare industry. At a board level, driving improved strategy & financial
performance, by ensuring clear commercial strategies are developed and implemented. Board level highlights include: Co-founder & Non Executive Director at Start-up Group of Radiology Practices and Non Executive Board Member at Obstetric and Gynaecological Imaging.
Amit holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Medical Imaging and MBA with a specialization in finance from Charles Sturt University. Amit currently also serves as the Secretary of the Diagnostic Imaging and Monitoring Association.
Jenny was appointed as Chief Human Resources Officer in October 2016 and led the Wesfarmers Advanced Analytics team from 2017 to 2021 in addition to her human resources responsibilities. She joined Wesfarmers in 2011 as the Human Resources Director, Coles and held this role until 2015 when she took on the role of Business Development Director, Coles.
Jenny started her career at Mars Inc, where she spent ten years in a variety of roles across Europe and the USA, working in manufacturing; sales and marketing; and human resources. She then moved to Vodafone where she held a number of international human resources roles, spanning 20 companies across Europe, Africa, India and Australasia. After ten years with Vodafone, Jenny joined EMI Music as Global President, Human Resources.
Jenny holds a Masters of Arts (MA) with honours from Cambridge University, and has lived in France, Germany, Italy and the USA. Jenny is a Director of the Flybuys joint venture with Coles Group Limited.
Hudson RPO is shaping the future of talent for organisations worldwide by providing recruitment outsourcing and talent solutions that help transform recruitment functions to deliver superior results. As CEO of the Asia Pacific region, she oversees all aspects of the business, including strategy, operational excellence, new business acquisition, brand and marketing, HR, technology, finance, legal and innovation.
Kimberley has over 30 years of experience in the Recruitment and Talent Management industry and over 23 years of experience in RPO. She offers deep expertise across the talent management continuum from workforce planning, recruitment marketing and sourcing to diversity, assessment, internal mobility, recruitment technology and onboarding.
Tim commences as the CEO of Resolution Life Australasia from February 2023. Prior to this he was the CEO, Medical Indemnity at Avant Mutual. He has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry with an extensive background across distribution, M&A, strategy, reinsurance, product, pricing, marketing, strategy and government relations.
In his previous role at AIA as the CEO of AIA Health Insurance he grew the fund 10x in premium within 2 years and established AIA Health as top 5 for net growth.
Prior to this he successfully led the $3.8b acquisition and integration of the Commonwealth Bank’s life insurance businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
Tim also led the product, business development, pricing and marketing teams, as well as leading the global team to successfully launch the world’s leading health & wellness program Vitality in Australia, in his former role as Chief Marketing Officer at AIA.
Tim is the former Director of the Financial Services Council Life Insurance sub-committee and in 2015 was voted in the top 25 Chief Marketing Officers in Australia by CMO magazine, with his contribution to the industry being recognised in 2016 by being voted “Asia’s Best Marketer” by CMO Asia.
Bernadette McDonald was appointed to the role of CEO of The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in September 2021.
Bernadette was previously the CEO of Canberra Health Services at a time of great change in the ACT’s health service system. Prior that appointment, she was the Deputy CEO and then Interim CEO of Austin Health, having previously been the CEO of the Orbost Regional Health Service.
Bernadette is a highly experienced leader with a track record of delivery in the Australian health sector. Known for her strategic vision, strong relationships, inspirational leadership and commitment to exceptional patient care, she demonstrates authentic leadership, and positions organisations for success by strategically assessing the environment and providing foresight to maximise impact and reputation.
Bernadette has a Bachelor of Nursing, a Masters of Health Administration, post graduate diplomas in Health Services and Health Systems Management, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Professor Renée Leon is the Vice-Chancellor and President of Charles Sturt University. Prior to her appointment as Vice-Chancellor in 2021, she had a distinguished career in both
Commonwealth and State public administration.
Professor Leon has been the Secretary of two Commonwealth Departments – the Department of Human Services and the Department of Employment – and the CEO of the ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety. She was appointed National President of the Institute of Public Administration Australia in 2022. In 2013, she was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding service to public administration and law in leadership roles in the Australian Capital Territory and the Commonwealth.
Professor Leon holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the Australian National University and a Master of Laws from the University of Cambridge, which she attended as the Menzies Foundation Law Scholar in 1995.
Professor Leon is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and a member of Chief Executive Women Australia.
John Taylor has over 25 years’ experience in technology and is currently the Group CIO of MedHealth, a multi-brand national health services provider. Prior to his current role John was an IT executive with AGL where he performed a variety of roles including the CIO for AGL’s Retail business, CTO, established its IT shared services capabilities and was AGL’s first Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
John has wide-ranging experience across various sectors with extensive international experience in a variety of global roles for top 5 FTSE and top 20 ASX organisations. Throughout his career, John has delivered various major transformational programs, lead complex operational and development teams and provided consulting services up to Board level regarding various strategic IT topics. John’s unique perspective is that he has held multiple CIO and CISO roles.
John holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration.
Bachelor of Commerce with double majors in Economics and Marketing. MBA. Chartered Banker. Australian Institute of Company Directors course.
Member of CountPlus Board
Member of Technology & Innovation Committee
Member of Acquisitions Committee
Hugh is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of CountPlus, and a Director of Count Financial.
Hugh is a highly regarded executive in the financial services sector. He started his career at global accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, has been the CEO of Hillross Financial Services and was the Executive General Manager for Wealth at Commonwealth Bank.
Most recently he was the senior executive responsible for NAB’s personal banking business in NSW. Hugh is renowned as a growth leader and has delivered large-scale change programs including wealth transformations at AMP and CBA. He has significant expertise in effective risk management, business
compliance and customer remediation. He has deep client experience capabilities and digital expertise that he developed in his time leading consumer and enterprise businesses in telecommunications
with Optus and Vodafone.
He is a non-executive Director of The Infants’ Home and has previously been a director of Hillross Pty Ltd, Vodafone Fiji and a non-executive Director of the Future2 Foundation. Hugh holds a Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Sydney with double majors in Economics and Marketing. He has an MBA from Henley Business School at the University of Reading, UK. He is a Chartered Banker and he has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors course.
Jeremy is an experienced financial services professional, managing a range of collaborative relationships with Boards, executives and external stakeholders, advisers and regulators. He has extensive strategic, corporate finance, transformation and risk management experience in financial services and NFPs.
Jeremy began his career with Accenture in the Financial Services strategy team, before joining ANZ's Group Strategy team. During his time at ANZ, Jeremy executed strategic intiatives, mergers and acquisitions for the bank and went on to hold key roles in the Australia Risk team and Private Bank. Jeremy joined Catholic Church Insurance (CCI) in 2016 and led a transformation program for several years prior to becoming Chief Risk Officer. Recently, he became the GM, GI Claims (on secondment) prior to returning to the CRO role.
In addition to his current executive role as the CRO for CCI, Jeremy also chairs the CCI Giving foundation, which provides funding to a diverse range of grass roots initiatives and charities through small grants and a workplace giving program. CCI Giving also supports the "In a Good Place" program, targeted at addressing mental health in rural and regional communities.
John Harris is the CFO of ASX listed software company Iress Limited. Prior to Iress, he held senior finance, strategy, and operations roles with a focus on financial services and technology. His global experience spans Asia, Europe, US, and Australia.
Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen was appointed Chief People Experience & Marketing Officer of Australia
Pacific Airports Corporation (APAC) in October 2018. In this capacity Mari is responsible for all
People Experience (PX) functions that deliver a number of initiatives to champion and drive
cultural transformation. In her Marketing remit, Mari is responsible for general marketing and
brand, social media, and event management. APAC is the owner and operator of Melbourne and
Launceston Airports, with an enterprise value in excess of $6 billion.
Mari has extensive commercial experience as a CPX&MO spanning more than 30 years across multiple
industries and geographies including banking & finance, telecommunications, professional services,
logistics and aviation. She brings a wealth of expertise in creating high performance teams
through a values-led approach to organisational culture.
Mari currently sits on the Board of Launceston Airport, and has been a recipient of many HR awards,
including finalist of the Australian HR Awards HR Director of the Year 2021, the CEO Magazine HR
Executive of the Year Award 2017 and the AHRI Dave Ulrich HR Leader Award 2017.
As the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the Victorian government. Shane was responsible for developing a cyber security strategy covering 340,000 staff or 8% of the Victorian workforce.
Based in the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet. Shane is responsible for guiding effective cyber risk management across the enterprise, while enabling digital transformation. With a technical history, Shane works across all levels of the business to technical risk and opportunity is understood at the strategic level to enable the enterprise to deliver on mission.
Shane is a strong advocate for diversification of the Cyber workforce and was recognised as a finalist “Male champion of change” by the Women in Security cyber awards.
Karen is a senior retail and consumer executive who has worked in some of Australia’s most iconic retail brands: Woolworths, BIG W, Caltex (now Ampol), and Rebel Sport. Karen has been a CFO, COO, GM of Strategy, Transformation and Replenishment and is now the Group CEO of Australia’s largest born and bred quick service restaurant group, Craveable Brands, who operates 570 Red Rooster, Oporto, and Chicken Treat restaurants. Karen is a CEW and ARA member and is passionate about retail, people, and diversity.
With a strong vision and an ambitious approach to progress, Nabeel’s experience in the construction industry is a key growth driver at Symal. A proven leader, with a track record for forming effective, long-term partnerships, Nabeel has the engineering skills and business acumen to bring people together through shared values.
Daniel is Interflow's Managing Director and the fourth generation of the Weaver family to lead Interflow.
He joined the business in 2003 and quickly worked up the ranks, expanding his portfolio to include a broader range of services and regions. In 2019, he moved into the role of Chief Operating Officer, joining a newly expanded executive leadership team.
As Managing Director, Daniel is now responsible for leading our company across its domestic and international footprint.
An accomplished Public Sector Executive and Board Director with a proven track record of transforming and driving key government reforms across complex agencies within Local and State Government in Victoria. She is a visionary with a reputation for delivery, strong future focus and passion for people and impact.
As Managing Director APAC for Rokt, Stuart FitzRoy leads the team in APAC and partners with the CTO to design, build and maintain Rokt’s products. In his previous role, as Chief Product and Engineering Officer, Stuart directed all Rokt's product development activities from Sydney. Stuart joined Rokt in 2015.
Prior to Rokt, Stuart was a Principal at the The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). While there, Stuart worked with clients on technology projects across a range of sectors including travel and tourism, infrastructure and mining. He has expertise in digital technology, commercial strategy, distribution, sourcing and procurement.
In the middle of his tenure at BCG Stuart left to join Jetstar, the low fares airline serving the Asia-Pacific region. He was responsible for distribution and product management of the airline’s technology platform for booking, payment and check-in. He returned to BCG after helping to grow the Jetstar Group from concept to $1 billion in revenue.
Stuart holds an MBA from INSEAD as well as a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics & Finance and Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney.
Scott Wyatt has more than 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas sector and has held various leadership roles within Viva Energy’s downstream oil and gas business (formerly Shell) including strategy, marketing (consumer and commercial) and supply and distribution.
After a long career with Shell across Australia and New Zealand, Scott was appointed CEO of Viva Energy Australia in August 2014 and has led the company through private ownership and subsequent listing on the ASX in 2018. Scott is a director on Viva Energy Australia and is a former Board member of Viva Energy REIT (now Waypoint REIT).
Scott holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University of Wellington and lives in Melbourne where Viva Energy's head office is located.
Jason Kovacic graduated from The University of Melbourne Medical School in 1994, and then undertook residency and cardiology specialty training at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. Jason then completed a PhD at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, before relocating to the USA, to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. At the NIH, Jason undertook a postdoctoral fellowship with the then Director of the NHLBI, Dr. Elizabeth Nabel. In 2009 Jason moved to Mount Sinai in New York. As a physician-scientist and investigator at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Jason established a cardiovascular research laboratory with a strong interest in the cellular, molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease. He also established a large clinical practice as an interventional and clinical cardiologist. Major career achievements include successful investigator-initiated clinical studies of cardiovascular progenitor cell therapy, molecular characterization of a novel vascular progenitor cell population, unravelling the pathobiology of fibromuscular dysplasia and spontaneous coronary artery dissection, numerous basic and translational studies on the biology and manifestations of atherosclerosis, and pioneering studies regarding the role of endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in adult vascular biology and disease.
In early 2020 Jason was recruited to return Australia, and to take on the role of the Executive Director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. Jason has now established his research program at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, where he continues his focus on cardiac and vascular diseases, including fibromuscular dysplasia and spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Jason currently holds the positions of the Robert M. Graham Chair and Professor of Cardiovascular Research at University of New South Wales, and continues his appointment as Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
Nick Jenkinson is the Chief Executive Officer of Essential Facilities Services.
With over 20 years’ experience in Facilities Services, Nick Jenkinson applied himself in all facets of the Industry. Over this time he has handled many roles successfully; from his recent position as General Manager Business Development (national role) to former roles as General Manager for NSW and the ACT, Business Development Manager, and Operations Manager.
Nick Jenkinson is a highly skilled and diverse facilities services professional. His hands-on approach to relationship management has enabled him to develop and sustain strong business partnerships and client relationships throughout Australia and New Zealand.
He is a skilled in developing and implementing profitable strategies. I have overseen growth of companies over the last 10 years and successfully transformed businesses in to mid tier entities.
Growth was achieved through the management, implementation and retention of key contracts for some of Australia’s best known and leading businesses in Education, Retail, Healthcare, Government, Aviation, Telecommunications and Industrial.
In his current role as CEO of Essential Facilities Services, it is his intention to use his years of experience to grow the business, the brand, and the people and create a tier-1 national facilities services company.
Damian Hill was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) in July 2020. CSC is the trustee and administrator of 11 schemes dedicated to providing benefits to current and former members of the Australian Public Service and Australian Defence Forces. CSC has over 700,000 members, $200b in benefit liabilities and almost $60b in assets. It comprises both DB and DC schemes.
Prior to CSC, Damian was CEO at Industry Super for over 11 years, after joining REST in 1999 as Administration Manager. Damian has over 30 years’ experience across superannuation and life insurance industries.
During his time at REST, it was acknowledged as one of the best performing funds in the industry delivering competitive long-term returns for members. SuperRatings awarded REST Pension of the Year 2015, the second year in a row REST has won this award. REST also received Money magazine’s 2015 and 2014 Best of the Best award for Best Super Fund Manager and Best Pension Fund Manager. Chant West Winner Innovation Best Fund 2017 and Heron awarded REST a 5 quality star rating for 2017.
Damian is passionate about improving member mental health and wellbeing; having served 11 years as the inaugural Chairman of Superfriend, a mental health foundation established by industry super funds.
Kim is the CEO & Co-founder or Mr Yum, an Aussie born hospitality fintech startup. Mr Yum now operates in 5 markets including Australia, UK, US, Singapore and New Zealand. In 2021 Mr Yum raised Australia’s 3rd largest series A, and the largest by a female founder. Kim is known for her contrarian views, hyper transparency and wanting to win the right way.
Gaven Morris is Managing Director of Bastion Transform, a content strategy and digital transformation consultancy, part of the Bastion Group, Australasia's largest independent creative and content agency.
Bastion Transform is working with large organisations, trusted institutions and emerging digital enterprises to reach their potential during a time of profound change and disruption.
Until December 2021, Gaven was the Director of News, Analysis and Investigations at the ABC and led a team of 1300 of Australia's most trusted journalists, content makers and broadcasters. He initiated and drove a digital transformation of ABC News which resulted in it becoming Australia’s leading online and social media news service during a time of reduced funding, editorial and political controversy, and through a tumultuous time in global and national events. He was previously the Executive Head of News Content responsible for all daily news output and for the launch of the ABC News Channel.
Gaven spent a decade in international news, firstly as a producer, correspondent and senior editor at CNN based in London and travelling extensively on assignments globally, and then as a senior member of the team that built and launched Al Jazeera English, the largest news channel and digital start-up in world journalism.
He’s covered many significant breaking news events from the Iraq War and the second Intifada in the Middle East, to conflict in Africa, terrorist attacks and natural disasters across Europe and the Middle East, political assassinations and upheaval in Lebanon and national elections, U.S. Presidential visits and global summits.
Duncan Bentley is Federation University’s Vice-Chancellor and President who believes a dual-sector regional university sits at the heart of its communities, playing a core role in their prosperity and growth.
Throughout his career Professor Bentley has supported universities to grow through design thinking, digital innovation, deep community engagement and long-term global partnerships.
He comes to Federation from a distinguished academic career at Swinburne University as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).
There, he led the academic, international, online and Indigenous portfolios. He is known for his national leadership in lifelong learning so that everyone can develop the skills to thrive in a digital society, beginning in early childhood and continuing throughout life, inspired by curiosity, giving life to dreams.
Previously at Victoria University he had oversight of vocational education, external engagement and international. He believes that the happiest and most successful organisations and communities are diverse and inclusive.
Growing up on coffee plantations and game reserves in Africa, he champions adoption of technologies to support sustainability. Professor Bentley completed a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Cape Town.
He went on to complete a Master of Laws from the University of London, Master of Laws (Corporate and Commercial) and PhD from Bond University.
Peter Horgan is the CEO for Omnicom Media Group.
Peter's 26 years in media agencies spans the UK and Australia. In 2016 Peter took the CEO role at Omnicom Media Group after 6 years at the helm of OMD. He leads over 1,500 media & consultancy specialists across Australia & New Zealand and has been Chairman of the Media Federation of Australia since 2014. He is also the sole agency board director on the peak client body, the AANA.
Peter was named in the top 3 influencers in AdNews power 50. The business has grown steadily on his watch, and he is committed to sustainable growth via continual investment in people and driving a performance culture across the group. At an industry level Peter has been a vocal champion of transparency and equitable commercial behaviour.
Chris Andrews is the Chief Executive Officer of La Trobe Financial, responsible for all of the Group’s operations.
Chris joined La Trobe Financial in 2006 and, throughout his career with the business, has served in a variety of senior executive roles, including as Chief Investment Officer, Senior Legal Counsel and, prior to his current appointment, Deputy CEO.
Prior to joining La Trobe Financial, Chris worked at Minter Ellison Lawyers.
Chris is Chair of La Trobe Financial’s Executive Committee.
Dean Ormston was appointed Chief Executive of APRA AMCOS in July 2018.
APRA AMCOS is Australia and New Zealand’s largest music industry organisation with over 100,000 members who are songwriters, composers, and music publishers. APRA AMCOS licenses businesses and organisations to play, perform, copy, record or make available members’ music and distribute the royalties to members.
His appointment as CEO follows over 20 years with the organisation leading its member services, licensing and advocacy work and comes at a time of major change for Australian and New Zealand music creators and publishers and the industry that supports them.
Darren Kane has been the Chief Security Officer at nbn™ since 2015. Under his leadership, the nbn Security Group has become a converged centre of physical and cyber security enabling Australia’s biggest critical infrastructure owner to better protect its people and assets against evolving threats. In 2020, Darren was appointed to the Federal Government’s Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee to help guide the implementation of the nation’s Cyber Security Strategy and provide ongoing advice to address emerging cyber security challenges.
Prior to nbn™, Darren served in Federal Government Law Enforcement Agencies for over 19 years in the Australian Federal Police and financial markets regulator the Australian Securities & Investment Commission, and 11 years at Telstra Corporation in varied security management roles culminating in 5 years as the Director, Corporate Security & Investigations.
Darren was appointed as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Information Technology, Faculty of Science, at Deakin University in 2020. Darren has a Master’s in Business Administration, a Diploma of Financial Markets and is a Graduate Australian Institute of Company Directors.
In 2020 Darren was awarded Male Champion of Change at the AWSNA (Australian Women’s Security Network Awards).
Matt is the COO for Credit Corp Group Limited.
Matt is responsible for oversight of the revenue-generating businesses of Credit Corp across all geographies. He is committed to delivering on the revenue and profit objectives of the Group each year, whilst also overseeing the execution of strategic priorities that will deliver growth into the future.
Matt has over 25 years of management experience and prior to joining Credit Corp ran software development and consulting teams in Australia and the USA.
Thomas Beregi BEc(LLB)Hons CPA GAICD
Thomas Beregi is the CEO of ASX 200 financial services company Credit Corp Group Limited (Credit Corp) and has held this position since 2008.
Under Thomas’s leadership Credit Corp has grown substantially, with net profit after tax increasing from $5 million in 2008 to $96 million in 2022 and market capitalisation increasing from $20 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2022. Thomas has led a programme of disciplined organic expansion, taking Credit Corp from a small mono-line Australian debt buyer to become a leading global debt buyer and a successful Australian consumer lender. Credit Corp has established a strong reputation as the most sustainable and compliant operator in its segment of the financial services market.
Thomas has previously served as a non-executive director of the Credit and Investment Ombudsman Service Limited.
Prior to joining Credit Corp Thomas held executive-level finance and operational positions with leading FMCG and business services organisations including PepsiCo Inc, Diageo PLC and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
Thomas lives in Sydney with his wife and three children.
Bridgid commenced as Chief People Officer (CPO) at RMIT University in October 2022.
Bridgid is a passionate human resource executive and values-driven leader, with extensive experience creating high performing organisations through culture and leadership aligned to strategy and managing change in complex organisations.
Bridgid has held several senior executive roles across health, government, education and regulatory bodies including positions with Epworth Healthcare, Monash University, Melbourne Health and the Department of Justice and Regulation Victoria.
Bridgid has a strong interest in organisational and individual wellbeing and holds a Master Applied Positive Psychology in addition to Executive Master Public Administration qualifications.
As Chief People Officer, Bridgid leads the People portfolio and is responsible for RMIT's people strategy, including growing people capability for the changing world of work, and shaping a culture that fosters wellbeing, care and community.
David Grant is one of the world’s most qualified pet care leaders, who led the 2016 acquisition of the group by Quadrant PE. He also had a 25-year global career with Nestlé, which included the Purina pet care ANZ/APAC region.
David is now focused on growing RPFC both through acquisitions and organically.
Zoe Hugginson is the CPO of Eclipx Group. With 15+ years’ experience as an HR professional, Zoe adapted readily to diverse work environments and industry sectors including Facilities Management, Engineering, Fleet Management, Financial Services, and local Government, across the UK, New Zealand, and Australia.
As an agile and commercially astute Head of People and Culture, she established credibility as a trusted advisor to the Board and senior executive team, delivering subject matter expertise to help navigating large and complex ASX-listed businesses through significant growth and business transformation.
Zoe is passionate about building leadership capability and equipping HR teams to act as true business partners to cross-functional leaders, embedding commercial and operational acumen alongside people management expertise to ensure people programs are aligned with business objectives.
Stephen Leane is a former police officer with Victoria Police who served for 40 years with time as an Assistant Commissioner across portfolios including road policing; Northwest Metro Region; Professional Standards Command; Corporate Strategy and Governance; and as a chief of staff to a former Chief Commissioner. He holds extensive experience in delivering change management programs and a deep understanding of service delivery, the community, and political environments. He was awarded the Australian Police Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2021. After a short period as a Board member, Stephen stepped into the CEO role at ESTA, the Victorian 000 response service, following the resignation of the then CEO in October 2021. He is also Deputy President of the Police Registration and Service Board (Victoria). He holds a law degree, LLB (Hons) and Masters of Education from Monash University, and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice (with Merit) from the ANU and was admitted to practise as an Australian Lawyer in 2001. He has undertaken executive leadership programs at Warton and the London Business School.
Christine Zeitz is a leader in Australia’s defence industry, with over 30 years’ experience delivering world class solutions and services across the Asia Pacific region to Defence, security, ICT and intelligence customers.
Christine was appointed General Manager, Asia Pacific region, at Northrop Grumman in July 2020 with responsibility for all aspects of growth, program awards and financial performance in Australia, and oversight for Japan and Korea market development.
Prior to joining Northrop Grumman Australia, Christine served as Chief Executive Officer of Leidos Australia for five years, where she delivered a 100 per cent growth in revenue through an ambitious restructure of the Australian business. This followed roles at Lockheed Martin, where she served as Vice President and Managing Director for Australia and Asia Pacific, and 25 years at BAE Systems Australia in various roles, culminating in her leading the maturation of globally strategic partnerships as President North East Asia.
Christine is an active board member of SBS Australia, Port Adelaide Football Club, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), President of the South Australian/Northern Territory State Advisory Council (SA/NT SAC) and the Chair of Defence Trailblazer.
With a diverse background in program management, operations, strategy, business development, contracts and finance, Christine has a proven track record of building high-performing teams and programs, and achieving business growth in the Asia Pacific region.
Tamas is Group CEO of Pepperstone a multinational Fintech with its headquarters in Melbourne. It offers speculative trading on a large range of financial products and one of the largest providers of it’s kind globally. Pepperstone offers an award winning service which is one of its points of differentiation as well as fast execution speeds and highly competitive pricing on forex and CFDs.
Prior to joining Pepperstone, Tamas spent more than 20 years at IG Group in Australia and the UK. Joining IG in 1996 when the business was at its early stage of growth with only 40 employees, the business grew significantly and underwent two IPOs. IG now has a market cap of GBP3.2bln and over 2000 employees.
Tamas joined the IG Group as a graduate trainee from the London School of Economics and University College of London, where he received an honours degree in Bachelor of Science (Engineering), majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Business. He has an MBA from AGSM at UNSW Sydney .
A Founder and previous Chair of the Australian Forex and CFD industry association, Tamas has also been involved in various important industry reforms in the sector. Tamas is Chair of the Biggest Blokes lunch, the largest community based fundraiser of prostate cancer research in Australia.
Kerri Wane is the CEO of San Churro and is humbled to lead an extremely passionate group of Franchise Partners together with 1500+ team members who are on a mission to cement San Churro’s place as Australia's most loved and recognised sweet treat experience.
Previously, Kerri’s executive career spanned senior leadership roles in the hospitality/QSR, fashion, and F&B sectors both domestically and internationally in brands such as Domino’s, Mad Mex and Gelatissimo.
Kerri is passionate about people, brands and growth and loves to work in transformation, growth, and turnaround environments. Making a difference is important to Kerri and vision, care, authenticity, passion, and integrity are central to her leadership style.
Kerri’s formal qualifications include Master of Labour Law & Relations (Sydney Law School), an MBA, and a Bachelor of Science. In 2021 Kerri was recognised by Inside Franchise Business for her achievements in the Franchising sector receiving a place in the ‘Top 30 Franchise Business Executives’ awards as well as the National ‘Up and Coming’ award for the executive showing great potential.
Frances has a wealth of leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. She draws on extensive experience in information technology, large transaction processing centres, customer contact centres and client relationship management.
Frances has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Cenitex since July 2019. Cenitex provides shared information and Communications Technology (ICT) services to the Victorian public sector. It enables departments, agencies and more than 55,000+ users to deliver services for the Victorian community.
Prior to joining Cenitex, Frances was with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for 14 years and for the last 7 years held the role of Chief Financial Officer. As Chief Financial Officer she managed a $3.6 billion operating budget and a capital budget in excess of $180 million including a property portfolio of approximately $300 million. Frances led several business divisions within the ATO, comprising very large workforces of up to 7500 employees across 36 national sites.
Frances’s roles in the ATO provided her with a strong understanding and appreciation of public service ethics, delivery to government and the community.
Each of her roles has included regular appearances at Senate Estimates, frequent appearances at other committees of enquiry such as the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) and regularly briefing Minister’s and their advisors.
Frances has held various committee positions over her career including the Australian Bureau of Statistic 2021 Census Board, the Victorian State Revenue Committee and the Federal Circuit Court Audit and Risk Committee.
Mark Steinberg is First Sentier Investors Chief Executive Officer and is based in Sydney.
Mark brings a strong background in acquisitions and wealth management to his role of CEO. He re-joined the company in October 2017 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2018. He had previously been the Chief Financial Officer of CFSGAM (First Sentier's previous name) from January 2008 – December 2012.
Prior to re-joining the business, Mark was Group Chief Financial Officer and Group Chief Operating Officer of Cover-More Group Limited, an Australian Securities Exchange listed company, where he oversaw several acquisitions before Cover-More was acquired in April 2017.
Prior to his time at Cover-More, Mark was the Chief Financial Officer at Colonial First State and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Advice business. He also previously worked for Macquarie Bank, where he was a Divisional Director, and Vodafone, where he was Chief Financial Officer of the Australian and New Zealand businesses and Finance Director of the Japanese business.
Mark is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand and a Senior Fellow of FINSIA.
Robert is the former CEO of SPC Global and is now the CEO of Pure Dairy. With 30 years industry experience, Robert is a key leader in Australian large scale FMCG manufacturing and distribution. Working with some of Australia’s largest manufacturing brands, Robert has demonstrable experience and success in innovation, leadership, strategy, brand growth and delivering profitable outcomes for business. Through his work with Simplot Australia Pty Ltd and Nestlé, he has built impressive business management skills and networks which now direct SPC Global’s successes.
Appointed as Chief Executive Officer of SPC Global in 2019, Robert has redefined SPC’s brand vision, launching a company wide rebrand, Better food for the future, in 2021. The realignment better reflected SPC’s global business strategy as they strive to demonstrate the value of high quality food and drink products as a driver for good health and wellbeing. Robert’s industry experience has influenced SPC Global’s Australian growth, as the brand prepares for global expansion, celebrating Australian manufacturing on the world stage.
Robert’s expertise and leadership was paramount as SPC unveiled the first COVID-19 mandatory vaccination program in Australia. The program garnered local and international attention and set a precedent for other national and global businesses to streamline a return to ‘COVID normal’ and encourage the uptake of vaccination status in Australia.
Passionate about ensuring accessible and secure food and drink products for Australians, Robert is dedicated to elevating the local manufacturing industry and future proofing Australia’s employment and economic security.
Rose Herceg leads WPP’s business in Australia, supporting the agency leaders, promoting WPP’s collective capabilities and bringing together people and resources on behalf of clients. Rose was previously Chief Strategy Officer of WPP AUNZ, which became a wholly owned part of WPP in 2021. In this role, she led client-facing activity at the WPP level, helping to deliver the company’s integrated offer of communications, experience, commerce and technology across its network of agencies.
Earlier in her career, Rose founded Pophouse, one of Australia’s leading agencies for innovation, social trends and business strategy. She sold this to STW Group in 2007 and joined as a strategic consultant. She became Chief Strategy Officer of WPP AUNZ following the WPP merger with STW in 2016. Rose is the author of three books on business leadership and innovation and is one of Australia’s leading social forecasters and futurists.
Bryan Fry is the Chairman & CEO of Pernod Ricard Winemakers. Bryan assumed the role in 2019 and is responsible for Pernod Ricard’s global wine business across Australia, New Zealand, Spain and the US, as well as the distribution of the wine, spirits, Champagne and RTD portfolio across Australia and New Zealand.
Prior to returning to his homeland in Australia to lead Pernod Ricard Winemakers and the Pacific business, Bryan was President and CEO of Pernod Ricard USA.
Bryan began his Pernod Ricard career in 1995 as Grower Liaison Officer at the Orlando Wyndham Group in South Australia, and since then his career has taken him all over the world. Over the years, Bryan has successfully held various sales, marketing and leadership roles across Australia, Asia Pacific, Brazil and the US.
Bryan holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science from the University of Adelaide and a graduate diploma in economics from the University of New England.
Andrew McMullan is the Chief Data & Analytics Officer for CBA.
Prior to joining CBA, Andrew was Director of Customer Analytics & Decisioning at Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was accountable for the delivery of Data, Analytics, Customer Decisioning, Customer Contact, Pricing Strategy and Customer Value Management for the Retail Bank and Small Business portfolio for all brands within RBS.
Earlier in his career, Andrew worked in Academia as a lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics, before leading the Rating and LGD methodology team for several years at UBS Investment Bank.
In his capacity as Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Commonwealth Bank, Andrew leads the data and analytics team, who are responsible for the delivery of world-class data, analytics and technology capabilities to build a brighter future for all.
The core functions include: Customer Engagement Engine (design and delivery of all customer contact strategies, across all systems and all channels), Data Office and Data Science and Advanced Modelling (all AI, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Adaptive Modelling and Advanced Analytics).
Frank Greeff is the CEO for Realbase.
At 22 he made a life changing decision to hang up his chef whites and join forces with his 2 brothers to disrupt the property tech market. Over a period of 6 years, Realhub grew from 3-35people with a $3m+ turnover. In 2020, Realhub started a new chapter by joining together with the industry leader Campaigntrack, appointing Frank at the age of 28 as the CEO of the combined business Realbase. The merger signaled a new vision and future for real estate marketing. Combining their innovation and future R+D roadmaps, delivering better outcomes and real value to customers.
In 2021 Frank and a number of shareholders went through a 9months M&A process to find the right business which could help unlock Realbases true potential and supercharge the growth. In March 2022 it was announced that Domain acquired Realbase for $180M. Domain saw the strong market position of Realbase and the complementary fit between the products which ultimately led to the decision.
Deena Amorelli is the Chief HR Officer at UNSW.
As a results driven and pragmatic HR executive, Deena has over 20 years’ experience in HR having worked in sectors including retail, hospitality, and higher education. She has a proven track record of partnering with senior leaders to deliver strategic and operational people objectives across multiple sites and organisational lines, ensuring the people agenda remains aligned with business strategy and values at every step.
With undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in Psychology, Deena enjoys the different perspectives that diverse teams bring, and is passionate about working with leaders to deliver outcomes which lead to success at an organisational, team and individual level.
Dr Sidney Chandrasiri MBBS MHM FCHSM FRACMA CHIA GAICD, is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (FRACMA), a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management (FCHSM), Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), and holds a Masters in Health Management and Certification in Health Informatics. She is a graduate of the highly selective Harvard Business School Intensive Seminar program on Value Based HealthCare.
Dr Chandrasiri is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Group Director of Academic and Medical Services at Epworth HealthCare, a Board Director in the disability services sector and a sentinel event reviewer for the Department of Health.
She has medical management experience in both public and private healthcare organisations across Australia and New Zealand, has lectured in health system management to post graduate students at the University of Monash in Melbourne, is a speaker at multiple medical forums across Australia and has published widely in leading medical management journals. Her current portfolio encompasses health service leadership, and a number of areas across clinical governance, through to clinical services design and strategic planning.
Tanya Steigerwalt was appointed Chief Human Resources Officer in November 2021 and is accountable for all aspects of human resource management, including culture and leadership, performance and reward, talent management and development. A highly experienced HR professional, Tanya has held senior HR leadership roles for several listed companies across numerous industries, including Toll Holdings, Westpac Group and Singtel Optus.
Most recently, Tanya was the General Manager HR Services & Employee Relations for global metals, energy and mining business GFG Alliance. Tanya has a Masters in Human Resource Management from Charles Sturt University.
Steve Chugg joined Great Southern Bank (formerly CUA) in April 2015. He leads the division that drives Great Southern Bank’s operations, as well as being responsible for strategy, transformation, managing current strategic partnerships and exploring new opportunities to collaborate or partner on future innovations. This includes responsibility for our subsidiaries Credicorp and also CUA Health prior to its sale in October 2021.
Steve has more than 20 years’ experience in banking operations in Australia. He has extensive experience in building teams and working with them to deliver positive customer outcomes and strong returns. He has held a variety of executive and management roles with ANZ across multiple customer segments including General Manager for Esanda & ANZ Direct Sales, and Queensland State Manager for Regional Business Banking.
Steve’s previous roles have involved understanding and meeting the needs of a diverse range of customers such as third party dealers, agricultural and commercial clients, corporate and retail customers.
He is Managing Director of Credicorp Insurance Pty Ltd, and a director of Mutual Marketplace Pty Ltd and Mutual Marketplace Property Pty Ltd. Steve is also a director of the Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA). Steve was also Managing Director of CUA Health Ltd at Great Southern Bank.
Steve was attracted to Great Southern Bank being a customer-owned organisation with the aspiration and strategy to adapt to our fast-paced world. He views Great Southern Bank as a financial service provider that crosses the generational divide – one that both his parents and children would be proud to be part of.
Outside of Great Southern Bank, Steve is kept busy by his three sons and volunteers regularly as a basketball coach at the local PCYC. Steve also enjoys international travel with his wife and boys to gain new perspectives and enjoy some family fun. Steve keeps fit by cycling with a like-minded group of cycling enthusiasts from across Great Southern Bank.
Alison Huitfeldt is the General Counsel at Linfox Armaguard.
I am a driven and outcomes-focused senior executive with 5 years C-suite experience working within one of Australia’s largest privately-owned groups – the Linfox Group. In an industry where security and compliance are a critical priority, I oversee several functions including Legal, Risk and Compliance, Internal Audit, WHSE and Security.
Previously a lawyer in several organisations for more than 12 years, I am proficient at understanding the legal and commercial needs of stakeholders across a range of operational areas. I am people-focused and enjoy working closely with my teams and developing staff. I have sponsored key projects including mergers and acquisition activity, and have executed significant change via the implementation of key strategic initiatives. My key stakeholders include the board and its subcommittees, key executives, regulators, key customers and suppliers, and staff. I have some board and panel experience in the not-for profit and government sectors and look forward to developing this area of expertise.
I am also passionate about diversity and inclusion and is looking forward to expanding my network and being exposed to a range of perspectives and experience via this group.
Amanda Gore joined Great Southern Bank as General Counsel in July 2021.
Leading and inspiring people, and being a trusted advisor to Great Southern Bank drives Amanda.
Amanda is commercial, strategic and solutions focused.
Extensive experience advising Boards and Executives on potential risks, options, mitigation strategies and strategic communications to protect & promote business.
Experience across various industries including financial services, resources, technology disruptors, government owned enterprises and logistics.
Amanda is a Fellow of the Governance Institute.
Isaac Ryan is the General Counsel at Gold Coast Hospital and Health, a statutory corporation delivering a broad range of secondary and tertiary health services to the Gold Coast region across more than 20 facilities, including three hospitals and two health precincts.
Prior to joining GCHHS, Isaac worked for Queensland University of Technology as a research and commercialisation lawyer and, before that, at Education Queensland as a senior lawyer in commercial and administrative law. A civil service career was not planned, but Isaac found the practice of law in a public sector setting to be fascinating, challenging, and immensely satisfying.
Isaac is an admitted Solicitor of the High Court of Australia, Supreme Court of Queensland, and the Senior Courts of England and Wales. He holds a Masters of Business Administration, Bachelors Degree in Law, Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, and Bachelors Degree in Contemporary Studies with majors in Media Communication and Ethics Philosophy.
Melanie Rice is the General Counsel of LifeStyles, a global leader in the sexual wellness industry. As an experienced lawyer, designer/business-owner and mother, she applies her knowledge, passion, ethics and drive holistically across all facets of life. Her optimistic attitude coupled with an instinct to quickly identify and assess key risks allows her to align quickly and work closely with business partners to achieve practical and tailored solutions. She is a commercial, creative and agile business partner who successfully manages rapidly changing, high-pressure environments by building and developing strong, dedicated teams and delivering strategic and focussed results.
Melanie commenced her career in private practice, specialising over the next decade in commercial litigation and media law across large as well as boutique firms, where she gained extensive experience both in the court room and in conflict resolution. Concurrently, she pursued a path in design - creating and building a brand and small business, acquiring skills in design thinking as well as gaining a unique perspective on the importance of strategy and planning in business growth. A leap into the corporate sector at Ansell Ltd - first as inhouse Legal Counsel in the Asia Pacific Region, followed by Senior Legal Counsel managing the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions – advanced her technical and management skills, propelling Melanie into her current role as General Counsel of LifeStyles. LifesStyles was born from a spin-off from Ansell Ltd’s global sexual wellness business in 2017. Having recently celebrated its 5-year anniversary as a new standalone global organisation, LifeStyles is thriving, ready with ambitious plans for growth and continued success.
Rachel Banks is the Chief People Officer for Westpac.
She is an accomplished Transformation, Strategy & People Executive with outstanding commercial acumen and extensive leadership experience in ASX and multinational organisations. Rachel is currently the Chief People Officer for Westpac’s Specialist Businesses Division which includes the subsidiary businesses BT Wealth and Panorama, BT General and Life Insurance, Pacific Bank, Auto and Specialist Finance and the Fin Tech Start Up Banking as a Service. Rachel is experienced in leading large teams through transformation, complexity and ambiguity from her time in senior HR roles and her previous career as a Partner at EY Consulting and CapGemini.
Her ability to drive critical fast paced change especially in environments requiring influencing complex stakeholders across c-suite and board has become her trademark. Some of her work has included the challenges of navigating AMP through the fallout of the Royal Commission including supporting the subsequent ASIC investigation into Senior Executive Accountability and the implementation of the Sedgwick and BEAR Regime, the divestment of 7 businesses from Westpac’s core business in a 2 year period and developing an employee experience that saw these businesses engagement and retention at higher levels than the main group of Westpac. Rachel is also married and proud mother to 3 Young Adults a daughter at University and 2 sons in their final years of high school.
Kris Webb is the Chief People Officer for Coles Group Limited, one of Australia’s largest retailers and most trusted brands. Coles makes life easier for Australians by delivering quality, value and service across a portfolio of leading brands like Coles Supermarkets, Liquorland, First Choice Liquor, Vintage Cellars and Coles Express. The scale of the business is significant with revenues of more than $37B, and over 20 million customer transactions processed each week. This is made possible by the efforts of over 130,000 team members that are united in Coles’ purpose to ‘sustainably feed all Australians to lead healthier and happier lives’.
Kris has over 30 years of global experience working across multiple industries in senior executive human resources roles. This includes over a decade with GlaxoSmithKline across Australia, Singapore and the UK, prior to joining Coles. Earlier in Kris’ career she spent 10 years with BP, before becoming HR Director, Asia Pacific for PWC and then National HR Director for Clayton Utz.
Kris holds a Bachelor of Business, is a Fellow of AHRI and a member of the SAP CHRO Advisory Committee.
Richard Sampson Genest, BA(Hons) MBA
Chief Commercial Officer
Director
Stahmann Webster
Richard joined the tree nut industry in 2005 as marketing manager at Stahmann Farms (now Stahmann Webster), following a career in specialty food marketing and before that in aquaculture. He has been a director of the business since 2011 and currently holds the role of Chief Commercial Officer, with executive level responsibility for sales and marketing, procurement, business strategy and industry relationships.
Stahmann Webster (SW) was formed in late 2020 though the integration of Stahmann Farms, Australia’s leading grower and processor of pecans as well as macadamias, and Webster Ltd, the preeminent grower, processor and marketer of Australian walnuts and a grower of almonds. The business conducts farming and processing operations from Bundaberg in Queensland to Swansea in Tasmania, with major activity centres in the Riverina, Moree and Toowoomba.
Richard has been a director of the Australian Nut Industry Council since 2006, holding the chair from 2012 to 2014 as nominee of the Australian Pecan Association. He is also a member of the National Pecan Shellers Association (USA), Australian Macadamia Society (past chair of the Marketing Advisory Committee), Australian Macadamia Handlers Association (past secretary), the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (member of the Global Statistics Committee) and most recently a foundational director of the World Macadamia Organisation.
Emma Costello joined the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as CFO in February 2021.
DR RACHNA GANDHI, CHIEF DATA AND DIGITAL OFFICER (GLOBAL)
Dr Rachna Gandhi commenced as Chief Data & Digital Officer in December 2021. Rachna is an experienced multi-industry ASX 30 and public sector executive. She has held roles across strategy, operations and digital, and has a track record in delivering transformations that achieve world class customer experience and growth in highly regulated and complex environments.
In her role as Chief Digital and Data Officer at Ramsay, Rachna leads the Australian digital and IT teams, while also working with international Ramsay teams to develop and deliver the global digital strategy and data management framework to enable Ramsay’s vision to be a patient centric integrated healthcare provider of the future.
Rachna has previously held positions where she was responsible for the customer service and digital transformation agenda at organisations including the Westpac Group and Suncorp. Rachna’s leadership experience in digital also extends to her time in the public sector as CEO of Service NSW which radically transformed government service delivery. Service NSW is regarded as best practice in customer centric service and digital transformation.
Rachna has led teams globally across business and technology domains and is passionate about building high-performing, customer obsessed teams and incubating a digital DNA.
Rachna has a Bachelor of Business and Doctor of Philosophy, as well as qualifications in Leadership, and Leading Strategic Transformations and Culture Renewal from Stanford University and Harvard University, USA.
Tom Burton is the Executive Director, Engagement and Enterprise for Charles Sturt University.
He is a senior leader with 15 years’ experience transforming lives through education. His range of skills includes business and regional development, government relations, international education leadership, change management, stakeholder engagement, public relations and philanthropy.
He currently leading a passionate team to extend Charles Sturt's pivotal role as a driver of regional development through education initiatives.
Christopher Tuttiett is the General Counsel to BMD Group, Australia’s largest privately owned construction company comprising a number of businesses involved in large scale civil construction, urban development, project management, real estate and property development.
Previously, worked in the commercial litigation team at a national top-tier law firm contributing to and conducting matters in intellectual property litigation, insolvency, banking and financial industry disputes, Royal Commissions/Commissions of Inquiry, personal injuries and insurance.
Solicitor admitted in the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia and Queensland Supreme Court holding a degree in law with first class honours and an Executive MBA.
Matthias Hansen joined Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Limited (Domino’s) as the Company’s Group Chief Technology Officer(CTO)in 2021, and his responsibility spans the Company’s ten markets–Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark and Taiwan.As a member of the Company’s Global Leadership Team, Matthias puts Domino’s digitalisation at the centre of the Company’s aggressive growth and innovation strategy globally.Matthias is a highly accomplished leader in the technology space, with more than 30 years’ global experience in technology and digital leadership roles with Telstra, Centrica Plc, T-Mobile, Dell Corporation and Renault Financial Services. Prior to taking on the role of Group Chief Technology Officer at Domino’s, Matthias was based in Switzerland, where he worked for a private equity-based security solutions company with a footprint across 16 countries globally, and led a team of 600staff across Europe. Matthias began his role for Domino’s working with the Company’s European team, and has since relocated to Australia, and is based in Domino’s Head Office in Brisbane.
Teena is an experienced executive, with a demonstrated history of working in the health care industry. Skilled in building successful businesses Teena has over 20 years’ experience working across leadership roles, particularly in the delivery of clinical services both locally and abroad. Teena has worked across SE Asia as Regional CEO for Icon Group before returning to Australia where she was most recently the COO at Virtus Health, one of the largest Reproductive Services in the world before commencing as global ceo for Nucleus network in 2023. Innovation and growth remain some of her core interests and she believes that it is through technological advances, that more people will access improved healthcare globally. A strong business development professional, Teena graduated from Griffith University (AUS), holds a GACID from Australian Company Directors, and is an avid traveller.
Jodette Cleary is the Chief People & Culture Officer at hipages Group joining the team in 2015 after founding and managing the successful boutique HR consultancy We Know HR for 8 years.
Jodette’s many successful consulting assignments span a host of impressive companies including Red Balloon, Atlassian, BigCommerce, AppSense, Moneytech, nearmap and Campaign Monitor.
Prior to this she was the Asia Pacific HR Director for Honeywell Building Solutions, a company that provides building automation and building security technology and solutions. Jodette was a Board Director at Honeywell, with her role spanning 11 countries in the Asia Pacific and employing 2,000+ employees. Prior to her 6 years at Honeywell, Jodette worked in IT&T, Recruitment and Mining.
Jodette holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Industrial Relations & Psychology) from the University of NSW, a Masters of Labour Law and Relations from the University of Sydney and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Kevin Jackson is the CEO at Sanitarium.
He is an experienced senior manager with over 20 years of experience as a CEO and as a Board Director. Kevin has a finance, accounting and management background.
He has a broad range of food manufacturing and healthcare experience and is currently the CEO of Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Group and is also a director on a number of food, healthcare and pharmaceutical organisations that geographically span Australia, New Zealand, UK and USA.
Kevin started his career at Ernst and Young in audit and went on to obtain experience in Corporate Advisory and Performance Improvement Consulting. Kevin is a graduate of Auckland University and is also a Chartered Accountant.
He has specific interest and focus on organisational strategy, leadership, innovation, culture and business model transformation.
Sean Slattery is the CFO for Rhinomed.
A commercially experienced Chief Financial Officer with 20+ years experience in the management of Finance and Accounting. A Chartered Accountant with a Masters in Taxation.
Industry experience across the medical devices\biotech, media publishing, technology (SaaS) and the financial services sectors.
Specialties include:
• Mergers & Acquisitions - capital raising, global divestment, trade sale, IPO preparations, and due diligence processes,
• Chief Financial Officer, Director, and Company Secretary of an ASX listed company,
• Director and Company Secretary of private and public companies across Australia and Asia Pacific,and
• Management of Asia Pacific finance and accounting function.
An accomplished CFO with experience working across ASX listed companies, multi nationals, and SMEs.
A Chartered Accountant, holding a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Salisbury University and a Master of Taxation from University of Melbourne.
SHAUN NESBITT
Chief Digital and Information Officer
BSc, MBA, TOGAF, MAICD
Shaun Nesbitt the Chief Digital and Information Officer for Urban Utilities. He is responsible for leading all aspects of the company's information, technology and digital capabilities.
A skilled digital and technology executive, Shaun has over 20 years’ experience in delivering innovative, customer-focused and system-wide digital transformation.
Shaun has previously held executive roles within the public and private sectors, both locally and internationally. Most recently, he held the role of Chief Information Technology Officer at Health Support Queensland.
Shaun’s core competencies include digital transformation, people management, strategy development and implementation, digital governance and risk management.
Prior to working with Brown Brothers, Dean commenced his sales background through Smiths Snackfoods before engaging in a variety of roles in the Liquor Industry. Firstly working for the world’s biggest Spirit Company in Diageo, followed by gaining Wine and Agency experience via Tucker Seabrook. When Tucker Seabrook merged with Lion Nathan’s Wine business and formed Fine Wine Partners, Dean worked on the team that pulled the merger together and continued on for a further 12
months heading up Retail Sales.
After a year working outside of the Industry in setting up a Sales and Marketing function with a Vehicle Leasing company the call back to Wine was strong with Brown Brothers being a perfect fit.
Dean joined Brown Brothers in July 2007 as National Sales Manager before he was promoted to the role of Chief Sales Executive in 2011 with responsibility for all Global Customer Sales areas including Customer Service.
Dean was appointed CEO of Brown Brothers in December 2016 and subsequently moved to live in the North East. Over the last 5 years Dean has been at the helm as Brown Brothers evolved into a multi-branded Family wine business that is now Brown Family Wine Group.
Dean has completed a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Melbourne University and believes in continual improvement and acquiring knowledge. Following 4 years with a TEC group he recently joined a Mastermind Mentor List CEO group to further his development.
He has a wife, Carol (no, she didn’t take my last name!!) and two (spoilt) dogs and when time permits enjoys playing tennis and golf or just being at the Beach.
Sharon Fitter is the Chief Revenue Officer for Australian Community Media.
She is an established Commercial business leader, mentor and coach with a diverse range of skills.
With over 20 years Leadership experience and 4 years consulting experience, she has held both frontline Commercial and Executive leadership positions. With a passion for Enterprise Sales and People, Sharon has learnt to be versatile and collaborative which allows her to engage, develop and maintain successful relationships at all levels.
Sharon currently specialises in establishing high performing sales cultures at scale and Sales Leadership Coaching. Sharon is experienced in commercial and strategic thinking enabling outcomes and behavioural change that are sustainable in today’s diverse corporate environment. Previously, she have been instrumental in initiating and enabling outstanding leadership development programs across large corporations and she has an exceptional ability to help executives navigate through corporate environments using effective stakeholder management skills. Sharon has worked across a diverse range of sectors including large Consultancy firms, Media and Mining Corporations and both Government and Private organisations. Currently the Chief Revenue Officer for Enterprise sales, Sharon is responsible for over 170 publications nationally, print and digital with a sales force of 400.
Megan Millman is the Chief Financial Officer of Bolton Clarke. Starting her career in audit at
KPMG, she spent 10 years at Virgin Australia undertaking a variety of finance roles and special
projects. Megan joined RSL Care as Financial Controller in 2015 and led the finance team
through the merger with Royal District Nursing Service. She was appointed CFO of the newly
merged Bolton Clarke in 2016 and over the past five years has been part of a highly motivated
executive leadership group overseeing an extraordinary organisational growth trajectory. Megan is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of Chartered
Accountants Australia and New Zealand. She is actively involved in the Chartered Accountants
program and enjoys working with future Chartered Accountants providing facilitation and
mentoring support.
Professor Robina Xavier, PhD, GAICD, is DVC (Academic) at QUT with overall responsibility for the quality and integrity of learning and teaching across the university. Professor Xavier has more than 25 years’ experience in the tertiary sector including serving as Executive Dean, QUT Business School. Her doctoral studies were in crisis management. Prior to joining QUT, Robina worked as a consultant to both the private and public sectors, specialising in corporate and financial relations. She has received state and national awards for her work in public relations practice and research and has published in national and international journals. She is the co-editor of Public Relations Campaigns published by Oxford University Press.
Robina is a former National President of the peak industry body, the Public Relations Institute of Australia and is a former chair of the industry’s National Education Committee which oversees accreditation of Australian university programs. She has served on international committees for the Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business in the US and the European Foundation for Management Development including the EFMD Executive Academy. Robina currently serves on the boards of Financial Services Institute of Australia and the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. Robina is a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia and a Fellow of the PRIA and the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences.
I have worked as a lawyer and business development professional for over 25 years, I'm passionate about understanding and delivering value to clients, building diverse and high performing teams and serving the community.
I have worked for MinterEllison for 20 years, as an employment lawyer and since 2005 in business development where she has held a number of leadership positions across the firm's government, real estate and education practices. With a reputation for a strong influencing skills, stakeholder management and building high performing teams to work through challenging issues and to collectively own the solutions.
One of the joys at MinterEllison is being the fairy godmother, a founding member and champion of the Diversity and Inclusions committee focused on the LGBTI+ community PRIME.
I'm also on the Board of the Bread and Butter Project Australia's first social enterprise bakery, whereby 100% of profits are reinvested into baker training (importantly a TAFE accreditation in baking and ESL training) and employment pathways for refugees and asylum seekers.
For 9 years I was on the Board of an independent Catholic boarding school St Vincent's College with a very proud tradition of educating strong women, including indigenous students and isolated rural students.
Calvin Gordon is the CFO for Quanta Services Australia.
He has a MBA and Bachelor of Business with a major in Accounting and is a member of the Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA). He has 28 years extensive experience in construction and asset maintenance/management companies operating in Australia, New Zealand, Pacific, South East Asia and the Middle East. His experience and expertise include accounting, project finance, international taxation, treasury, insurance, project management/cost control systems, IT and corporate finance.”
Susannah Rooney’s appointment as the Chief Operating Officer of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Australia’s home of heart research, occurred just weeks after the World Health Organisation had declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic in March 2020. Navigating this new world presented many challenges and also highlighted the critical importance of medical research in the world.
Susannah is a qualified commercial lawyer, who has worked for Allens in Sydney and Clifford Chance in London and then worked in a series of combined legal and commercial senior executive roles with a strong strategic focus in the private sector.
Susannah’s unique set of skills in law and senior management serves the Institute well. As the COO, she has a commercial outlook on running a medical research institute that includes a solution-based approach to the management of competing priorities in a high-pressure environment to achieve the desired financial, strategic and research outcomes.
Susannah has oversight of all the operations teams, the Biocore teams, is the Institute’s Company Secretary, Risk Officer, Whistle-blower Protection Officer and sits on the Institute’s Commercialisation Committee and the Innovation Centre Leadership Committee. She also represents the Institute on numerous management committees with strategic and operational functions with our partners on the St Vincent’s Health Precinct.
Susannah embraces all the scientific aspects of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and the medical research sector. Her priority is to provide an environment that enables scientists to maximise their research potential while meeting their significant regulatory and administrative requirements and ensure that the Institute is positioned to achieve its strategic goals.
Gavin Gibson is the Chief Product Officer of Mindshare. He has over 20 years in the media industry, 17 of those as a strategist.
Gavin has worked across multiple markets including, Hong Kong, China and more broadly in an Asia Pacific remit.
Gavin is a globally recognised strategist having won multiple effectiveness and creative awards at Cannes, the global festival of media and locally at the Effies and MFA’s.
Les Wigan is the Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Foxtel Group with responsibilities for Production Innovation, Technology, and Operations across Foxtel, FOX SPORTS and Streamotion - Kayo Sports and Binge.
Les was the founding COO of Streamotion, home to Kayo Sports, the leading multi-sports streaming service, and BINGE, Australia’s fastest growing entertainment streaming service. With accountability for driving both strategic and day-to-day management of the business across Product, Programming and Content, Key Commercial Partnerships Technology, and Subscriber Management and Data, Les was instrumental in the development, build and implementation of Kayo Sports and BINGE, ensuring successful launches of both streaming services.
Previously, as Fox Sports’ Director of Digital, Technology, and Broadcast Operations, Les championed a future-focused corporate and digital strategy, including the introduction of a transformative world-first broadcasting operating model. His role spanned across broadcast and digital operations, technology, sports statistics business, and digital accountability.
Prior to this Les held the role of Director of Commercial Development at News Ltd, along with a number of corporate and commercial finance roles at British Pay TV operator BSkyB.
Brett Wickham is the Managing Director of ACCIONA’s Energy Division in Australia and is responsible for leading ACCIONA Energy’s Australian team, its operations, strategy, and growth in the Australian market. Brett is an experienced industry executive who brings commercial focus and international expertise to the role, having worked on renewable energy projects in 14 countries. First joining ACCIONA in 2006 as Director Engineering, Construction & Operations in the Australian energy business, he then moved to South Africa in 2012 as Director Construction & Operations, helping establish the brand in that country. From 2015 until mid-2017, he worked for ACCIONA at its energy headquarters in Spain as Director Projects Organisation, creating a new framework for the development of international solar and wind farms around the world.
Matthew McDonnell is the Chief Financial Officer at Anteris Technologies Ltd (ASX:AVR), a structural heart company focused on developing innovative & durable health solutions. Matthew is responsible for the Group finance and Information Technology divisions and supports the Corporate Secretarial function.
Before joining Anteris Technologies, Matthew was a partner for ten years at KPMG providing audit, accounting and advisory services to entities in the public and private sectors across multiple sectors.
Matthew was also a Director at the State Library of Queensland and chaired the Audit and Risk Management Committee.
Matthew holds a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University, a Graduate Diploma in Finance and Investment from FINSIA and is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.
He is married with two children and his interests include soccer and cycling.
Chrissy McCallum, CFO, Orygen Limited
Chrissy McCallum is Chief Financial Officer for Orygen, a for purpose youth mental health organisation. Orygen believes that all young people deserve to grow into adulthood with optimal mental health. Everything Orygen does is focused on that outcome. Orygen is a world-leading, impactful organisation defining what’s possible in global youth mental health research, policy, education and clinical care.
As CFO, Chrissy is responsible for the financial, procurement, facilities & maintenance, and fundraising & philanthropic functions across the organisation. The role provides strategic leadership to the overall operations of the organisation, supporting value maximisation in line with Orygen’s strategic and annual financial plans.
Chrissy has extensive commercial and financial experience spanning more than 20 years. Chrissy gained global experience working for large multinational organisations in New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Europe, before settling in Australia. Industries have been varied, and include financial services, energy, aviation, technology, and now mental health.
Throughout Chrissy’s career she has demonstrated a passion for leading and empowering others to reach their full potential. She prides herself in driving value maximisation and positive organisational change.
Chrissy is a Chartered Accountant, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law from Otago University New Zealand, and a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from The University of Melbourne.
On a personal note, Chrissy loves the outdoors, good coffee and a nice glass of red wine.
Alana Bailey
CA, B.Bus, GAICD
Alana joined Great Southern Bank in July 2020 as Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for managing the Group’s accounting, treasury and treasury settlements, regulatory reporting, capital management, tax, and corporate finance practices.
She has extensive experience in financial services garnered over the last two decades in senior positions at Suncorp, with leadership roles in its general insurance, banking and wealth divisions in Australia and New Zealand. During her time at Suncorp, Alana gained broad experience in audit, risk, financial accounting, management accounting, decision support and shared services roles.
In her last role as Chief Financial Officer for Corporate Services at Suncorp, Alana led a large team responsible for the general ledger system and processes, statutory and regulatory reporting, performance management, taxation, investment operations and risk and governance.
Prior to this, her previous roles at Suncorp included the Chief Financial Officer for Suncorp’s Banking and Wealth division, the Executive General Manager of Internal Audit, and Chief Financial Officer of Vero, a Suncorp general insurance subsidiary based in New Zealand.
Alana holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the University of Southern Queensland and is a Chartered Accountant and Graduate of the Institute of Company Directors.
Dr John Moller joined Novotech in January 2014 to lead the expansion of Novotech’s Asia operations and became CEO in 2017.
Prior to Novotech John was Managing Director of IVF Australia and Queensland Fertility Group and sat on the Board of the parent company Virtus Health.
John was previously a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group specialising in developing growth and operational improvement initiatives with a particular focus on healthcare.
John has a Medical Degree from the University of Auckland, a degree in advanced logic from the University of Canterbury and an MBA from the University of Oxford.
Josh has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Melbourne Racing Club since December 2017. Prior to that Josh held the position of Executive Director, Racing and Corporate Affairs at the MRC for four years.
In that role Josh oversaw the establishment of the MRC Foundation, the charitable arm of the Club. He is also a director of Victorian Thoroughbred Racing Integrated Media Business (Racing.com).
Prior to joining the MRC, Josh was the Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs at Betfair for seven years and before that practised corporate law.
Josh is committed to making racing more accessible and attractive to a wider range of the community. This includes the current Caulfield Master Plan to make the Caulfield Racecourse one of the premier horseracing destinations in the world and is committed to supporting the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust realise its vision for community for the Reserve.
Brent is the CFO for the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC).
A commercially experienced Chief Financial Officer with over 20+ years of experience gained in Australia and the UK. Industry experience across the sport and hospitality, events, wagering and gaming, property, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, mining and professional services sectors.
Brent has been at the MRC since 2013 and CFO since 2018. He is responsible for: Finance, IT, Procurement, Sustainability, the Project Management Office and Mergers and Acquisitions.
Prior to the MRC, Brent worked in London for ten years at a number of FTSE100 listed companies. He started his career in audit at KPMG. A commercially minded finance professional with extensive hands-on experience in leading finance teams and delivering across a broad range of areas including management and financial reporting, financial systems and controls, corporate finance (M&A), tax and treasury. “Big Four” trained, a 10-year plus qualified CPA and registered project manager with a strong technical accounting background and an established record of success in operational improvement and developing finance teams. Strong leader and team player able to set and achieve high standards.
Company Overview
The MRC is a not-for-profit members club with over 10,000 members. It conducts more than 70 race meetings annually across three premier racetracks in Victoria - Caulfield, Mornington and Ladbrokes Park.
MRC Foundation is the charitable arm of the Melbourne Racing Club housing the company’s charitable and community work under one brand.
Pegasus Leisure Group operates a portfolio of 14 hotel and club venues located across greater Melbourne and offers a diverse array of hospitality options ranging from state of the art sports bars with full wagering facilities, bistros and restaurants many with relaxing outdoor offerings, café areas, private function facilities and retail liquor outlets.
Dean Robinson is the Group Chief Financial Officer at TeamInvest Private Group.
Dean has held a long and successful career as a high-performance manager/coach/consultant and physiotherapist, working with a variety of AFL and NRL clubs, including Sydney Roosters RLFC (2013-2019, 2021), Essendon Football Club (2011-2013), Gold Coast Suns Football Club (2010-2011), Geelong Football Club (2006-2010) and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles RLFC (2004-2009).
A professional sportsman himself, Dean was raised in country NSW and pursued his love of the country through Rodeo, which led him to the USA where he qualified for World Finals in 1997 as a Steer Wrestler.
Today Dean holds numerous roles, including Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of the ASX Listed company Teaminvest Private Group Ltd (ASX:TIP), Director Agriventis Technologies, and Advisor to Executive Chairman of EFT Solutions (SEHK:8062) and EFTPay. Prior to joining Teaminvest, Dean worked as a Director of Mergers and Acquisitions with KPMG.
Dean is also known for his academic excellence in multiple fields including over a dozen published articles, Master’s degree in Applied Finance from Macquarie University, a Senior Executive MBA from University of Melbourne, and a Masters in Physiotherapy from University of Sydney.
Executive MBA | MAICD | FCPA | FCMA | BBA (Hons)
Shireen Jahan is a results-driven finance executive with a passion for breaking down complexities with proven commercial experience working with Iconic Retail Businesses, Government and Not for Profit Organizations across 16 years in Executive Financial Management, Technological and Operational Leadership roles. A Transformation and Change Leader who has successfully managed end-to-end finance shared services & IT functions and led diverse multi-cultural teams, with demonstrated results in adapting to the business challenges with the capacity to influence and deliver sustainable solutions across all levels.
Shireen is currently the Chief Financial Officer for SMCT, which is a not-for-profit organization and a self-funding government agency (Department of Health)
Robert Meissner was appointed CFO of Althea Group Holdings in 2018 and also hold the position of Company Secretary. Althea is a market leader in the Cannabis industry and has operations in Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Canada. Althea’s business’s span both medical and recreational cannabis and continues to be at the forefront of cannabis products in both areas of the industry. Robert was one of the first employees at Althea and has been instrumental in building the foundations of the business to allow it to expand around the world.
Adrian Leach is the CEO for World Travel Protection.
“Prepare, plan and enjoy” is Adrian Leach’s advice for a successful travel experience.
Joining World Travel Protection (WTP) in early 2019 as CEO, Adrian oversees a team of medical, security and logistics professionals who prepare and assist both people and organisations movements across the globe.
With a background in operations and senior management roles, Adrian previously worked with International SOS and Linfox Australia.
His well-rounded education in both Australia and the U.S. included economics, management development and science.
At WTP, Adrian leads teams in Brisbane (Aust), Toronto (Canada), London (UK) and across the U.S. WTP services both the corporate and leisure markets globally and provides valuable travel risk management services for organisations.
In Australia, Adrian works from WTP’s Sydney office.
He’s passionate about providing a safer experience for business travellers, with WTP also offering specialised training for clients’ employees specific to their needs and destinations, such as ‘Female Traveller Safety Training’. “Being able to help people in need has always been an aspiration of mine,” Adrian says.
His favourite travel experience to date has been visiting Mongolia and staying in a yurt.
Tanya Watt is Chief Marketing Officer at Hive + Wellness (formerly Capilano Honey Ltd), the largest honey packing company in Australia and the biggest supporter of Australia’s beekeepers. With industry experience predominantly across FMCG, Health (Sanofi) and Luxury Beauty (Chanel and Estee Lauder), Tanya is a Senior Executive leader who has held roles across marketing, innovation, business strategy, and sales across her career.
Tanya is passionate about developing and empowering others and is a caring and authentic leader. Along with leading projects that drive positive organisational change, Tanya has a particular interest on improving sustainability across her Company’s business practices and industry.
Married to Dave for 15 years, they have two active tween-aged boys, meaning a good deal of Tanya’s spare time outside of work is happily spent watching her children play sport.
Val Mathews joined ASX in May 2019 and was appointed Chief Customer and Operating Officer (CCOO) in July 2021. As CCOO, Val has overall responsibility for managing ASX’s live operating environment. She is also responsible for driving ASX's customer and digital transformation; ASX marketing, brand and digital delivery; ASX customer experience and customer facing support areas; project delivery and PMO office. Prior to her current role, Val was ASX Chief Operating Officer (2020-2021) and Executive General Manager of Operations (2019-2020).
Before joining ASX, Val was Chief Information Officer at QBE Australia and New Zealand, and Chief Information Officer at NRMA Insurance, IAG. She also has extensive domestic and international financial services experience, leading large customer and strategic transformation programs, business optimisation, customer experience and digital solutions. Val previously worked at ASX in the late 1990s and early 2000s. During this time she held various roles including General Manager, Market Integrity and Communications (2003-04) and General Manager, Technology Solutions (2004-06).
Ulric Adom joined Rio Tinto in 2018 as CFO, Growth and Innovation, and is currently CFO Business & Technology Support, overseeing the Finance Business Partners, Business Analysts, and Business Improvement teams supporting all the parts of Rio Tinto not directly producing or commercializing materials. He also oversees a portfolio of company-wide projects, and is a member of the Rio Tinto leadership team and of the Finance leadership team.
Ulric began his career in 1999 as a Management Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting and then joined French pharmaceuticals company Sanofi. During his fourteen years with Sanofi, Ulric held various finance positions of growing importance across Commercial operations, R&D, Biotechs, Corporate strategy and, prior to joining Rio Tinto, as CFO for Japan and JPAC region based in Tokyo.
A citizen of both France and Ivory Coast, Ulric is a graduate from Sciences Po Paris, holds a Post-graduate degree in Banking and Finance from La Sorbonne and obtained the TRIUM Executive MBA which is jointly delivered by HEC Paris, New York University Stern School of Business and the London School of Economics. He has lived and worked in the US, Europe, Japan and now calls Brisbane home. He is married to Clarisse and proud father to Mathieu and Clara.
Professor Carolyn Evans is Vice Chancellor and President of Griffith University, which employs over 4000 staff and educates over 40,000 students every year. Carolyn graduated with degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne and a doctorate from Oxford where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Carolyn taught law at Oxford and Melbourne Universities. Prior to commencing at Griffith, Carolyn held the positions of Dean of Law, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Graduate and International) at the University of Melbourne. Carolyn works in the areas of law and religion and human rights and was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship in 2010 to work on comparative religious freedom. In 2019, Carolyn was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and became a member of the organisation, Chief Executive Women. In 2020, she became Chair of the Innovative Research Universities and President of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association. She is also a board member of Open Universities Australia and was previously a member of the State Library of Victoria Board.
JULIE COATES BA, DipE.
Julie was appointed CEO and Managing Director of CSR Limited on 2 September 2019.
Julie was formerly the Managing Director of Goodman Fielder Australia and Goodman Fielder New Zealand.
Julie has also held several senior roles at Woolworths Limited, including Managing Director of Big W, Chief Logistics Officer and Human Resources Director, working closely on business strategy and major transformational change programs.
Julie has proven leadership skills, a strong understanding of manufacturing, safety and operational processes and deep experience in supply chain efficiency, optimisation and digitisation.
Other directorships/offices held
Previously a director of Coca-Cola Amatil (until November 2019)
Previously a director of Spotless Group Holdings Limited (until July 2017)
Leigh Morrison is CEO of RYCO Hydraulics Pty Ltd, a global leader in fluid conveying technology.
RYCO products service a range of hydraulic applications across industries including mining, forestry, transport, construction, military, marine, oil and gas, and agriculture.
Leigh began work with the Victorian-based, family-owned company in 1977 and, after working in a number of senior management roles, was appointed CEO in 1988. During his time with the company, Leigh has been instrumental in its growth from a small, regional business with approximately $7 million in turnover to an industry leader with operations and distribution throughout the world and an annual turnover approaching $200 million.
Under Leigh’s leadership, RYCO has successfully built green-fields businesses in the USA and in China and has made several strategic acquisitions in other parts of the world. In 2019, RYCO entered into a merger with European based industry player, Manuli (post-merger combined revenues of approx. $800 million), creating a new industry leader with enhanced technology, a broader product offering, stronger manufacturing footprint, and a truly global reach. The merged group will be renamed ManuliRyco at the end of this year.
Leigh has direct experience across a range of functions including product development; manufacturing and supply chain; marketing and financial management.
An honours graduate in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Melbourne, Leigh is acknowledged as a leading authority on hydraulic hose and couplings and has personally led innovation investments that have resulted in major process control efficiencies, and world leading metal process developments in hydraulic couplings that have brought material waste levels down from 75% to 8%.
Leigh’s commitment to customer-driven marketing has helped build RYCO into a brand that is recognised for product quality, engineering excellence and reliability and unparalleled customer service. And his leadership style has retained the values and cultural strengths of a family-owned business as RYCO has continued to expand its reach and size.
Leigh’s commitment to tight financial controls and delivering targeted returns on investment has underpinned RYCO’s track record of sustained, profitable growth.
Leigh’s interests include outdoor adventure, snow skiing, remote fishing and celestial physics.
Wes Self is the Chief Operating Officer – Health Insurance at GMHBA Limited. The key accountability areas of his portfolio include Customer Engagement and Operations, Product, Digital and Growth, Customer Portfolio Management and Benefits Management (inclusive of hospital contracting) for the business.
Throughout his 10 years at GMHBA, he has held a number of key roles including Chief Financial Officer, Group Financial Controller and Commercial Manager of Digital Business running GMHBA’s digital brands.
Wes is a Chartered Accountant with over 10 years at KPMG Melbourne working in Private Enterprise, with a focus on privately-owned client groups, corporate group structuring and incorporations, financial reporting and advisory, taxation and audit.
Scott Prebble was appointed Chief Financial Officer at Teys Australia in February 2018, and is a Non-Executive Director of Teys USA, Adams Food Group and Melrina Meat.
Scott was previously Acting CFO, Head of Finance and Investor Relations at AACo.
Scott has more than 18 years’ experience in agriculture, resources, banking and professional services across Australia, the United Kingdom and Africa.
Scott has worked for various multinational companies, including KPMG, PwC, Credit Suisse, Lloyds Bank and Discovery Metals Ltd.
Scott holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Business Management from the University of Queensland, is a Chartered Accountant and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Highlight quals/ certs if any/relevant:
B Com
B Business Management
Chartered Accountant
Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Tom Howitt was appointed as the first Chief Financial Officer of Cronos Australia in December 2018 and as Company Secretary in August 2020. Cronos, which listed on the ASX in November 2019, is the largest and most successful distributor of medicinal cannabis in Australia, accounting for more than half of all sales made in the country.
Prior to joining the Company, Tom was Chief Financial Officer of Global Kinetics Corporation, a pre-IPO life sciences company, Chief Financial Officer/Company Secretary of Simavita (ASX:SVA, TSX-V:SV) a digital healthcare company, Chief Financial Officer/Company Secretary of Genetic Technologies Limited (ASX:GTG, NASDAQ:GENE) Australia's largest genetic testing company at the time, and several other ASX-listed companies. Prior to that, Tom worked in the investment banking industry and was a Taxation Manager at EY. Tom is a Chartered Accountant, a 10-year member of the Victorian Branch Committee of AusBiotech, a member of the CCRM Australia Industry Interface Committee based at Monash University and a Director of The Metropolitan Golf Club.
Poul Bottern (MBA Hons, GAICD) joined IntoWork Australia as Group CEO in 2012 having over 20 years experience in management and executive level roles across community, training and employment related services.
Poul has worked with the Board and Management Team to build IntoWork Australia into a leading national provider of Employment, Skills and Support services that enable educational, economic and social participation. He is actively involved in various forums and peak bodies, including his role as the President of the National Australian Apprenticeship Association.
Mark Benson is the Managing Director and CEO for Saunders International Ltd
He has 27 years experience in executive management roles in the engineering and construction industry. His last role, prior to joining Saunders International, was General Manager of RCR Energy, a division of ASX Company RCR Tomlinson. He has also held senior positions with several major utility alliances. Mr. Benson holds an Advanced Diploma in Management from Ballarat University, along with an Advanced Diploma in Project Management, and has an electrical engineering background. Mr. Benson has been a Director of Saunders since 10 August 2015 and Managing Director since 5 October 2015.
He enjoys sailing, Italian food and travelling.
Russell Bryant is the COO for Allied Credit Group.
He is an accomplished strategic and enterprising leader with experience in Australia and Asia.
Previously he worked at ANZ (Retail Banking, Esanda and Retail Asset Finance – Asia) and Macquarie in operational and strategic roles where he delivered agile business transformations and led operational and business development teams.
Russell has more than 30 years’ banking and finance industry experience spanning operational, customer facing, internal and industry influencing roles.
He holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting & Business/Management) and a Graduate Certificate (Banking law and lending practice) and attained his CPA accreditation.
Bill Brown is a veteran senior executive with over 25 years of international experience in London, New York and Sydney.
Before joining Vitex, Bill helped prepare the NSW Electricity Assets for privatisation as GM Program Management and Investment Governance, Networks NSW, the parent company of Ausgrid, Endeavour and Essential Energy. Prior to that he held various senior executive roles at Thomson Reuters where he was CFO for Australia/NZ, and Global Head of Finance for their Investment Banking business, based in New York.
Under Bill's stewardship, Vitex Pharmaceuticals has strengthened its position with an ongoing focus on operational efficiency, and the deployment of transformational process changes at its advanced manufacturing facility. Driving Vitex’s financial and organisational performance, Bill leads the company’s functions in finance & accounting, strategy, tax, treasury, audit and risk management, information technology, real estate and corporate development.
Bill holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics & Accounting)/Bachelor of Science from the Australian National University, and an MBA with Distinction from Columbia Business School and London Business School.
Steve Clare is the Group CEO/MD for ASKIN Performance Panels.
A Global business leader with strong turnaround and shareholder value creation capability; extensive experience in consumer, industrial, construction and automotive markets; and a proven track record of profitably growing businesses.
Core Skills:
Building, developing and leading diverse strong and effective management teams, whilst engaging
employees to build a winning culture.
Strategically creative whilst rigorous in approach, ability to think conceptually, analytically
and pragmatically.
Strong effective relationship and stakeholder management within complex and diverse
organisations.
Strategy Development, Deployment and Execution.
Business Growth, Improvement and Performance.
Deep understanding of the Private Equity Business Model and Finance Models.
I graduated as a Mining Engineer from the University of Queensland in 1995 and commenced my career working
for Western Mining/BHP at Olympic Dam in outback South Australia.
After five years of life in a remote mining town, I resigned and spent several months traveling through Africa to the UK.
After arriving in the UK, I worked in London for three years as a Contract Executive for the London Underground followed by six months of travel throughout Ireland, Europe, Egypt, and Asia.
In 2003 I commenced a new chapter of my career working for a tech startup and have continued in the world of software IT for the past 20 years.
My current role as COO for Datamine involves the acquisition, integration, and operational oversight of global software businesses.
Rob Goss is the Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of Audinate Group Limited, a technology company in the ASX 300. Audinate is the global leader in AV networking technologies. He currently has responsibility for finance, risk management, payroll and investor relations. Rob was also responsible for establishing the HR function at Audinate, which was subsequently relinquished as his role extended to include Data Science and ESG.
He is a member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and has a Bachelor of Business degree, majoring in Accounting, from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Before joining the Group in 2017, Rob served as Chief Financial Officer for BuildingIQ, Inc. (ASX: BIQ). Prior to BuildingIQ, Rob was Chief Financial Officer at iProperty Group Limited (ASX: IPP), an online property portal operating in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Previously, Rob held senior finance roles at ANZ Bank and Allco Finance Group after commencing his career as a chartered accountant at KPMG.
Victoria Hickey joined CBA as the CFO of Business Banking in March of 2020. Prior to working at CBA, Vicky was the CFO at AMP Bank and before that was a partner at KPMG for almost 10 years.
Vicky is a mother of 2 boys, Tyson and Jack, and truly believes in equality. Vicky is passionate about:
- helping others find their balance. Having worked flexibly for the past 9 years and seen the personal benefits her family has received, Vicky wants everyone to have the same opportunities. The recent COVID-19 crisis has been a great example of how flexibility can really work;
- investing in her teams and colleagues to help them achieve their goals. Vicky loves working in a team environment and helping others to achieve their goals and be the best they can be;
- working together with Mike and the Bank to make CBA a great place to work and one that customers value and want to do business with.
- giving back to the community - be that through mentoring not-for-profit organisations or helping to raise awareness and donations for great organisations like Wesley Mission and the Junior Indigenous Marine and Environmental Cadets program.
Brent Pitts is the CFO/GM Corporate Services for the Royal Flying Doctor Service South Eastern Section.
As a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) I combine over 25 years of experience across both commercial and human services sectors, across blue chip diverse organisations, spanning different cultures. I have acquired the capability to;
• Quickly assess current states for risk and opportunity;
• Remain resilient and focused in times of significant business disruption;
• Identify internal and external challenges that pose a risk to strategy and the organisation;
• Make difficult and complex decisions by consulting widely and researching thoroughly to achieve strategic outcomes;
• Communicate clearly to have people aligned, engaged and committed;
• Build robust relationships with peers and stakeholders throughout the value chain, Board members and industry bodies;
• Build collaborative, capable, and resilient teams that drive outcomes;
• Lead change through visible leadership
Jenny Martin is the current CFO and Head of Shared Services for The Citadel Group, which was an ASX listed software and services company before being acquired by private equity in December 2020. Prior to this, Jenny has spent the majority of her career in ASX listed businesses in senior finance roles.
Jenny is an experienced senior executive with a diverse career focused on working in dynamic, demanding, and complex organisations. Jenny has an impressive track record of providing strategic, management and operational leadership through articulation of a clear vision, a relentless pursuit of excellence, and a strong focus on team and organisational culture. Her executive experience spans a range of sectors including media, technology, property, retail, franchising, financial services, and professional services across both listed and unlisted public companies and private organisations.
Matthew Prior, Former Group Chief Financial Officer
Matt joined Virtus Health in June 2021, and brings a deep understanding of the value drivers in healthcare as well as industry experience.
Having been an executive at Cochlear Limited (ASX:COH) since 2015, initially as Head of Strategy and then as Vice President Finance and Commercial Operations - Asia Pacific, Matt had responsibility for driving value across their operations in China, India, Japan, Korea, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand.
Matt also covered healthcare stocks for close to a decade as an equities analyst at Deutsche Bank, as Head of Healthcare Equities Research Asia Pacific at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Head of Equities Research Australia at Evans & Partners. This experience provided Matt with a rich insight into the structure of the industry as well as the impact of regulation and consumer trends. Prior to that, Matt spent a number of years in the corporate finance and values team at Deloitte.
Matt gained significant M&A and transactional experience both in Australia and Asia through his time at Deloitte, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Cochlear.
Tania Abbotto is the Chief Customer, Sustainability and People Officer at Sportsbet, Australia’s largest pure play e-commerce company. Tania is an instrumental member of Sportsbet’s Executive team, driving sustainable growth to achieve market leadership.
Tania’s career spans senior roles within the retail, telecommunications, technology and legal sectors with teams of up to 7000.
Tania is recognised as the thought leader in the design, articulation and alignment to purpose, strategy and culture at Sportsbet. She has created a great place to work for its people, delivered innovative personalised experiences to its customers and transformed the contribution to the community in which it operates. Tania has proven herself as a leader who grows and transforms business through clear strategy, building exceptional teams, customer focus and innovation.
Tania joined Sportsbet as HR Director and has since transformed the People & Culture team to be multi award winning and one of Australia's best. Tania has led the customer marketing; value and service teams to attract and retain more than 2 million active customers, deploying the most personalised customer experiences and engagement in the industry. In 2020, Tania led the acquisition and integration of BetEasy and more recently, Tania created the Sustainability function at Sportsbet, developing and deploying a strategy that will see Sportsbet set the standard for the industry, so it customers can Play well always through a commitment to normalising safer gambling tools; its people can Be Better by accelerating its commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Sportsbet to do more through its community contribution, positively impacting the lives of over 2.5 million Australians.
Tania is a mum to two boys, aged 8 and 3, a Melbournian who loves all that it has to offer – sports, theatre and food. You can find Tania on the Mornington peninsula when she is taking a break, a place where she spent allot of her childhood and now spends time with her own young family.
Farid Jarrar is a commercially astute CIO with significant knowledge and expertise in leading, managing and exploiting technology to drive extraordinary business outcomes. Farid has more than 25 years’ experience in senior executive roles across a variety of global organisations.
He has a track record of achievement in the following areas of business process: Outsourcing, labour hire, healthcare, professional services, consulting, telecommunications, utilities, and government sectors and is experienced in the supply and demand side of digital services.
He has considerable experience in digital transformation, customer-led innovation, change management, mergers and acquisitions, program delivery, ecommerce, and customer experience. He specializes in transforming organisational capabilities to better engage with digital consumers.
Farid holds a Bachelor of Computer Science and a Master of Technology Management from Swinburne University, several credentials in innovation and digital transformation and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and alumni of IMD.
Michael Hiller leads the Queensland practice of KPMG. He is also the Deputy Chairman of the National Board of KPMG and is the Markets leader for the national Management Consulting practice.
Michael is both a Chartered Accountant and a registered psychologist. He spent the early years of his career working in external audit across the financial services, energy & natural resources and the industrial markets industries.
Upon completing his psychology qualifications he joined the Management Consulting Division within KPMG and has been practicing as an organisational psychologist in the People & Change team.
In this role Michael has consulted to organisations to improve their performance by focusing on their people, strategy, technology, and corporate structures.
Prior to taking on the leadership of the Queensland Practice of KPMG Michael led the national Infrastructure, Government & Healthcare team within KPMG for 7 years. He has consulted extensively across all levels of Government, in particular the Queensland Government. Michael was also a founding member of the Global Government Steering Group within KPMG.
Sumith Perera is the Chief Operating Officer and the national Head of Corporate Services at Hall & Wilcox. He has over 20 years’ experience in leading and managing teams at professional services firms.
Sumith is responsible for leading the firm’s Smarter Law innovation strategy which has repositioned the firm as a leader in developing client solutions and responding to disruption in the legal and professional services sector.
Sumith is a coach and mentor to Directors and Senior Managers that lead all of the operational functions of the firm including HR, Finance, IT, Office Services, Business Development, Quality & Risk and Knowledge.
Sumith is commercial counsel to the Managing Partner in implementing the strategic direction of the firm. He has lead the implementation of the firm’s national expansion strategy.
Sumith is known for his commercial approach and ability to lead complex time critical projects.
Sumith is the Chair of Marshall Day Acoustics, an international consulting engineering firm, specialising in acoustic design and advisory services.
Melanie Cochrane was appointed Group Managing Director Equifax Australia and New Zealand in May 2021. Melanie and her team deliver unique and innovative solutions and insights to empower consumers and customers to make great decisions.
Leading a diverse business that plays a pivotal role in the A/NZ economy, Melanie is responsible for solutions spanning Consumer and Commercial Risk, Fraud Prevention, Identity, Verification and Ratings, across a range of industries including financial services, telco & utilities, automotive, property & construction, insurance, retail, professional services and government.
Prior to Equifax Melanie was General Manager, Merchant Services American Express for the APAC region where she consistently delivered double digit growth and a threefold increase in Net Promoter Scores.
Previously, she led the Corporate Payments Business for APAC as well as the Global Digital Servicing Transformation Program. She also served on the Board of American Express Australia Ltd.
With over 25 years in Financial Services, Melanie has a diverse background in cultures and leading businesses in the US, Australia and Asia. Melanie is passionate about customer advocacy and has
led large scale global digital transformation programs, new disruptive digital payments and third party partnerships.
Throughout her career, she has driven diversity and inclusion initiatives, focusing on developing talent and an inclusive culture.
Originally from the UK, Melanie completed her Business Studies degree at Brighton University, and is a Graduate of the Australia Institute of Company Directors.
Wayne Lasky is the Founder & Executive Chairman of MaxCap Group, responsible for business strategy, execution, key stakeholder relations and capital raising. He has over 15 years of real estate and finance experience having worked on all sides of the table as an originator, lender, asset manager, real estate investor & developer, project manager & Property Manager.
Wayne holds a double degree, Bachelor of Business Management & Marketing (Hons), graduating Dux from Monash University, Melbourne. Wayne is on the Executive Committee of YPO Australia and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Senior Associate of the Financial Services Institute of Australia (FINSIA).
Currently, John Rayment is the CEO of Identitii (ASX:ID8), Non-Executive Director of Payble and Board Advisor at Docsies. Very fortunate to have lived and worked in London, New York, Tokyo and Sydney, and specialise in growing enterprise value, by focusing on employee engagement and building high performance teams with clarity of purpose and vision.
Happily married father of two young girls; proud son, grandson and Godson of decorated naval officers; former rower, boxer and club rugby player; avid fan of the ocean, the outdoors and time with friends; willing contributor to the happiness and growth of others.
Skander Malcolm is the current CEO and MD of OFX (ASX: 'OFX') since 02/17. Previously 13 years with GE (NYSE: 'GE'), across GE Capital & GE Healthcare. Previously Westpac (2000 - 2003), Household International (1990 - 2000).
Growth leader; market and customer driven, with operational discipline and strong belief in developing people and teams. Worked and led in multiple geographies, in regulated industries, across economic cycles. Inspired by creative, problem-solving, compassionate people. Hopeless technologist, proud Australian.
Rupert Haywood joined QTC in January 2010 with more than 20 years’ international capital markets, treasury management, risk management, structured financial solutions and commercial arrangements experience under his belt.
Rupert has a comprehensive knowledge of financial markets and experience in developing and implementing team-based business and financing solutions with a diverse range of clients. Prior to joining QTC, Rupert held senior positions in Suncorp, Macquarie Bank and Westpac including 13 years in London. Rupert was also a Board member of the former QTC joint venture Local Government Infrastructure Services.
From July 2018, Rupert was appointed Managing Director, Corporate Services and Chief Risk Officer. Prior to moving into this role, Rupert has led both the Risk and Financial Operations Division and Client Services Division. His experience in financial markets, enables him to focus on managing risk and that the organisational needs and are supported to meet its strategic objectives.
Rupert attributes QTC’s success to its genuine client focus that ensures we deliver valued products and services to make the right difference and drive continual improvement
Joanne Smith serves as the CMIO of Blackmores Group. A proud wife to Tony and Mum to two daughters aged 16 and 13, Joanne loves exercising, being outdoors, reading and learning, eating great food and celebrating life's special moments with friends and family. Joanne is looking forward to connecting with the world again in person, instead of through a screen.
Proud wife and mum to two daughters aged 16 and 13, I love exercising, being outdoors, ocean swimming, reading and learning, eating great food and celebrating life's special moments with champagne. I want to enjoy experiences over objects and I miss being out in the world. I am hopeful for a future where we can connect with the world again in person instead of through a screen.
Over 25 years of extensive global MNC marketing and commercial leadership experience. An experienced global senior leader (Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, DuluxGroup and Blackmores Group) with deep experience across ANZ, North America (8 years), EU and Asia (8 years). High level competencies in global and regional business and brand development, growth strategies, transformational organisational change and leadership of global teams. An excellent record of developing and launching successful business models and first to market innovation, and purpose led brand communication strategies.
Senior leadership roles include Global Marketing Director Unilever (NY,USA) , Regional Director J&J (Singapore), Global Marketing Director DuluxGroup (Sydney), Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Blackmores Group. Commercially driven with a highly respected track record of delivering profitable growth, working collaboratively across cultures, and developing teams. MBA with an International Business major.
In December 2021 Domenic Capomolla was appointed to the role of CEO of Pacific Hydro Australia, with responsibility for the company’s businesses in Australia.
Prior to his appointment as Interim CEO, Domenic was CEO of Tango Energy, Pacific Hydro’s retail arm, since 2018. Since its launch in 2016, Tango Energy has established itself as one of the fastest growing electricity retailers in Australia, and has won a number of consumer awards including the Canstar Blue award for Most Satisfied Customers – Electricity Providers, VIC 2018.
With a history of starting and operating energy retailers in Australia and Asia, Domenic has held chief executive and senior executive roles with Sumo Power, where he was founder, Alinta Energy, Simply Energy/International Power and Sembcorp Power (Singapore) spanning 20 years. He has established a reputation of taking start up energy retailers and growing them into established, high performing profitable and customer focussed businesses. Domenic has formal tertiary qualifications in Mathematics and Applied Finance.
Melissa is the Chief Financial & Operations Officer for hipages. Melissa is a Senior Executive with extensive experience across digital, technology, eCommerce, media, retail, travel, corporate development, private equity and financial services and markets.
Melissa has experience preparing businesses for IPO / sale, restructuring / turnarounds, strategy, M&A, integration and implementing transformational change.
Melissa commenced her career with PwC and spent 10 years overseas where she spent the majority of the time as an Investment Executive for Henderson Private Equity. Melissa returned to Australia at the end of 2011 when she joined APN, now HT&E as a Finance Director in their Digital division. Melissa then spent 5 years as the Group CFO of Lux Group / Luxury Escapes, one of Australia’s largest e-commerce businesses. Melissa has vast experience in working with high growth, fast paced businesses.
Melissa holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, majoring in Accountancy and sub major in Law. She is a Chartered Accountant and has a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment.
Appointed as UGL's Chief Operating Officer in 2020 after leading governance and risk across the business since 2014. Extensive experience having held senior executive and project management positions in the general contracting and infrastructure sectors of the construction industry for over 35 years.
In addition to my current COO responsibilities, I am also Chair of Australian Terminal Operations Pty Ltd (a joint venture between BP Australia and UGL). Previously, I was also Chair of UGL Unipart Pty. Ltd. (a joint venture between Unipart and UGL) and Chair of the Inpex MEC-1 Contractor Steering Committee (a joint venture between Kentz and UGL).
Prior to joining UGL, I was Group General Manager – Commercial at Tenix and held key senior executive positions at St Hillier’s. I am also the recipient of various industry awards.
I hold a Bachelor of Building from the University of New South Wales and am a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
John Biviano is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and has been in the role for 3 years, from 2019, and previously the Deputy CEO since 2015. He has over 40 years of experience working in the health sector, including working in medical colleges, teaching hospitals and in government. For the past 14 years he has worked in senior executive roles in two of the largest specialist medical colleges in Australasia, with expertise in leadership and culture, partner engagement and collaboration, strategic policy development, professional standards, and government relations. While at RACS he has had major involvement in the development and implementation of various sustainability in healthcare initiatives, the indigenous health strategy, and the Building Respect Improving Patient Care Action Plan.
He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Medical Laboratory Science, a Masters in Management, specialising in Leadership, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and a Graduate of the Australian Institute Company Directors.
Focused on creating value, by providing experiences that leave customers, the company and the community better off. Benjamin Zeccola is the CEO for Palace Cinemas. An entrepreneurial problem solver who delights in promoting the talent of the people around him, further enabling them to make their unique contribution. Quick to smile with a real love of learning, a (not always fluent) speaker of 4 languages, a movie fan and an avid reader with over 27 years experience demonstrating innovation and achievement, with a wide range of skills acquired in roles in Exhibition (Retail) and Distribution and skilled in Leadership, General Management, Business Development, Marketing, Sponsorship, Acquisitions, Production and Sales. Also sits on various boards and was Winner of the 2017 CEO AWARD from the Independent Cinemas Association of Australia.
Karen Winfield a wife, doing her best at raising 3 smart, caring and beautiful daughters, looking after a dog, 5 horses and a global training business. Let's just say I like to keep myself busy and I love a good juggle and for sanity I like to take myself on hikes.
Around 20 years ago I found my niche which was making a difference in people's lives through education. I had an opportunity and a way to inspire them to grow and I didn't want this to be limited to just me. Hence PD Training was born. 12 years later, PD Training is in 6 countries, over 300 trainers in our network, and have just started a new sister business, pdtrainingglobal.com which is a virtual only training provider.
I enjoy my companies and what they achieve for our clients.
I am an accomplished executive, with a strong strategic mindset, who delivers results through helping the organisation to maximise its investment in technology and ensure technology retains a strong service and customer focus.
I am a change agent, who possesses excellent leadership skills, strong communication and inter-personal skills, ability to engage and influence senior business and IT stakeholders, strong operations management, extensive team development and capability development skills, and ability to negotiate, establish and maintain strong partnering relationships with external suppliers.
I put myself on the line for complex adaptive challenges, whether these are about leading technological transformation or cultural transformation.This is what gets me out of bed every morning and is without a doubt my over-arching life purpose.
I have diverse industry experience having worked across Banking and Financial Services, Resources (primarily Utilities), Professional Services and the Government sector.
I am passionate about diversity and inclusion and co-founded the ground breaking NAB Women in Technology Program in 2014. I also am a Company Director of NAB’s broker licensing company.
For fun, I am a keen amateur interior designer and to keep me sane and my energy levels up I train three times a week with a trainer.
Hayley is the Chief Executive Officer of Melba Support Services and has more than 30 years of experience in the disability sector. She is an innovative, experienced leader, having led organisations through complex change. Hayley brings a wealth of knowledge in service design, governance and compliance.
Hayley was Melba’s Chief Outcomes Officer for four years before becoming CEO in 2020. As the COO, Hayley oversaw Melba’s successful tender for the transfer of government group homes. In under 12 months, Melba transformed from a small, regional service to one of Victoria’s largest disability service providers – expanding across the state, quadrupling its revenue and doubling the number of people supported.
Hayley is passionate about putting power in the hands of the person with a disability to live the life they choose. Hayley has focused on people’s human rights throughout her career – in the early 1990s, she co-designed many innovative approaches, including one of the first brokerage respite programs. Her experience includes three years as MOIRA’s Chief Operating Officer, where she implemented a human rights framework of service delivery and a complete service redesign.
Hayley currently serves on the Lilydale Revitalisation Board and the National Disability Services State Committee. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and disability from Deakin University.
David Noon is co-founder and CEO of GroundProbe, and co-inventor of the patented Slope Stability Radar technology. David has led the successful global commercialisation of this new technology, which is now considered world’s best practice in mining with many hundreds of installations across over 30 countries.
In 2018, GroundProbe was acquired by Orica Ltd, the world’s largest provider of commercial explosives and innovative blasting systems for mining, quarrying, and construction markets.
David has completed executive management and entrepreneurial training at Stanford University and MIT. He has been honored with prestigious awards as a technology innovator, entrepreneur, commercialiser and outstanding contributor to the global mining industry.
David is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) and current Queensland Division Chair.
David is a founding Board member and passionate supporter of the Wonder of Science Program. This program promotes an exciting and accessible STEM culture to middle/high schools students, teachers, principals and parents through STEM challenge tasks led by a PhD student cohort of “Young Science Ambassadors”.
I am committed to social justice and achieving equity and greater participation in our community for people who experience disadvantage. I am CEO of Neami National, one of Australia's largest community based mental health providers, which has over 1100 staff and a current annual revenue of a bit over $120m. I have worked in mental health for almost 28 years, in government, health services and now a NGO.
Prior to working at Neami I worked for 20 years at Forensicare, which provides mental health services to people involved in the Victorian criminal justice system. For 10 of these years I was CEO, but originally was the General Counsel. Once upon a time I trained as a lawyer and I have worked in private practice, Community Legal Centres and for government.
I am a parent of four adult children, I like coffee and red wine too much, staying at my holiday place at Sandy Point and grumbling about the lockdown dog which came into my family last year after 12 months of being dog free.
Julian N. B. Smith is the CEO and Managing Director of Diamond Protection (co-founding this company at 21 years of age). Diamond Protection (established in 1995) is a leading national security and emergency (fire/rescue/medical) response services company.
Julian is also co-founder and CEO of Diamond Protection Training (DPT). DPT is a nationally Recognised Training Organisation (RTO 32273) delivering safety, first aid and emergency response training throughout Australia and at its 10-acre National Tactical Training Centre in Chinchilla Queensland Australia.
He holds a Bachelor of Health Science (RMIT) degree and is the CEO and founder of the Workplace Health Challenge (WHC). This company is dedicated to transforming the mental and physical health of workers throughout the world.
Carolyn joined the Y in 2018 as Chief Operating Officer before becoming Chief Executive Officer (for YMCA Victoria and Kingswim) not long after. Carolyn provides strategic direction for five key business units including: Aquatics & Recreation, Camps, Children’s Programs, Kingswim, and Youth Services across more than 150 locations throughout Victoria, NSW, Tasmania, South Australia and the A.C.T.
Carolyn has 15 years of experience leading corporate organisations spanning childcare, aged care and retail banking, with multi-billion dollar turnovers. Prior to that Carolyn was a Chief Financial Officer for five years both in Australia and the USA. With a reputation for transforming customer experience, world-class employee engagement results and exponential shareholder growth.
In 2017, Carolyn chose to dedicate her life to social justice issues. Helping people gain opportunity, confidence, inclusion and intergenerational collaboration is not new to Carolyn. On a part-time basis she volunteers her time as a Director for Family Planning Victoria and RMIT social ventures, and has previously volunteered as a Director and Treasurer for Fitted for Work.
On a personal note, Carolyn lives in Melbourne with her husband, Michael, and two daughters, Veronica and Rosemarie.
Rob Sinclair is the joint Managing Director of e&s, the family-owned business started by his father Bob Sinclair and his two brothers in 1962.
From a small discount store in Ashburton that sold everything from travel goods to furniture and even guns, e&s has grown and transformed, eventually becoming what it is today – a name synonymous with selling kitchen, bathroom, and laundry appliances in our nine Melbourne metropolitan stores.
Having grown up around the business, Rob’s experience with suppliers, brands and products have made him an expert in the field of kitchen, bathroom, and laundry appliances.
While still at school I worked on weekends and during school holidays in the e&s warehouse and as I got older, I worked in the Ashburton store meeting and helping customers with their purchases.
I always had a passion to work with my father and to build up the e&s business, so 30 years ago I joined e&s full time with a staff of 12. Over the years many things have changed, and we have grown to be nine stores including our newest store at Preston with over 300 people across the company. The plan is to continue to grow the e&s brand and to continue to partner with our wonderful suppliers to offer the finest products for your kitchen, bathroom and laundry.
Michael is an experienced leader and innovator with a focus on the successful commercialisation of emerging technologies. Since joining Rhinomed in 2013, he has been responsible for the development of Rhinomed’s nasal technology platform and steering RhinoMed to being one of the world’s leading developers of wearable nasal medical technology. The company has now brought four products to market in the global sleep and snoring, respiratory and nasal congestion markets and is developing applications in the diagnostic and drug delivery markets. Over the course of his career he worked for a wide spectrum of companies from large multinationals through to start-up companies in Life Sciences, Cleantech, Financial Services and advertising and communication industries. Michael received a Master’s in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Swinburne University and a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Monash University. Michael is a non-executive director of the US based Foundation for Airway Health
Dr Liz Walker, CEO, RSPCA Victoria
Liz graduated in 1989 from The University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (Hons). Liz spent six years in private practice (small animal) and conducting research in veterinary parasitology at The University of Melbourne before working in the veterinary industry in sales, marketing and operational roles with MARS Petcare, Bayer Animal Health and Gribbles Veterinary Pathology. Along the way, she gained a Master of Management (Marketing) from Macquarie Graduate School of Management. In 2010 Liz moved into the NFP sector, spending four years as CEO at Lort Smith Animal Hospital, the largest companion animal hospital in Australia. Liz has been CEO at RSPCA Victoria since 2014. Providing animal welfare expertise to multiple organisations, Liz is a member of the Victorian Government’s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, Greyhound Racing Victoria’s Animal Welfare Committee, and Racing Victoria’s Equine Welfare Advisory Council.
Liz has four children - two boys and two girls aged between 12 and 19, a golden labrador named Princess Esther the Great, and two ginger cats; Mummicat and Redicat.
An energetic, results driven, collaborative leader with proven ability to build effective teams, ensuring people have clear expectations, diversity of thinking and context to deliver results, grow businesses and generate returns for shareholders and customers.
Joe has a deep knowledge of dynamic sectors including logistics, government, resources, energy, defence and infrastructure, in global and Australian environments covering a range of service and functional areas.
With a PhD in Engineering, Joe is a service sector executive and has worked for a number of leading national and global companies, including G4S, Ventia, Broadspectrum, Tenix and ThyssenKrupp, and progressed from operational and business development roles to direct accountability for major multinational businesses.
As CEO of ANC, Joe’s focus is on delivering high-value last mile logistics solutions to iconic brands like Bunnings, IKEA, JB HiFi, Telstra, Miele and others in the fast growing, rapidly transforming and agile environment of retail and e-commerce.
Michael Potenza is a global logistics executive with over 25 years’ experience leading and increasing growth in business. His proven results in organizational leadership, P&L management, people management and business transformation has fostered a high level of performance from his teams that has challenged and driven an agile mindset within organizations.
Michael has vast experience in various senior leadership roles championing commercial growth strategies and BU divisional management across Australia, Asia Pacific and the globe. Prior to joining AWH, Michael spent the last 5 years at Agility Logistics, most recently as its CEO for Australasia. He oversaw a dynamic business covering 3 countries (AU/NZ/PNG) across 14 sites and more than 400 people and notably in the turnaround of a loss-making organization into a profitable business.
Michael holds a Masters of Business from Monash University and lives in Melbourne with his wife and children.
Matt Chilcott is CEO of Deswik, a global software company focussed on mining engineering, survey, geology, geotechnical and environmental toolsets. Matt joined Deswik just over 10 years ago when the company was a single 20 person office. The company currently has about 350 employees across 14 offices globally and recently entered into an agreement to be sold to a large multinational. This sale is particularly significant in the Brisbane tech space and its a great achievement for a bootstrapped company.
Prior to Deswik, Matt has been involved in starting, growing and managing a number of IT related businesses. He gets great fulfillment from building teams and being heavily involved in the early stage growth phase of businesses and setting them up for long term sustainability.
Matt holds an Engineering degree and MBA and has extensive experience in IT and professional services. He currently has no life outside of work but is working on it.
BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering, BSc Applied Mathematics
Angus was appointed as Chief Technology Officer in May 2021 responsible for strategic marketing, research and development (R&D), technology commercialisation, information technology (IT), Orica Digital and Orica Monitor. Prior to this Angus served as Chief Commercial Officer from October 2016. Angus joined Orica in January 2016 as President - Australia Pacific & Asia following a 25-year career at Schlumberger where he held a number of senior executive roles responsible for research & development, engineering, manufacturing, operations and sales. Angus’ experience at Schlumberger included responsibility for explosives and perforating products research, development and manufacturing.
Nichole commenced with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) in February 2018 as Group Executive Data and Digital, and Chief Information and Technology Officer. In this position Nichole is accountable for delivering the data, infrastructure and systems to underpin the Bureau's operations, from measurement and collection of all meteorological and oceanographic observations through to production and delivery. In 2021, Nichole adopted responsibilities as ROBUST Programme Director overseeing the comprehensive redesign of the Bureau's ICT systems and observing network focused on addressing security, stability and resilience risks.
She has had over 20 years' experience in a diverse range of roles across several business and technology domains in the financial services, higher education, professional services, emergency services and government sectors.
Nichole has an outstanding track record of delivery in complex operating environments both in Australia and overseas. She has led a number of successful enterprise wide transformations that have resulted in significant uplifts in the Bureau's performance. She was appointed to the Board of Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) in 2019, and was appointed as the Australian National Focal Point to UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in 2020. She is responsible for the operation of the Bureau's satellite ground station network, leading the effort to develop the Bureau's role in supporting Australia's space industry.
Nichole has a very strong people and customer orientation and is the Bureau's Gender Equality Champion.
Dr Zoran Bolevich is Chief Executive of eHealth NSW and Chief Information Officer of NSW Health. With a background in medicine and business administration, Dr Bolevich has worked in a number of senior health system management, health IT and data analytics leadership roles in Australia and New Zealand.
Leading a team of more than 1,600 staff, Dr Bolevich is focusing on implementing the eHealth Strategy for NSW Health, which aims to digitally enable Australia’s largest public health system. This includes planning, designing and implementing innovative digital platforms and capabilities for NSW Health’s clinical services, population health, integrated care, finance and workforce management, as well as world-class IT infrastructure.
Dr Bolevich is passionate about improving the health system through meaningful and effective use of digital technologies, data analytics, research and innovation in partnership with patients, clinicians, health organisations, government and industry partners.
Dr Bolevich holds a Doctor of Medicine degree, as well as a Master of Business Administration, and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.
Rory Linehan Ph.D. serves as Chief Technology Officer.
He worked for Codan from 2014 to 2021, leveraging technology and innovation to develop strategies for growth. This included the closure of two major acquisitions, the divestment of the Minetec business and creation of a Research & Technology team focused on the development of artificial intelligence, automation and edge computing.
Rory holds degrees in Physics and Engineering and a PhD in Mathematics from Coventry University (UK). He is skilled in strategy, marketing, business development, systems engineering and programme management gained across a wide range of projects, including the McLaren MP4-12C road car, Airbus A400m air-to-air refuelling system and the Boeing 787 primary flight control system.
Paul is the CFO for Australia & New Zealand’s leading online fashion and lifestyle platform, THE ICONIC. With extensive experience across a diverse range of organisations and industries, Paul is a trusted business partner to CEOs and has played an instrumental role in senior executive teams for over 20 years.
Paul is a strategic commercial leader who has worked with some of the world’s most recognisable brands, including Coca Cola. Prior to joining THE ICONIC in 2020, Paul held the position of General Manager - Commercial, for the rebel Sport business of Super Retail Group. In this role for almost six years, he was responsible for all commercial and finance functions, and was a member of the rebel Executive Team.
Paul has an innate ability to deep-dive into analytics and deliver valuable insights to drive sound decision-making. He enjoys the challenge of working with cross functional teams to solve complex business problems that contribute to strategy delivery and growth.
Outside of work, Paul enjoys skiing in Winter and hitting the beach in Summer with his wife and three sons
A former pioneering client of VBP, Tim is the former Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the business. He works with our Cluster Heads and Client Services Managers in making sure we implement the right processes and system needed in providing the best experience to our clients.
He also led the re-establishment of our Paraplanning team, growing from 20+ Paraplanners to now more than 150 in less than a year. He is an Associate Financial Planner (Financial Planning Association of Australia, MACID (Australian Institute of Company Directors and an Accredited Mortgage Broker. In addition, he was also with AMP for 11 years as Director and Senior Financial Adviser.
Teresa Finlayson is the Chief Digital and Student Services Officer at Monash University, leading a division of IT and Student Services professionals providing everyday support and delivery of strategic projects across the University.
A trailblazer and change-maker by nature, Teresa is creating positive disruption to drive enterprise-level change, and enable Australia’s largest University to continue to meet the challenges of the age and #CHANGEIT. She is responsible for driving significant meaningful and impactful reform through new ways of working across the University, and was named a State Finalist in the 2019 Telstra Business Women’s Awards (Public Sector and Academia) in recognition of her achievements. An experienced change management practitioner, Teresa has over 20 years of experience in advising, executing and managing the delivery of outcomes aligned with strategic goals and culture and values of large, complex organisations. Her approach to change management is to ‘work better and work together’.
Teresa found her home at Monash University in 2009 after building her career with global professional services consulting firm, KPMG.
As a strong, commercial, values-driven leader with a proven track record of driving changes in crisis, transformation and rapid growth environments, Anthony thrives in highly complex settings requiring strong leadership, clear direction and a focus on the critical levers to achieve results.
Anthony loves creating success through building people and their capability with a pragmatic, inclusive and aspirational motivation to raise the platform on what exists. He is drawn to purpose driven organisations that are committed to shaping the future of individuals, communities and societies.
Clark joined Village Roadshow Limited as Director of Strategy in 2009 and in 2017 was appointed Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Village Roadshow Theme Parks Group. In 2020, Clark was also appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Village Roadshow Limited.
Clark oversees Australia’s largest theme park operation including Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World, Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast and Las Vegas, Paradise Country, Australian Outback Spectacular, Village Roadshow Studios and Sea World Resort. Clark has also been instrumental in overseeing the continued progress of Village’s Asian expansion strategy, establishing and building key relationships and theme parks in China.
Prior to Village, Clark was an Associate Director at UBS in the Media and Telco Team, advising leading media companies and holds a Bachelor of Information Technology and a Masters Degree in Finance.
Clark is on the Board of Major Events Gold Coast and also holds charitable positions on the board of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and My Room Children’s Cancer Centre at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Cameron White is CEO of Ocwen Energy, a leading independent energy business focused on delivering solutions to our customers and communities across regional Australia. Prior to being named CEO in 2016, Cameron was Ocwen Energy’s Chief Financial Officer.
Cameron has held leadership roles across the downstream oil industry in Australia, the Americas and the UK where he has led teams covering sales and operations, supply and distribution and various corporate and strategic functions.
In addition to his role as CEO, Cameron is a Director of Lennon Engineering and Construction and Revir P/L.
For over 25 years Shane has led organisations in the corporate, sport and not-for-profit sectors. He values authenticity and prides himself on being an approachable leader.
With a passion for innovating to achieve change, growth and organisational development, Shane has held senior management roles across sport, construction, coaching and now education. He is proud of the instrumental roles he has played, uniting large organisations to reach their full potential – most notably when uniting 18 cycling entities to form the national sporting organisation AusCycling.
Leading the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association (PMSA) in South East Queensland, Shane now oversees the group office and four prominent Queensland schools.
Shane is excited and privileged to lead the PMSA as they enter a period of growth and development. His vision is to support their four schools to realise their full potential, uniting their community to unlock opportunities for their organisation that will benefit their students now and into the future.
Andrew Sanderson joined the RAAF in 1983 and completed a Bachelor of Engineering Degree at RMIT before undertaking a career as a RAAF engineering officer. During his RAAF career he had postings across Australia and the USA covering maintenance management, design engineering, logistics, aircraft acquisition and personnel, with a focus on maintenance and engineering support for the F-111 aircraft. Andrew has also completed a Master of Business Administration from the University of New England.
Andrew left the RAAF in 1999 to establish a new military maintenance company that is now known as TAE Aerospace. Andrew is the CEO and Managing Director of TAE Aerospace and has had responsibility to lead and grow the business in Australia from its fledgling beginnings to a global aerospace company, servicing both military and commercial aviation markets throughout Asia-Pacific and the United States.
The company employs over 380 staff in five sites across Australia, one in Malaysia and five in the United States. TAE Aerospace’s services now include advanced manufacturing; turbine engine and component repair and overhaul for fighter aircraft through to aerial agricultural and fire bombing aircraft and the M1A1 Abrams tank; aircraft wheels & brakes maintenance and aerospace and land fire protection and rescue equipment maintenance.
Scott Power has been integral to the success of BMD, leading the business through his role as Group Executive Director – Operations since 2009.
Having commenced his engineering career in the business his father started, Scott combines more than 25 years of technical engineering and construction experience in management roles and contracting disciplines, to lead the sustained growth and strategic direction of the Group.
Over a 40 year history, BMD has grown from a small business to become a diverse organisation providing integrated services of civil engineering, construction, design, property development and landscaping. Scott’s involvement as a critical leader of BMD has seen the business become a truly national contractor and launch operations offshore, as well as the bolstering of capabilities beyond transport infrastructure and land development, into non-traditional sectors – primarily ports, airports and resources.
As both a professional engineer and business leader, Scott has spearheaded the management of BMD’s national portfolio of infrastructure projects, successfully achieving a consistent annual turnover of more than $1 billion.
With BMD employing more than 1,700 people across its operations, including almost 400 engineers, Scott’s role is instrumental in leading the engineering and professional teams across project tendering and execution.
Passionate about industry sustainability, local participation, training, diversity and building a clear and inspiring strategy for business growth, Scott empowers teams to take ownership and deliver on projected outcomes. Scott continues to instil the culture BMD is renowned for and that has enabled its differentiation from its competitors.
Scott’s focus is to manage BMD’s continued success in a manner that retains the long-term relationships and a collaborative approach that has been the hallmark of the Group since its inception in 1979. He is actively involved in the construction industry, advocating for contractors and building relationships with clients and partners to uphold the respected position BMD holds in the industry.
Hugo is the founding CEO of Youi Insurance in Australia. He’s been living in Australia for over 10 years after relocating from South Africa to start the insurance business in Australia in 2007.
At the end of 2012, Hugo handed the Australian CEO responsibilities over to focus on the groups marketing strategies and new business opportunities as Group Chief Marketing Officer before again returning to the CEO position end of 2018.
Hugo commenced his insurance career in South Africa in 2003 at OUTsurance (Youi’s South African parent company). He has a proven track record in successfully building brands and implementing marketing strategies that delivers exceptional results. He understands the challenges around scaling a business successful growing Youi from zero to almost $1billion in turnover. Hugo is very passionate about culture and having a clear vision with strong values.
Before joining OUTsurance, Hugo was heading up acquisitions and dealer development at TYCO International’s security solutions. Hugo is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Management Accountant.
Hugo and his wife, Ilona, enjoy the best of both worlds between the Brisbane city and the beautiful beaches of the Sunshine Coast where Youi’s Headquarters is based. Hugo and Ilona are the proud parents of two children, both in their late teens. The eldest, Hugo, studies abroad at the University of California Berkeley and youngest, Calista, is in her final years at College in Brisbane. Hugo enjoys keeping active lifestyle outside of work, whether it be on the golf course or some form of exercise to keep the body and mind fit.
David Carney (DC) is the founder and CEO of Virtual Business Partners a BPO firm specialising in the financial services industry operating in Australia and the Philippines.
David has 25 years of experience working in the financial services industry and is a Certified Financial Planner and was the Managing Director of Aspect Partners—a financial planning firm he previously owned and successfully sold in 2008. David previously worked as a Gazelles Certified business coach and has worked with several planning firms to help them with their strategic thinking and execution planning.
Dylan Webb is the CEO of Datamine, a global software company focussed on natural resources with offices in 20 countries and customers in over 100 countries.
Prior to becoming CEO in 2020, Dylan held senior roles in strategic development and R&D, sourcing and integrating acquisitions as well as being responsible for software development teams in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. He has played a key role in expanding Datamine’s product portfolio across the complete mining value chain through a series of build or buy investments.
Before joining Datamine, Dylan led the Australian operations of JSE-listed ICT company Gijima Group, establishing offices in Perth and Brisbane and providing software and services to the Australian market.
Earlier in his career, Dylan worked as an advisory consultant on some of the world’s largest mining investments for Anglo American, BHP, Rio Tinto and others. He was an external advisor to Bain & Company on strategic reviews and business improvement projects for mining clients. Dylan also worked in mining operations, managing production crews during the expansion of BHP’s Olympic Dam mine in the late 1990’s.
Dylan holds a Master of Business and Technology from UNSW, and a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from the University of Queensland. He is married with two teenage children and his interests include running, cycling and travel.
Ms Joanne Jessop has been the Chief Executive Officer of Multicap since 2006, leading transformational change including transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Jo has extensive senior management experience in non-profit and public sector health care, and in government services. She is a Director of both Ability First Australia and Bric Housing, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute Company Directors. Jo is passionate about providing high quality human services outcomes, and improved opportunities for vulnerable people especially those living with disability.
Extensive leadership experience in challenging environments and in generating successful outcomes for both individuals and organisations. Strong understanding of complex, high-value infrastructure projects, with a focus on enhancing the internal and external relationships required to achieve project objectives.
Throughout his career Glenn has developed a keen appreciation for the connection between design, performance, and maintenance to ensure the delivered asset meets design life performance, operational cost parameters and provides the requisite returns to clients, customers and shareholders.
Glenn is a strong advocate of safety, governance and accountability, and customer-focused outcomes. He takes an active role in developing the resilience of the business and the capacity of its leaders to respond effectively to the challenge of their dynamic environment.
Glenn is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sunwater Limited and his previous roles include General Manager Operations at Pacific Partnerships, Director and Board Chairman of the Pulse Partnerships Consortium delivering the Cross River Rail, Director and Chief Executive Officer of the ACT Light Rail project and he has served as a Colonel in the Royal Australian Engineers.
He is a Member of the Order of Australia, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has a Masters in Business Administration and Management from the Universities of Southern Queensland and Canberra.
Hugh Killen was appointed as Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in February 2018. Prior to this, he held the position of Chief Commercial Officer in a consulting capacity assisting AACo’s operations and finance functions. Hugh is a highly experienced senior executive with over 25 years’ experience in global financial markets and has worked in London, New York and Sydney.
Established in 1824, AACo is Australia’s largest integrated cattle and beef producer, and is the oldest continuously operating company in Australia. Today, AACo owns and operates a strategic balance of properties, feedlots and farms comprising around 7 million hectares of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory. This equates to roughly 1% of Australia’s land mass. AACo specialises in grain fed beef and Wagyu beef production.
Before joining AACo, Hugh spent 15 years at Westpac Institutional Bank. He held several senior executive roles which included managing Westpac Banking Corporation’s North American business throughout the global financial crisis, and finally as the Managing Director of Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities.
Hugh has also served as a board member of the Association for Financial Markets Global Foreign Exchange Division, sat on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) Australian Foreign Exchange Committee. Hugh has represented Australia internationally as the RBA appointed member of the BIS Working Group developing the Global Code of Conduct for foreign exchange markets.
Hugh is an alumni of the Kings School, Parramatta and Harvard Business School and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Hugh has a lifelong association with agriculture having being raised on pastoral properties in northern NSW and south-west Queensland, and has retained strong personal involvement in the industry through private investments in farming.
Following the completion of his Bachelor of Pharmacy at the University of Queensland in 1978 Clint gained experience in Community Pharmacy completing his pre-reg year with Jack Shea at Garden City Pharmacy Mt.Gravatt. He then managed pharmacies for Pat Sullivan at Inala before moving to Moranbah opening the Belyando Pharmacy there for Dennis Higgins. Having returned to Brisbane, after leaving Moranbah, time spent managing the Wynnum Day and Night while overseeing operations of the Bayside Buying Centre provided valuable business experience. Clint’s first pharmacy business venture was the establishment of the Parkview Medical Centre Pharmacy at Capalaba, having approached Robert Ranson to form a partnership.
This pharmacy was anchored primarily by the 700-800 nursing home beds that he had secured after door knocking almost every nursing home within a 100km radius.
Having enjoyed a successful Medical Centre Pharmacy partnership with Robert (Bob) Ranson in Brisbane in the early 1980’s Clint decided to relocate his family to Noosa in 1986 when the opportunity presented for the partnership to purchase Noosa Heads Pharmacy on Hastings Street. Since those early days Clint has maintained and built his pharmacy interests by focusing primarily on businesses located in popular tourist destinations. Clint has had the good fortune of having established partnerships with a group of pharmacists he is proud to call friends not just business partners.
It’s no secret Clint prefers the business management side of pharmacy and spends most of his time now overseeing operations for the LiveLife Pharmacy network. A feature of Clint’s career has been the development of a network of professional and business partnerships in the areas of Community Pharmacy, manufacturing, importing, exporting and property development. He says that one of the greatest rewards of having been involved in pharmacy for this period of time is having seen junior team members gain confidence and build personal and business skills. Many of these juniors have advanced to retail management positions while others have forged successful careers outside pharmacy building on skills gained while in Clint’s employ.
Clint enjoys fishing, skiing, holidays with his wife Chris and time spent in the company of his three grown children and seven grandchildren.
Simon attended St Marys College from 1983-1986, representing the College in swimming, athletics, rugby league, and debating. Simon was elected College Captain in 1986.
Simon joined Shine Lawyers in 1988 serving articles with former Queensland Attorney-General, Kerry Shine, the founder of the firm.
He holds a Bachelor of Laws and is a Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist in personal injury law, and is admitted to practice in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
He was elevated to Partner in 1995, building a reputation as a skilled litigator, with particular expertise in Workers Compensation.
Practicing in all areas of Plaintiff Litigation, including Mass Tort Litigation, Simon has overseen some of the firm’s largest actions during the last decade. He has given evidence at numerous government enquiries, has assisted in drafting legislation and is a regular speaker at national and state conferences in this field.
He was instrumental in the growth of the firm from a staff of 10 people when he joined in 1988 to over 900+ people today.
Simon is a former national president of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Australia’s peak body for Plaintiff lawyers and chaired the ALA’s National Workers Compensation Special Interest Group. Simon represents Australia on the International Board of Governors of the American Association of Justice, the peak body for Plaintiff Lawyers in the United States of America. In addition he is a member of the US based, Melvin Belli Society, an invitation only organisation of Plaintiff Lawyers around the globe.
Simon contributes skills and expertise to the Shine Justice Board including executive management of a listed company strategy, industry experience, strategic marketing and policy, regulation and stakeholder management.
Rohan Khanna thrives on enabling the interaction between people and technology, which is a godsend for Probe’s clients as they confront an increasingly digital world.
For more than 15 years, Rohan has led teams across a variety of business areas including project management, service desk, pre-sales and commercial and relationship management, as well as overseeing transformation projects in utilities, banking, financial services, insurance, eCommerce, telecommunications and government.
That experience has led him to his current role at Probe where he is responsible for our systems and technology and implementing clients’ projects. He is passionate about digital transformation, helping company’s avoid confrontational interfaces that lead to harassed humans, using technology to empower people and showing clients how the right systems can help them ‘Do It Better’.
Along with a Bachelor of Business specialising in Information Systems and Diploma of Management, Rohan is a qualified practitioner of the PRINCE2 project management method, which would be no surprise for anyone who has had the pleasure of working alongside him.
Andrew is an entrepreneurial executive with deep experience in building domestic and global organisations to take advantage of the transformative potential of technology and customer orientation. Having led multi billion dollar businesses, business turnarounds and incubated several startups, he builds businesses, customers, markets, products and cultures for organisations wanting to exploit the opportunity that exists in the digital age.
His career spans more than 25 years in multiple disciplines including sales, marketing, product management, digital, innovation and technology leadership roles. It includes executive leadership roles in Tier 1 corporations including Australia Post, roles in global corporations such Accenture, where he was Partner in the Communications and High-tech Practice, as well as marketing leadership roles in small growing businesses.
Andrew’s expertise lies in leading companies in technology-intensive industries to build the business strategy, capabilities, culture and change momentum needed to address digital disruption, build commercial growth and improve operating performance.
Andrew and his partner Jane, are strong advocates of community empowerment and actively work to strengthen how communities work and live.
For the last 11 years I've been a founder and the CTO of Culture Amp, a B2B SaaS platform which helps companies create environments where their employees thrive. Although I've mostly focused on the product side of the business, I've also gained experience in VC fundraising, employee brand building and hiring, the financials of running a fast growth tech business. Prior to Culture Amp most of my experience was in software development and architecture in companies including HP Consulting, EDS, NAB and ANZ.
Anthony is the Chief Financial Officer of Wesfarmers Limited. He was appointed to this role in November 2017 following his appointment as Deputy Chief Financial Officer in July 2017. Prior to this, he was Deputy Managing Director of the Industrials division from February 2017 and Finance Director from August 2015.
Anthony started with Wesfarmers in January 2004 as a Business Development Manager and in 2005 was appointed Manager, Investor Relations and Business Projects. He was appointed Head of Business Development and Strategy of Wesfarmers Insurance in December 2006, and became Finance Director of that division and an Executive Director of a number of subsidiary boards in April 2009. Anthony was appointed Managing Director of Wesfarmers Insurance in July 2013.
Anthony began his career with Ernst & Young in business services and corporate finance and then held senior corporate finance roles advising on mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy with Hambros Bank and Société Générale in Sydney, London and Melbourne.
Anthony holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Curtin University, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investments, is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He is a director of the Western Australian Opera Company Incorporated and a director of a number of Wesfarmers Group subsidiaries.
Key Achievements
• Create and implement strategic, tactical and operational plans to deliver revenue, profit and cash flow targets
• Deliver sound financial management, internal controls and governance, including working with Boards and Board Committees
• Establishing and maintaining relationships with members, customers, suppliers and all other stakeholders
• Engaging, energetic and ethical leader with excellent communication skills
• Challenge the status quo, with an ability to adapt, improvise and get things done
David has more than 30 years of global financial experience working across a diverse range of industries, including mining.
Prior to his appointment as BHP’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in December 2020, David was the CFO of ASX-listed global biotech company CSL Limited. He has also held the positions of CFO and Executive Director at Minerals and Metals Group and has previously served as CFO for several other multinational public companies, including OZ Minerals Limited, PaperlinX Limited and Incitec Limited.
David has also held senior roles at BHP between 2001 and 2006, including as CFO of its Carbon Steel Materials and Energy Coal businesses. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Deakin University, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Australia) and a Director of Financial Executives Institute of Australia.
Chaminda is an accomplished senior executive leader with 25 years of deep subject matter expertise in marketing, digital and technology within iconic multinational organisations in the financial services, utilities, automotive, retail, travel and education sectors. As Chief Experience Officer (CXO), Chaminda leads Global Marketing, Digital & Experience, University Lifecycle Technology, Product, Pricing, Proposition Innovation and Student Recruitment for RMIT University. His diverse experience includes having worked with iconic organisations such as ANZ, EnergyAustralia, Aviva and Ford Motor Company across the US,UK, Asia and Australia. His approach is underpinned by developing high performing teams and fostering a collaborative organisational culture focused on customer-centricity that can thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Ajith Abeynaike is the CFO of Hallmark Australia & NZ. He oversees the company's finance, IT, and supply chain.
Ajith was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and has lived in Australia for the last 34 Years. He is married to Julie with a 13 year old son.
He is a member of the following professional associations - CPA, Inst of Company Directors, Institute of Managers & Leaders, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK).
Ajith's interests include: All sports (especially Cricket, Tennis, AFL - Hawthorn supporter, Rugby Union), Charity Work, Travel, Good food & wine.
A Civil Engineering and Commerce Graduate, Liz has been responsible for both small resources projects and managing international businesses, with hundreds of employees and millions of dollars of revenue.
Prior to joining EnergyAustralia, Liz was Safety, Security, Health and Environment Manager at Esso Australia, the local arm of United States-based oil and gas business ExxonMobil. During her career with ExxonMobil she was based in Australia, the United Kingdom and Italy in roles spanning strategic planning, operations, project management, technical, commercial and safety leadership.
Liz joined EnergyAustralia in July 2018 as the Head of People and transitioned to being Energy Executive in May 2019. In July this year, Liz became EnergyAustralia’s Chief Operating Officer with broad responsibility for HSSE and procurement, as well as the operations of our existing generation portfolio, the construction of new generation projects, and the execution and operations of their growing distributed generation assets portfolio supporting their retail business.
Liz is also a Non-Executive Director with Beyond Bank Australia.
Liz has a well-earned reputation for getting the best from the people and businesses she works with.
Carmel is a member of the KPMG Australia Board of Directors. The Board is responsible for the governance and stewardship of the Australian Partnership. She is also the Office Chair of KPMG in Victoria and a senior partner in KPMG’s advisory practice. As Office Chair, she has oversight of the 165 partners and 2,800 staff that reside in Victoria. Carmel has responsibility for all Victorian client facing activities and major events.
Carmel's industry specialisation is in the banking and finance sector. Since joining KPMG in 1989 she has gained significant experience in the financial services industry particularly their finance, risk, governance and internal audit functions.
Carmel has a strong passion and belief in equality and particularly the inequality representative in the government and corporate sectors from a lack of diversity in leadership. She devotes her time to numerous organisations such as Women Corporate Directors and the 30% Club. She is a director of UN Women Australia, Women Corporate Directors Australia Ltd and a founding member and Steering Committee Member of the 30% Club in Australia.
She is also a member of the Risk and Audit Committee of Melbourne Girls Grammar School. In this role she utilises her finance, risk and board governance experience to assist the school to manage its risk and compliance obligations.
As a skilled and passionate people leader with an achievement growth mindset, Tim recognises and encourages the importance of diversity and inclusion. He demonstrates a value-driven, strategically focused, and commercially minded approach as the Chief Financial Officer at Porter Davis Homes.
With the ability to work across the broader business with specific responsibilities across the Financial, Business & Digital Transformation, and People & Culture functions, Tim demonstrates a unique and balanced skill set not often seen in the traditional CFO. As a relationship builder and pragmatic leader, He truly enjoys the daily connection with people. Combined with his commercial acumen, this provides him with the opportunity to have led cultural change and transformation within large complex, multi-national, cross-functional and cost-focused organisations across Australia and internationally.
As a CFO, Tim has extensive experience in delivering strategically focused commercial outcomes leading to improved profitability and top-line growth. He is a leader of corporate governance, including roles of regional financial controller, head of ASX Listed internal audit and membership of two audit committees; development of strategic long and short-term plans, enhanced executive reporting, and high quality and efficient controllership and financial planning and analysis functions.
A strategic and transformational CFO with 20 years experience in international banking and professional services with a proven track record of leading large, highly engaged finance functions that deliver outstanding results. Anthea is outcome driven with an extensive track record of increasing shareholder value, working with Executive Leadership Teams to drive long term sustainable improvements in business performance. Success in her roles have come through strong stakeholder management, team engagement, transformation and a commitment to only progressing with work that delivers real business value.
Anthea's signature strengths are her energy, her values based leadership approach, her ability to build strong relationships, influence and collaborate across all levels of the organisation and her commitment to diversity.
Prior to IFM Anthea was the CFO of Global Technology, Services and Operations (GTSO) at ANZ Bank leading a team of ~150 people across diverse cultures and markets in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. GTSO includes all back office delivery functions of the bank, including property and enterprise transformation projects (Payments and Wholesale Lending) and more than 20,000 employees across 33 countries.
Prior to this, she spent four years in the role of CFO Transaction Banking and Global Loans which included Cash Management, Trade Finance, Custody, Payments, Corporate Finance and Global Lending.
Previous roles at ANZ have included CFO Mortgages and Head of Board and Executive reporting for the Bank.
Prior to ANZ she worked at Shell, Coopers and Lybrand Corporate Finance and KPMG in the UK.
Dr Rick Barber is an experienced leader in the design, development and commercialization of products from concept through to market. As Trajan’s Chief Corporate Systems Officer, Rick oversees the Trajan Management System which encompasses the company’s regulatory compliance, quality and new product introduction systems. Originally trained in chemistry, mathematics and microtechnology Rick has worked at the interface between academic research; science and engineering; and product commercialization for more than 15 years with an emphasis on integrating multi-disciplinary projects in microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, point-of-care diagnostics, medical instruments, wireless sensors and consumer electronics. In a previous role, Rick lead a significant upgrade project to Trajan’s GC Column manufacturing capability including new capital implementation, infrastructure and production process improvements. He has been an active industry supervisor and mentor for four PhD and postdoctoral candidates. Dr Barber is a member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) and the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Hilary is the Global Co-Head of Ashurst’s awarding winning global NewLaw division, Ashurst Advance.
With deep experience spanning law, technology and operations, Hilary specialises in delivering innovative and technology enabled legal solutions for clients and is key driver of Ashurst’s NewLaw transformation.
As a former GC and General Manager, Hilary brings a unique perspective and strong sense of commerciality to her work. She is strongly execution focussed and is trusted by clients to lead and deliver complex change programs.
Hilary was the 2019 recipient of the highly coveted Chief Executive Women’s Harvard Business School Disruptive Innovation Scholarship and was named “Innovator of the Year” at the Lawyer’s Weekly Partner of the Year Awards. Hilary is an Advisory Board Member of the Centre for Legal Innovation and is frequently sought after for her views on the changing legal market and the impact of technology on the delivery of legal services.
Scott works for Google as the Global Head of Innovation for Customer Engineering. Prior to this he worked with Adobe across APAC on digital strategy and digital transformation. He's worked for Telstra and Sensis in digital transformation and for 4 years he held the role of CTO in an Australian startup focused on personalised video media for mobiles. Scott has a background Computer Science specialising in Data Analytics, AI and Machine Learning.
A seasoned business executive with more than 20 years of global leadership experience. Miles has a strong board, general management and commercial background, with a consistent record of accelerating growth and building high-performing businesses across diverse cultures throughout Australia and Asia. He has a wealth of experience in general management, sales strategy and execution, business planning, supply chain, customer management and sales force optimisation.
After returning to Sydney in early 2019, but before starting with Red Bull Miles worked for Diageo as the sales & commercial head for Asia. Prior to that he lived and worked in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore for over a decade, most recently as Managing Director Asia and executive board member for the world’s largest hospitality distribution company, American Hotel Register. Prior to that he spent 12 years with Coca-Cola including VP global commercial leadership, GM Asia – Commercial and head of the McDonald’s APMEA partnership.
Born in the UK, Miles holds a degree from the University of New South Wales and an executive MBA from INSEAD University in Singapore.
He was co-chair of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) Asia, McDonald’s Supplier Advisory board member and American hotel Register executive board member
Mr Barlow was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company in April 2014 having previously been the Managing Director of Pitt Capital Partners Limited for five years. Mr Barlow has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and investing and has been responsible for a number of WHSP’s investments since joining the WHSP Group in 2004. His career has spanned positions in law and investment banking in Sydney and Hong Kong. Mr Barlow has a Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Technology, Sydney. Mr Barlow is a member of the Risk Committee.
Robert Spurway joined GrainCorp as Managing Director & CEO in March 2020. He was previously Chief Operating Officer, Global Operations for Fonterra Co-operative Group in New Zealand. Prior to this, Mr Spurway held operational roles with Fonterra including General Manager South Island Operations and Acting Director Operations & Logistics.
Mr Spurway has extensive leadership and operations experience across the food & agribusiness sector and has held executive and senior operational roles across Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Spurway held CEO positions in Australia between 2008 and 2011 at Mrs Crocket’s Kitchen and Salad Fresh, in the prepared salads industry.
Mr Spurway has recently held the roles of Chairman of Kotahi Ltd, Deputy Chairman of Prolesur S.A in Chile and Director of DFE Pharma GmbH & Co.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical and Materials) from the University of Auckland; is a Graduate of the INSEAD AVIRA Executive programme; and is a Member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand.
Robert is married to Kylie and has three daughters.
Virginia is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of MinterEllison. She is a market-leading practitioner in the property, development and infrastructure markets acting for both government and private clients.
Virginia deals in complex large-scale real estate transactions spanning the development, sale, purchase and leasing of commercial, industrial, residential and retail developments and infrastructure assets. Virginia is passionate about the property industry and is heavily involved in the Property Council of Australia (PCA) including as a member of the PCA's National Board. Virginia is also a Board member of Committee for Sydney and chair of its Knowledge Economy Taskforce.
In addition to her industry leadership, Virginia also holds multiple leadership roles within MinterEllison including on the firm's Diversity and Innovation Committees.
Virginia’s expertise is widely recognised within the legal community being ranking in several peer directories including a band 1 ranking in Chambers Asia Pacific, recognition in Doyles Guide as 'Preeminent' and is listed in Best Lawyers.
Damian was appointed President and CEO of The HOYTS Group in January 2014, with responsibility for HOYTS Entertainment and Val Morgan Advertising. The HOYTS Group owns and operates 55 cinemas throughout Australia and New Zealand with 500 screens.
As part of the Chinese owned Wanda Group, Damian has overseen a dramatic re-investment program in the HOYTS cinema circuit. More than 80% of the circuit has been upgraded to powered recliner seats in every cinema. In the process HOYTS has grown market share and been recognized as the leader in cinema innovation in Australia. He has also overseen the rebranding and redesign of their premium cinema offering to HOYTS LUX.
Previously Damian was CEO at Val Morgan from 2011 to 2014 and worked in media and marketing roles with Multi Channel Network and the Seven Network.
Damian currently serves on the National Association of Cinema Operators Board (NACO) and Creative Content Australia Board, Australia’s peak anti-piracy body.
He was Chairman of the Cronulla Sharks NRL team from 2013 – 2017, including the clubs first and only premiership in 2016. He has also served on the Basketball Australia Board.
A former professional sportsman, he enjoyed a distinguished basketball career in the NBL and represented Australia on over 200 occasions in basketball including three Olympic campaigns.
He is married to former Olympic Basketballer Maree White and has four children.
Christy joined the LiveHire Board in September 2017 with a strong interest in the LiveHire platform and transformational business model that changes the way people find meaningful work.
Christy brings more than 20 years of experience in leading high-growth talent and technology businesses. As the Global Head of Member Services and the first woman on CEB’s Executive Committee, she developed a passion for delivering and scaling high quality customer experiences worldwide. As the MD APAC for CEB, she pioneered new markets, products and processes, consistently delivering the highest regional growth for the company.
Best known for balancing the drive for performance with collaboration and humanity in the workplace, Christy’s greatest passion is animating a sense of purpose for teams and organisations.
Christy completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia, an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Director’s. In her spare time, Christy is an avid yogi, wife, and mum of two.
Dave is Brennan IT's founder, Chairman, & Managing Director. Dave’s dedication to the mid and enterprise markets, and his deep understanding of the issues shaping these sectors, have been instrumental to the company's growth and success.
Tony Lombardo has more than 25 years’ experience working across real estate development, investment management, finance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and strategy in Australia and internationally.
Tony joined Lendlease in 2007 as Group Head of Strategy and M&A where he led a number of initiatives including refocusing the Group's overall business strategy. In 2011, he was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer and played a key role in enhancing the flexibility of the Group’s capital structure via a stapled structure as well as significantly broadening its funding and banking relationships. He also implemented a range of people focused initiatives including creation of the Young Indigenous Pathways program, which provides mentoring opportunities for young Indigenous students.
In 2016, Tony was appointed Chief Executive Officer Asia based in Singapore. As part of resetting Lendlease Asia’s growth strategy, Tony spearheaded a number of major initiatives to drive future growth. Recent successes include the completion of Singapore’s S$3.7 billion Paya Lebar Quarter mixed-use development, establishment of a US$1 billion data centres joint venture with a large institutional investor and the successful listing of S$1 billion global LREIT on the Singapore Exchange.
Prior to joining Lendlease, Tony spent almost 10 years at GE with responsibilities across a number of functional disciplines including strategy, M&A and finance for both GE Capital and GE Corporate. Tony commenced his career at KPMG where he worked for more than four years.
Tony holds a degree in Accounting and Finance from RMIT University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
Since joining Charter Hall in 2004, David has overseen the company’s growth from $500 million to $55.3 billion of assets under management in 16 years; the highest return of any listed real-estate company in Australia during this period.
David’s ability to look beyond the traditional approach to property has resulted in longer leasing terms that provide greater security while keeping Charter Hall customers at the low end of the risk profile.
With over 33 years’ property market experience, David remains driven to achieve excellence and create a positive effect – giving back to the communities that Charter Hall operates in; protecting and growing the retirement savings of those invested either directly or indirectly in the company. Ensuring every one of Charter Hall’s stakeholders benefits through the firm’s integrity, discipline and ability to add more value.
As CEO, Andrew is ultimately responsible for the strategy, culture and operations of KPMG Australia and leads the principal executive body of the firm, the National Executive Committee (NEC). He is also a member of the KPMG Australia Board.
Andrew is committed to KPMG Australia being purpose led and creating a culture based on energy, aspiration and inclusion. In Andrew's words, KPMG "protects, transforms and grows society and people's lives". His personal motivation is to lead KPMG to create broad opportunities for its people and deliver quality, meaningful service to its clients.
Prior to Andrew's role as CEO, he was the National Managing Partner of Audit, Assurance & Risk Consulting. In this role, he had oversight of the firm's audit and risk consulting practices and represented the fir m at the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into the Regulation of Auditing in Australia.
After growing up in Canberra and attending ANU, Andrew joined KPMG's audit practice in 1990 . During his time with the firm, Andrew worked for 3 years serving HSBC in our Hong Kong practice during the 1990s, and worked for Citigroup in our New York office in 2008 and 2009. He has led some of the largest client relationships in Australia, including ANZ, IAG, Qantas, Sydney Airport, Perpetual Limited, Link Market Services and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Andrew is married with two children.
Andrew joined Platinum as a founding member in 1994 in the capacity of director and Deputy Chief Investment Officer. Previously he was a Vice President of Bankers Trust Australia covering Asian equities and managing the BT Select Market Trust - Pacific Basin Fund. In May 2013 Andrew was appointed Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Andrew was the portfolio manager for the Platinum Asia Fund until December 2014 and is co-manager of the Platinum International Fund. In July 2018 Andrew was appointed CEO (General Manager) of the Platinum Group. Andrew assumes this role in addition to his CIO role and portfolio management responsibility for the flagship fund, the Platinum International Fund and other global equity funds and mandates.
Aimee Buchanan has been CEO of OMD since 2016 and sits on both the MFA and UnLtd boards. Her career spans more than 20 years in media agencies. In her time at OMD, the agency has grown to become the largest media agency in Australia and Buchanan has been a leading voice shaping the Australian media landscape and driving progress around brand responsibility and diversity & inclusion.
Under her leadership OMD has been recognised across the industry’s top agency and culture awards. Some of those accolades include AdNews and B&T Media Agency of the Year 2020, B&T People & Culture and Women in Media Employer 2020 and Mumbrella Agency of the Decade in 2020. OMD has also been ranked in the Great Places to Work Top 50 for 12 consecutive years (2009-2020).
She has previously been named B&T Executive of the Year 2019, B&T Women in Media – Woman of Year & Executive of the Year 2019 and Campaign Asia CEO of the Year 2018, as well as topping the Women in Media Power list.
Aidan Williams is co-founder and CEO of Audinate. While at the National ICT Australia (NICTA), he was the driving force behind the Digital Audio Networking project that developed the fundamental audio networking technology behind Dante. Prior to joining NICTA, Aidan was at Motorola Labs in Sydney where he worked on advanced networking technologies including zero-configuration IP networking, IPv6, reliable multicast, mobile adhoc networking and residential gateways. He is an inventor on twenty patents related to IP networking.
Aidan participates in several standards bodies and industry alliances, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). In the IETF he has authored IETF documents on zero-configuration networking and the interaction between the IETF Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), time synchronisation and QoS services. Before embarking on an R&D career, Aidan developed extensive skills in networking, security, operating systems, and software development through several years of hands-on experience managing large networks, mission-critical systems and network security for a large university campus. Aidan has a BSc in Computer Science, and a BEng (Hons I) in Electrical Engineering, both from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia.
Grant Blackley has enjoyed a distinguished career with more than 30 years experience in the media and entertainment sectors. Grant joined the Board in June 2015 as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director and is responsible for leading the strategic and operational performance of the company. Grant is the Chairman of Commercial Radio Australia and a director of the Australian Association of National Advertisers. He has in the past served as a director of Free TV Australia. He has served in numerous senior leadership roles including at the TEN Network, as CEO from 2005 to 2010. Prior to becoming CEO, Grant held key roles in network sales, digital media and multi-channel program development as well as being responsible for group strategy, acquisitions and executive leadership and development.
Mike has enjoyed a diverse career working across the Insurance, Consulting, and IT Industries in Australia, the UK and South Africa. Prior to joining AUB Group, Mike was the Group CEO for Cover-More, previously an ASX-listed global travel insurer and now part of the Zurich Group. Mike previously held senior roles in Australia at QBE as Group Executive, Operations, and EY leading the Financial Services Advisory business.
Before moving to Australia, Mike spent several years working in London, including at IBM, leading the Insurance and Banking consulting teams and at Morse plc (Application Services) as Managing Director. Mike’s earlier career in South Africa included senior roles in Consulting at IBM, Accenture and PwC.
Mike also holds a position as Non-Executive Director of the Gold Coast Suns FC. Mike is a Chartered Accountant (SA).
Mark is an internationally experienced C Level Executive with 19 years experience. Mark has held Executive leadership roles with MNCs, turnarounds and start-ups and has worked around the world including Australia, South Africa, China, UK, and USA. Mark thrives on changing and high growth businesses.
As Talent’s Global CEO, Mark is responsible for revenue, growth and operations across the globe. Mark was promoted into the role in 2020, having previously acted as Talent’s APAC CEO.
Mark holds overall responsibility for managing Talent’s global business, including the company’s ongoing digital transformation, entry into new markets, risk management and managing the global group function. He is also a board member of Talent's charitable foundation Talent Rise, and sits on the boards of Talent International Holdings, Talent UK, Talent USA and Talent's IT consulting business Avec.
Paul brings several decades of experience and a distinguished international reputation for transforming and leading businesses in the IT and Telecommunications sector. Born and raised in Australia, Paul was most recently the Chief Customer Officer of NBN co building their enterprise, business and government segments from near infancy. As well as holding senior roles in Telstra including Group Managing Director of both Telstra Business and Telstra International Paul had a long career with Nokia holding executive roles in various countries across Australia, Europe and Asia, most recently based in Singapore as the President of Nokia in the Asia Pacific region.
An experienced public company director (ASX and NYSE), Paul graduated with an Executive MBA from UCD – National University of Ireland; a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering – University of New South Wales and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Ingrid is the Chief Risk Officer Region Australia and New Zealand and joined Rabobank in December 2020. Ingrid is responsible for the overall management of Risk across Australia and New Zealand, which includes the creation and oversight of Risk Management Frameworks, Board Reporting, Regulatory Management and Risk Culture, also ensuring the risk culture and appetite is maintained, well understood and aligned to Rabobank’s overall strategy. Prior to this Ingrid worked at CBA where she held the role of Chief Controls Officer, Private and Business Banking, working from within the business to drive culture change following the 2018 APRA and Banking Royal Commission reports. Ingrid has worked for a number of top-tier financial institutions including, previous to CBA, senior risk, transformation and technology roles at HSBC (20 years) including Chief Risk Officer for HSBC in Singapore. Ingrid has a passion for problem-solving and identifying and strategically mitigating emerging risks, and supporting and mentoring high performing teams. Ingrid holds an MBA from Henley Management College with a dissertation focussed on culture and change.
The SUNCORP Group is a top 20 ASX-listed company that has $97 billion in assets, employs over 13,000 people and serves 9 million customers.
Mim leads the Group’s marketing function, with a team of 120 across Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne. She is responsible for setting the overall brand strategy and the end to end marketing program for 9 brands including Suncorp, AAMI, GIO, APIA and Shannons. This includes brand strategy and positioning, digital and programmatic marketing, marketing automation, social and content, sponsorship, 1:1 customer lifecycle management, master media management, and strategic partnerships.
Mim also sits on the Board of Trustees for StVincents Clinic Foundation, is an Advisory Board Member of ADMA, and Advisory Board Member of Wheelchair Rugby Australia.
Prior to Suncorp Mim was a highly awarded agency leader, with a Proven track record in growing clients business both globally and locally, with vast category experience including Financial Services, FMCG, Automotive, Pharmaceutical and Retail.
Janna Robertson is the Chief Operating Officer of MA Financial Group.
Janna has over 20 years’ experience in financial services and has held roles at Deloitte and KordaMentha where she was focused on advising clients in relation to financial and operational restructuring and transformation, and performance improvement.
Janna is an alumnus of the University of Technology Sydney, a chartered accountant and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Peter is a strategic and influential “C” level senior Finance Executive and Director. He brings with him significant experience in the listed energy infrastructure sector combined with a range of experience in the financial services and investment banking sector across Australasia, Asia and the Pacific Rim.
He is currently the CFO at Oil Search and was most recently the CFO for APA Group. Peter has built a reputation as a trusted advisor to the CEO, Board and investors in all things relating to finance, equity and debt capital markets, investor relations, strategic business development and growth and mergers and acquisitions. He has sat on the Boards of a number of JV companies providing strategic leadership, direction and development of strategic & financial objectives.
As a finance leader Peter prides himself on being a champion of transparency. He embraces the importance of having the hard conversations and always provides relevant and meaningful insights and information to enable the best business decisions to be made.
Louise is the Chief Risk Officer at Ingham's Group Limited, the ASX-listed vertically integrated poultry company. Louise has nearly 20 years of blue chip corporate experience in risk, governance, investor relations, investment banking and legal roles - at Origin Energy Limited, BHP Billiton plc, UBS Investment Bank AG and Herbert Smith Freehills.
CROLouise is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and has completed the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. Louise has double degrees from the University of Sydney in Law (Honours)/Science (Honours in Geology).
Margot Wilson is the COO of Hannover Life Re of Australasia - one of the biggest reinsurer groups of the world.
Senior Executive Leader with over 23 years of experience leading national and international teams spanning customer service, operations, IT and transformational business and regulatory change. Passionate about shaping and driving strategy, delivering sustainable business outcomes for customers and shareholders and leading empowered and collaborative teams.
A strategic Banking and Financial Services CFO whose signature strength is delivering shareholder value through building high-performing teams, and close partnering with Senior Executives and Board of Directors.
With over 20+ years of Banking and Financial Services experience across the full suite of banking products including Retail, SME, Corporate and Institutional Banking, including specialised functions such as M&A and Treasury. Most recent experience includes CFO roles within highly innovative organisations disrupting traditional banking and financial services models, namely the digital challenger bank, and buy-now-pay-later (B2C and B2B) payments platform space.
Matt Williams is Managing Director, Marketing and Revenue. He joined Optus in April 2019 and leads the core products that serve Optus’s consumer customers.
A highly experienced executive with over 20 years’ experience in telecoms and technology in markets around the world. Matt joined Optus from Vodafone where he was part of the global leadership team and held roles spanning strategy, marketing and commercial management. He has led country business units in Vodafone operating companies, and held leadership roles in the Group’s global headquarters. He most recently led the Consumer Business for Vodafone in New Zealand, and prior to that was the Group Commercial Director leading marketing, product and commercial initiatives across the world-wide business. Earlier in his career Matt worked in strategy consulting and investment banking. Matt has also held a number of board director roles.
Matt has lived and worked in cities around the world. He has an MBA with Distinction from London Business School, where he also led the Student Association and was a member of the school’s Governing Board. Earlier, Matt completed a Master of Arts with First Class Honours at the University of Auckland.
Matt is passionate about the essential role that digital connectivity plays in our modern lives, and is focused on delivering great customer experiences and digital innovation.
Matt has recently moved to Sydney with his wife, Lucy, and three children.
James Georgeson, Chief Financial Officer James was appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in February 2020 after previously holding the position of Acting CFO from August 2019. James’ portfolio is also responsible for strategic partnerships and delivering AMP’s technology strategy, which includes data architecture, governance frameworks and cyber security strategy for the group. Prior to this, he was Deputy CFO of AMP, with responsibility for AMP’s group performance reporting, strategic planning and forecasting, portfolio and capital management and AMP’s mergers and acquisitions functions. James was appointed to the AMP Capital Holdings Limited Board in September 2020. Experience Since joining AMP in 2001, James has held senior finance positions across the group including Chief Financial Officer, AMP wealth management; Director of Group Finance, Chief Financial Officer, AMP New Zealand; Chief Risk Officer and Director of Strategy (AMP New Zealand). Most recently James held the office for Acting CEO whilst the start date for incumbent Alexis George was due. James holds a Master of Commerce from Macquarie University, Bachelor of Accounting from University of Technology Sydney, and is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand.
Doug is the New South Wales Chairman and Head of Asia & International Markets for KPMG. As Chairman, he leads more than 285 partners and approx. 4,500 employees in six office locations across NSW to drive growth and enhance connectivity and culture. He was appointed to this leadership role in March 2019.
Doug commenced his professional career as a graduate with KPMG in Financial Services Audit in the late 1990s before relocating offshore for more than a decade with KPMG in China in the Deals Advisory business. Doug returned in 2012 to lead the Asia & International markets team serving inbound clients from Japan, China, India, South Korea, Indonesia and the Middle East. He continues to lead this Industry team and is a member of the Clients & Markets Executive.
Outside of KPMG, Doug serves on the boards of Reconciliation Australia and Advance.org as well as the Advisory Councils for Asia Society, the BCA’s International Engagement Committee, UNSW CIBEL Law and he is a Trustee of CEDA. He is the Chairman Emeritus of Asia Society Australia, a Business Champion of the New Colombo Plan and Adjunct Professor for the University of Sydney’s Business School.
With his background studying and working in Asia and with an Asian-Australian family, Doug is a passionate supporter of cultural diversity and inclusion and Australia’s continuing engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.
Doug’s other great interest is agribusiness, fuelled by his family’s cattle grazing business in Central West NSW.
Jo is a growth focused and customer orientated C-Suite executive with over 35 years' experience in banking, business and technology, including as CEO. Across a diverse career in public, private and PE-backed companies she has developed a track record of innovating and successfully leading people through structural, technology, social and regulatory change.
She is the Senior Vice President (Operations) at Cyble Inc, an AI cyber threat intelligence company. She is responsible for leading the global operations teams connecting software, cloud and platform, engineering, IT, cybersecurity, research, service delivery, sales, facilities, workplace resources and related operational units. She is a key influencer in the APEA market for Cyble while also being responsible for scaling two wholly owned businesses - The Cyber Express, and Am I Breached.
Her current Board directorships include:
● NED and Chair of the Audit Committee at Avenue Bank, a digital bank that provides better banking
solutions for Australian businesses, starting with disrupting the bank guarantee market.
● NED and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee at Acumentis (ASX:ACU), a listed property valuation and
advisory firm.
Jo passionately advocates for customer-design-thinking, disruptive innovation, leadership, culture and
inclusion.
Carla was Head of Sydney International Terminal at Qantas, and Employment and Industrial Relations Lawyer at Ashurst. Carla Purcell joined Yarra Trams in 2018.
Carla Purcell is currently Chief Operations Officer at Yarra Trams.
Von is the Head of Development & Delivery at Ingenia Communities Group, is an S&P/ASX 200 entity with a market capitalisation of over $2.2 billion and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the stock market trading code ‘INA’.
This follows more than 10 years in the Property and Construction industry where she has been involved in all aspects of development with the delivery of several of Victoria's landmark buildings.
Brooke Miller serves as VP of Castrol Asia Pacific.
Before this, Brooke was BP’s VP Sales & Marketing Australia, leading the company’s retail business in a highly competitive fuels market. Brooke was focused on delivering a high quality, differentiated offer at 1,400 BP-branded sites and successful partnerships with some of Australia’s largest commercial customers.
Prior to her role as VP at BP, in April 2016, Brooke was BP’s CFO Fuels AsPac. Over four years, she brought focus and rigour to the financial performance and strategy of the business during a time of significant change.
Brooke first joined BP after receiving an MBA from Melbourne Business School. Brooke has held roles including: General Manager for Elite Customer Solutions, a team of 500 employees providing finance, sales and marketing, and logistics services; Regional Director for BP Solar Australasia, involving the deployment of the solar photovoltaics in the Asia Pacific; and General Manager of BP Bitumen Australia, a national manufacturing and sales operation.
Brooke's career started in landscape architecture and town planning, and she holds a Bachelor of Planning & Design and a Master of Landscape Architecture. For nearly 10 years, she helped to design and construct commercial-scale projects.
Dionne is a tenacious, results-orientated, and commercially-driven individual with an extensive background in executive roles (commercial, operational and people) primarily in industries grappling with digital disruption and shifting consumer behaviours. She possesses a wealth of experience in guiding organisations through crises and orchestrating large-scale strategic business transformations.
Prior to joining KordaMentha, Dionne was COO and Interim Vice Chancellor at RMIT University and COO International at FTSE 100 listed Pearson, residing in Hong Kong and managing operations in APAC, EMEA and South America. She has held key executive roles in media (Financial Times), publishing (Penguin Books) and education (Pearson) during periods of significant financial challenge and has contributed to driving new revenue streams and products, whilst reshaping the cost base, to respond to a new reality.
Dionne is a natural collaborator and design thinker; she enjoys working with executive teams to drive sustained performance and a positive and inclusive culture even in high-pressure situations and complex environments.
As Head of Marketing, Vanguard Australia, Louise lead a team of marketing specialists across Brand Strategy, Performance Marketing, Insights and Analytics, Content and Creative and Go To Market.
Developing and executing enterprise wide global marketing strategies to live their brand purpose taking a stand for all investors.
Operating at the Executive Committee and Board of Director level she have delivered multi geography marketing strategy to transform businesses and drive organisational change.
Delivering results across complex organisational structures and in the changing digital context of marketing strategy, customer segmentation, global brand communications, proposition and planning, social and digital, sponsorship strategy and brand design.
Louise is an experienced Board Director across ownership structures of mutual, not for profit and and listed public entities with a Bachelor of Business (Marketing), M.B.A. (Exec - AGSM) and GAICD (Australian Company Directors).
Nigel Gilligan is the COO at Trajan Scientific and Medical. He provides operational leadership across Trajan’s business. His responsibilities include global operational, manufacturing, production engineering and supply chain operations. Nigel has 20 years of leadership experience in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and scientific instruments. Prior to joining Trajan, Nigel was Europe General Manager & Director of Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Regional Operations at Pfizer Inc. and APAC Head, Supply Chain at Mayne Pharma. Nigel holds a Bachelor of Science – Chemistry (Honours) from Monash University and a Diploma in Education from Melbourne University.
Nadine is the Chief Executive Infrastructure & Culture at HIA - the official body of Australia's home building industry. She is a highly regarded Senior Executive known for setting the business agenda, delivering significant customer outcomes, partnering across complex business and regulatory structures and leading global business transformation with inspired and highly engaged teams. Signature delivery in: Significant business leadership expertise ($100m+ P&L, 800+ FTE, 8 campuses globally) with a track record for turn-around and exceptional performance; Customer advocacy achieved through leading product design and outperformance in quality and service delivery; Design thinking across global operating models and building corporate governance for mission critical businesses; Partnership with diverse businesses, regulators and industry stakeholders; Commercial integration of new businesses from external acquisitions and regional consolidation; Development and deployment of robotics and AI technologies across core businesses.
Reena is an action oriented leader with a strong track record of performance within complex global organisations. Commercially minded, innovative and highly successful in establishing global and cross functional partnerships to deliver exceptional value and drive commercial outcomes. Her passion is developing an agile finance function to drive commercial excellence and deliver value through key insights, analytics and stakeholder management.
Reena have a passion for learning and thrive on challenges. Successful overseas secondments, large scale transition projects and self-funded Global Executive MBA with Monash Business School are the strategic investments she have made towards her professional growth.
She is also passionate about diversity and inclusion particularly helping migrants develop the skills and confidence to establish foothold or achieve desired growth. Of equal importance is education of girls in under privileged countries. Hobbies are travel and books.
Reena was Chief Financial Officer at Cann Group, and Finance Leader, APAC at Honeywell. Reena Dahiya joined Leidos in 2020.
Reena Dahiya is currently Vice President, Finance at Leidos Australia.
Cynthia Chung is an MBA qualified Commercial leader who is successful in leading change and transformation in established and greenfield environments. She have a track record of building effective high performing teams and driving strategic and commercial outcomes across functional teams. She is driven, collaborative and build strong relationships quickly, and have an ability to resolve conflict and negotiate on complex supplier management issues using creative problem solving and analytical skills. Cynthia have worked in diverse industries and led global and multi-national teams in Consulting, Technology, Automotive, FMCG, and Retail.
Doug Hutchinson is the Chief Operating Office of The Barry Plant Group.
He has an ambitious vision to deliver better outcomes for Barry Plant customers, franchisees, agents and the whole real estate industry whether that’s doing things better, faster, more efficiently or cost effectively. He loves the challenge and satisfaction that comes from breaking that vision down into the small steps and projects that need to be completed in sequence, on time and on budget and then watching as that all clicks into place and the vision becomes a reality. Doug also loves doing that collaboratively with technology and business partners that share his vision for a better future for Barry Plant agents, customers and the industry. People remain at the heart of that vision and that will never change but the technology strategy he has adopted is enabling Barry Plant to change the way they do things so they can deliver even better customer service and outcomes.
Doug also has a thirst for the knowledge and insights that can be gained from analysing big data that can be shared with and understood by Barry Plant agents and customers.
Whether developing a new technology initiative, commercial partnership, financial planning or business strategy he applies the same disciplines and derive the same satisfaction from the process and the outcome.
He is a Certified Practicing Accountant with a lot of experience in budgeting and financial compliance and this skill is well utilised in his current role, but his passion is technology – more specifically PropTech (property technology). As the Chief Operating Officer of the real estate franchise, Barry Plant, he has been able to see the potential PropTech has in the real estate business and works to ensure Barry Plant leads the industry in the implementation of this technology to improve their processes, their profitability and their client experiences. In this role he has worked with software developers who are on the cutting edge of this technology and have been able to suggest practical enhancements that benefit the whole industry.
Bryan Pyne is the COO at St John of God Health Care - one of the largest Catholic provider of health care services in Australia.
Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. A Recipient of the 2010 40 under 40 Award (WA) and a Board member / Chair of the Finance Committee of Newman College. He was appointed last August 2018 as a Chief Operating Officer Hospitals.
Caron Beaton-Wells was appointed the Dean, Internal of the Melbourne Business School in 2020. She is also a Professorial Fellow of the Melbourne Law School and a lay member of the Australian Competition Tribunal. In her role as Dean, Internal Caron leads the School’s Executive Leadership Team across the functions of teaching and learning in all degree and executive education programs, research, marketing, alumni engagement, people and culture and corporate services.
Caron was previously a Professor in Competition Law at the Melbourne Law School (2002-2020), where she held the positions as Associate Dean (Melbourne Law Masters) and Associate Dean (Undergraduate). She was also founding Director of the Competition Law & Economics Network and Global Competition and Consumer Law Program, the Law School’s first wholly online program.
Caron’s research and teaching lies at the intersection of law, economics and business disciplines as they relate to competition in markets. Her research projects have focussed on the role of data and analytics in market structures and dynamics, competition and fairness in concentrated markets, criminal sanctions for cartel conduct, private enforcement of competition law, and the interface between competition and consumer law.
She has been awarded substantial research funding and published extensively, contributing to the intellectual and public discourse around the world on significant competition law-related issues, including as host of the popular podcast, Competition Lore. Caron is a member of national and international editorial and advisory boards, has consulted to the OECD, ASEAN, and the New Zealand Government, is a non-governmental advisor to the International Competition Network, the Law School's representative on UNCTAD's Research Partnership Platform, and a member of the Law Council of Australia's competition and consumer and small business committees.
Formerly a solicitor at (now) King & Wood Mallesons and a member of the Victorian Bar, practising in commercial and government law, Caron was the 2019 recipient of the Academic of the Year (Women in Law) Award.
Caron is a member of Chief Executive Women, Australia's peak organisation for influencing and engaging all levels of business and government to achieve gender balance and equity.
Tony Nash was involved in the establishment of Booktopia while working in his family’s company as a sideline to the core internet marketing consulting business, Globalise Pty Ltd, which was established in 2001. Tony has been instrumental in growing Booktopia and formulating its business strategy throughout that time. Since 2007 Tony has held the role of Chief Executive Officer.
Tony received a series of business awards and is an industry-recognised leader in the book retail and online retailing industry in Australia. In 2018 he won the Industry Recognition Award at the Online Retailer Industry Awards. He was listed in Who’s Who of Australia in 2019.
Prior to Booktopia, in 1996 Tony established Best People International (an internet recruitment agency), having previously worked as a recruiter. Best People grew to employ more than 35 people. It was ultimately sold to Volante Group Limited, which was ASX listed at the time of the sale.
Tony studied computer programming at Control Data Institute and worked as a programmer at Cockatoo Dockyards in the mid-eighties. He then sold computers for a short period before travelling around the world for 3 years. He became a recruiter for the computing industry whilst living in London.
Tony is a Life Member of the Wilderness Society, the RSPCA (NSW) and the Australian Republican Movement.
Ms Jack was appointed as Managing Director of HCF in September 2017, having held the position of Chief Executive Officer since August 2017. She was appointed as a Director of HCF Life in August 2017, a Director of the Corporate Trustee of the HCF Research Foundation in September 2017 and appointed to the Board of Manchester Unity in November 2017. Ms Jack also joined the Board of Flip Insurance Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of HCF Life Insurance Company Pty Ltd) in April 2021.
As Chief Financial Officer at HCF from 2006, Ms Jack led the acquisition and successful integration of Manchester Unity. In 2014, she was appointed Chief Strategy Officer and was responsible for the development of HCF's 2020 Strategy, a five-year strategic roadmap and vision for the business. Focussed on driving innovation, she established HCF Catalyst, Australia's first corporate-backed health technology accelerator.
As Managing Director, Ms Jack has introduced a new business line in Overseas Visitors Health Cover, launched a new loyalty program HCF Thank You, driven increased focus on our member experience and delivered the largest program of work in HCF’s history, a systems transformation project which will enable us to transform HCF’s way of doing business.
Ms Jack has more than 30 years' experience as a corporate executive across various industries and extensive experience across business transformation including the creation of Clearview and later its integration with MBF.
Ms Jack is also a Director of Private Healthcare Australia and the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals, and is a member of Chief Executive Women.
An experienced senior marketing executive with a strength for building and leading high performance teams and consistently delivering results within challenging environments. A confident and effective communicator with an ability to set strategy, articulate vision and execute through engaging people at every level of an organisation. A creative and customer oriented individual who loves collaboration and who is constantly striving to do things better.
Mr Reini Otter is responsible for Frasers Property Industrial. He oversees the Group’s logistics and industrial operations in Australia and Europe, and Frasers Logistics & Industrial Asset Management Pte. Ltd., the manager of Singapore-listed Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust.
Mr Otter joined the Group’s Australian operations in 1998 and has held senior leadership positions within the Commercial & Industrial business in Australia for over 15 years. In his previous role with Frasers Property Australia as Executive General Manager of its Commercial & Industrial and Investment Property division, he was responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of all Australian industrial development and investment property operations in Australia. In addition, Mr Otter was a member of the Frasers Property Europe Investment Committee.
Mr Otter holds a Bachelor of Science (Architecture) and Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Sydney. He is also a graduate from the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD Business School, Europe.
Rolf Weber co-founded Marley Spoon Australia in 2015 at the cusp of the meal kit delivery trend, with a clear vision of delivering more choice, convenience and superior logistics than previously available to consumers in Australia. Rolf is an entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in e commerce, SMEs and retail, having built one of Australia’s most popular private online shopping clubs, brandsExclusive, into an award-winning business, including accolades such as Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and BRW Fast 100.
A visionary leader who believes in “encouraging the heart,” Rachel is CEO of Opal Healthcare. Opal Healthcare is a top tier operator in the aged care sector with 80 care communities across Australia, and a development pipeline which includes 17 care communities and 24 wellness centres. Recognising quality residential aged care as an essential service in a country with an ageing population, Opal HealthCare’s purpose is “to bring joy to those we care for.” Rachel joined Opal HealthCare after a 20 year career in hotels, including as CEO of TFE Hotels whose brands include Adina Apartment Hotels, Rendezvous, Vibe, and Collection Hotels.
With over 25 years’ international experience at executive management level in the hospitality and now healthcare sectors, Rachel has a passion for creating organisations that are customer-centric and innovative. This is backed by a driving belief that the success of businesses depends on the quality of the people they employ.
Rachel’s success to date has been recognized by various industry and business awards including being a former winner of the Australian Hotelier of the Year, Telstra National Corporate Business Woman of the Year, and being awarded the Prestigious Fellow of the International Centre for Excellence Award. Rachel is the former chair of the Australian International Hotel School Industry Advisory Council, OzHarvest, and the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School.
Rachel holds an MBA in Service Industry Management and is a member of Chief Executive Women.
Born in England and raised in South Africa, Rachel (together with her husband and three children) now calls Australia home.
Liz was appointed Country President, AstraZeneca Australia and New Zealand in October 2017. She has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has held various senior roles in sales, marketing, market access, corporate affairs and strategic planning.
Liz joined AstraZeneca Australia in a marketing role in 2003 and soon after, Liz was promoted to Market Access and Strategic Planning Director. During her time in the role, Liz established a best practice approach to market access and earned an RVP and ISMO global award in 2005. Liz was an active member of Medicines Australia Strategic Committee during the PBS reform period.
In 2008, Liz was appointed Global Head of Pricing and Market Access, AstraZeneca and was based in London. During her time in the role, Liz successfully delivered a global pricing and reimbursement strategy for new brands and supported early launch markets to achieve reimbursement goals. Liz worked closely with R&D to establish a payer evidence approach to developing brands and drove the Payer Excellence (PEX) program that improved payer capabilities across AstraZeneca. She was also involved in the PBS reform strategic committee in 2008.
Liz was appointed Vice President, Oncology, CNS and Broad Market, AstraZeneca China in 2011. In this role, she led a number of oncology brands as well as the expansion of patient access for Iressa. In 2013, Liz was appointed Country President, AstraZeneca Korea, where she led the successful launch of new products such as Forxiga, Xigduo XR, Symbicort Rapihaler, Lynparza and the fastest ever approval for Tagrisso. Liz championed operational execution through creating strong cross-functional teams, and improved commercial and medical capabilities. Her active involvement in the Korean research-based Pharmaceutical Industry Association delivered the first ever Korean Cancer Care Alliance, an alliance between academia, industry and patient groups focused on improving access to cancer.
Liz has been a member of the Medicines Australia Board since September 2018, and in March 2020 Liz was voted Deputy Chair by the MA Board.
Publicis Groupe is a connected platform and ranks as the world's third largest communications company. It delivers world-class solutions for its clients through the alchemy of creativity, intelligence and technology. The Groupe’s unique position globally is built on data strategy and platforms, dynamic creativity and digital transformation.
In Australasia, the Groupe employs 1,700 people and owns industry-leading creative, media and digital brands including Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Arc, Starcom, Zenithmedia, Publicis Sapient, Digitas, Herd MSL, Spark Foundry, MercerBell, Marcel, Performics, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, Prodigious, Publicis Emil and Publicis Sport & Entertainment.
In his current role, Michael works with clients on their marketing and business transformation journey by bringing together the best of the Publicis Groupe capabilities and talent to help them solve their transformation challenges in fundamentally new ways by connecting creativity, media, technology and consulting.
Over the past 20 years Michael's international agency leadership experience has spanned re-building, re-purposing, starting-up, acquiring and integrating agencies to deliver growth through creativity. He has helped advise clients, grow businesses and shape agency cultures across the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Michael also sits on the Saatchi & Saatchi Global Leadership Team, is a board member of the Advertising Council Australia and the Media Federation of Australia. He is also one of the judges of AFR BOSS magazine’s annual Young Executive of the Year competition.
Mike is the Chief Executive of Waco Kwikform responsible for all operations in Australasia, a position he has held since 1 July 2021, following 11 successful years as CEO of Waco Africa. He started his career as a professional Quantity Surveyor in Cape Town during the 1990s following this Mike started and ran two mid-tier construction and property development companies in South Africa before joining the Waco team in 2011.
Mike holds a BSc (QS) degree from the University of Cape Town and resides in Sydney
David is a highly experienced CEO specialising in the non-bank consumer and commercial finance sectors within Australia and New Zealand. David is currently the CEO and Managing Director of Harmoney Corp Limited (ASX/NZX: “HMY”). Harmoney is Australia and New Zealand’s largest 100% direct personal lender and has originated over $2.1billion in loans since inception. Prior to Harmoney, David led a start-up company providing medical payment options, ultimately securing a major equity stake in the business by an Australian bank in 2018. Prior to this, David served as CEO and CFO of FlexiGroup (ASX: “FXL”), now rebranded “Humm Group”, a diversified financial services company focusing on commercial and consumer finance, including Buy Now Pay Later in Australia and New Zealand. In his near-decade with FlexiGroup, David led large teams in the strategic growth of the business, through both organic growth and M&A of what was a small company to an ASX 200 listed business. Whilst CEO of FlexiGroup, David led the $300+ million acquisition of Fisher & Paykel Finance.
Pip Marlow is Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN. In this role, Pip is responsible for ensuring Salesforce delivers on its values of trust, customer success, innovation and equality for both our customers and our community across ANZ/ASEAN.
Prior to Salesforce, Pip was Chief Executive Officer Customer Marketplace at Suncorp, where she was responsible for driving customer focus into all aspects of Suncorp’s business including strategy, customer care, partnerships and innovative solutions that add value for customers. Prior to joining Suncorp in 2016, Pip was at Microsoft for 21 years where she held a number of roles for them in Australia and the USA. This culminated in her role as the Managing Director of Microsoft Australia for 6 years.
Pip is also a non-executive director of the Rugby Australia (ARU), sits on the Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Board at UTS, is a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW), and is an Executive Ally for Pride Diversity. She is a passionate advocate for flexible and diverse workplaces that empower people. Born and raised in New Zealand, Pip lives in Sydney with her Scottish husband and her two American born daughters, Sophie and Lucy.
Darren Brown is Managing Director for Travelex in Australia and New Zealand, the market leader in foreign currency services to consumers and businesses. Before being named Managing Director in May 2019, Darren was Asia-Pacific Finance Director for Travelex leading the overall corporate finance activities, including financial and management reporting, strategic planning, financial systems, tax and treasury. Darren previously held Executive positions in the United States with Verizon, and in Australia with Thomson Reuters, Fuji Xerox and Travelport. He is currently a Company Director on the Travelex Boards in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand. He was previously a Company Director in Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom.
Darren grew up and was educated in the United States, earning a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and was Founding Father of his Fraternity at the University of South Florida. He achieved CPA qualifications in Texas and is a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He was Chairman of the 2021 CFO Summit, and has volunteered as Deputy Convener of the Finance Committee of The Scots College (2007-2012) and currently with HarbourCare Clean Ups. Darren is passionate about his family, the outdoors, fitness, golfing, and enjoying and supporting Australian products and wines.
Alexandra joined Bendigo Bank in October 2015 as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for Rural Bank. Alexandra is also responsible for the Group’s Partner Engagement, Marketing, Corporate Affairs and Climate Risk.
Before joining the Bank, Alexandra was CEO of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR). FRRR is a charitable foundation which supports the economic prosperity of rural, regional, and remote communities across Australia. Before this, she held the position of CEO of the Birchip Cropping Group for 10 years. The Birchip Cropping Group is a not-for-profit agricultural research organisation based in the Mallee Wimmera region.
Alexandra was previously a member of: the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership, the Board of the Rural Finance Corporation of Victoria and Chair of the CSIRO Agriculture Advisory Council. She continues to be a champion for rural and regional Australia.
Michael Todd is the MD at Hallmark Australia & NZ. He joins the group with more than 30 years of experience in sales, business and general management roles across the globe spanning Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Most recently, Todd worked as general manager of Global Foodservice Customers for Fonterra, a New Zealand-based multinational dairy co-operative responsible for approximately 30% of the world’s dairy exports. He also has experience with a number of consumer goods multinationals including Mondelez, PepsiCo and Amcor Packaging. Todd earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Melbourne. He will be headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
Craig Dower
FAICD, FAIM, MACS
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Craig was appointed Chief Executive Officer of QANTM on 13 January 2020 and appointed to the Board as Managing Director on 1 July 2020. Craig’s professional services career has spanned over 30 years and his recent positions include leadership roles as CEO and Managing Director of Xenith IP Group Limited; CEO of Salmat (ASX:SLM); and President, Asia Pacific and China for Avanade Inc. His experience includes leading and driving organisational change, building high performance teams, technology-based innovation and integrating and managing acquisitions. He also has more than 20 years’ experience working across all of Asia Pacific, including five years based in Singapore.
Craig has served on a number of boards both as an executive and non-executive director.
Barni graduated from Kingston University with a BSc in Social Science and initially worked as a psychiatric nurse before making the transition to working in e-commerce in Media, Telecoms, Health, and Entertainment sectors. Barni joined Paddy Power in 2001 as Director of Marketing for Paddy Power in Europe. He joined Sportsbet as a non-exec 2009, and as an executive in 2011, and served in commercial and marketing roles before becoming CEO in March 2018.
Married with three kids, Barni loves playing and coaching soccer and any other activity that keeps the kilos off.
Tony was named Chief Executive Officer of National Transport Insurance in August 2007, NTI is a joint Venture between Suncorp and IAG.
NTI is Australia's largest Truck, Plant & Machinery and Marine insurer in Australia. NTI is also the largest provider of Roadside assistance for trucks in Australia and has recently purchased Logistic Safety Solutions the leading provider of transport and logistics Chain of Responsibility software as a service.
As Chief Executive Officer, Tony is focused on continuing NTI's innovation and leadership in the industry, winning many industry awards for people engagement, claims service, community support and innovation.
Prior to joining NTI in 2001, Tony held senior roles with Fortis, RACV and GIO over a 30+ year career in the insurance industry. He brings a wealth of experience to the role.
Tony holds a Master of Business Administration and a Masters of Advanced Business Practice also completing Strategic Leadership and Strategic Marketing post graduate studies at the Mt. Eliza Business School.
He also holds the following: Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, Fellow of Australia New Zealand Institute of Insurance, A Certified Insurance Professional, Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Julian Clark serves as the CEO of Lancemore Group - a family owned diversified hospitality company with a core business in hotel management.
He is a husband and father of 3 young kids (8,6,4). Julian is a fan (in no order) of Essendon FC, Australian National Cricket Teams, Wallabies and anything Olympics related - summer or winter.
His various interests include: travel, food & wine, reading (increasingly non-fiction), global affairs, nature, interior design and socialising with friends.
Barry Borzillo is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Intrax Consulting Engineers Pty Ltd.
His qualifications include FIEAust CPEng EngExec, EMBA, GAICD. Barry's experience and expertise include: Previously Chairperson, Independent Non-Executive Director of Ardoch Limited since 2011 - appointed Chairperson 2015-2021. Managing Director of Employment Services Holdings Pty Ltd (09-10), Tenix Solutions Pty Ltd (06-09) and Ericsson Australia (02-06).
Intrax is a Multi-disciplined professional engineering business with 500+ people across Australia, China and Indonesia. We have offices in all major Australian capital cities and service the Volume Housing, Project and Land markets.
David Thomas serves as the CEO at Brandbank Group - one of Australia's largest speciality fashion retailers, comprising of our iconic brands.
Before his appointment at Pental, Charlie McLeish spent over 30 years in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry including 20 years managing major bakeries within Bunge Australia (Goodman Fielder) focusing on Business Turnaround. After 20 years with Bunge Australia, Charlie spent 10 years at George Weston Foods in the position of General Manager of Tip Top Bakeries Victoria where he implemented the business turnaround from negative EBIT of $6M to positive EBIT of $12M within an eight-year period.
Charlie then transferred to the role of Sales Director at Don Smallgoods also part of the George Weston Foods Group for a 4-year period before being recruited by Pental. Charlie McLeish has vast sales, marketing, manufacturing, and logistics experience with proven turnaround capabilities. Charlie was appointed as General Manager of Pental in May 2011, becoming CEO on 1 January 2014.
He has led Pental through challenging circumstances and market conditions, including the rapidly changing COVID 19 pandemic environment. On the 6 April 2020 Pental Limited (Pental, ASX: PTL) announced to the market that it had appointed its Chief Executive Officer Charlie McLeish as Managing Director.
Graeme is an accGraeme Beardsell was appointed to the role of CEO of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand in November 2020. Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand is a $1billion organisation that employs approximately 3000 people across both countries. Fujitsu is approaching 50 years in Australia and is a leading service provider of business, information technology and communications solutions for partners and customers.
Since joining Fujitsu, Graeme has led Fujitsu’s shift from a horizontal, traditional services company to an industry-aligned, digital transformation services organisation. He has set his sights on elevating Fujitsu to become the chosen provider of IT Services, targeting growth to AU$1.5billion revenue in Oceania by FY25.
Graeme joined Fujitsu from Akamai, where he led the business across 15 countries in Asia Pacific for six years. As managing director for Asia Pacific & Japan at Akamai, Graeme grew the business more than three-fold, doubled the customer base and drove strategies for significant regional investment and people development. He was a member of Akamai’s global leadership team and a Board Member of the Akamai Foundation.
Before joining Akamai, Graeme was Vice President & COO, Asia Pacific at Experian for four years. Prior to that, among other achievements, Graeme brought Salesforce.com to seven Asian countries and grew the business ten-fold in four years. He was also at IBM for 15 years, with his last role being a Vice President in IBM Global Services, Asia Pacific.
Graeme holds a Bachelor of Business Management and Economics degree from the Melbourne University of Technology. He has also completed executive management courses at North Western University, Boston University, INSEAD and Harvard Business School, and holds a membership in the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Maree McCabe is the Chief Executive Officer of Dementia Australia and a member of the organisation’s Board. In February 2017, Maree was appointed to the role of Alzheimer’s Australia National CEO and led the unification process from the federation of Alzheimer’s Australia to the unified, national organisation, Dementia Australia, established in October 2017. Within the federation Maree served as CEO Alzheimer’s Australia Vic from October 2010 to August 2016. A recognised leader in the health and aged care sector Maree brings more than twenty years’ experience across the health, mental health and aged care sectors to her current role.
Maree’s career accomplishments include Executive Operations for TLC Aged Care, Director of Clinical Resources at The Melbourne Clinic, and General Manager of Hospitals for St John of God Healthcare and Surveyor for the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards. Maree has a Post Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing, a Master of Business Administration and is a graduate of the Oxford University Leadership Program and of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Maree is a director of Dementia Australia Limited, Dementia Australia Research Foundation (since 2018) and Dementia Australia Research Foundation - Victoria (since 2018). She is a member of the board for the National Ageing Research Institute and a member of the Aged Care Sector Committee which provides advice to the Federal Government on aged care policy development and implementation. Maree is also a member of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare and is on the Executive Committee of the Cognitive Decline Partnership Committee. Internationally Maree represents Dementia Australia as a member of Alzheimer’s Disease International and is a member of the ADI Asia Pacific Regional Committee.
Pat McCafferty was appointed Managing Director of Yarra Valley Water on 1 July 2014.
In a career spanning over 30 years in the water industry, Pat has extensive experience across the water sector and held General Manager roles at Yarra Valley Water from 2001, covering a wide range of strategic leadership positions, including planning, regulation, finance and operations.
He has also worked in the USA water sector and advised the Australian Federal Government as part of the National Water Initiative.
Pat is also Chair of the Water Services Association of Australia (Australia's peak body for major urban water utilities) and the Thriving Communities Partnership (a cross sector collaboration to improve support for vulnerable customers of essential services); a member of the Monash Infrastructure Advisory Council and a member of the Leadership Oversight Committee for the Women in Water Leadership Program (a Water for Victoria initiative).
Melinda is the CEO of Junior Adventures Group.
Before her role at Junior Adventures Group, Melinda was the National CEO of the YMCA in Australia appointed in November 2016, after over 10 years serving the YMCA. Prior to being appointed National CEO, she was Executive Manager, Licensing and Development for YMCA Australia.
Throughout her career, Melinda has had the opportunity to work across many general areas of operational and strategic management including direct business planning, human resource management, financial management and risk management in a national not-for-profit/ community environment.
Melinda serves on several NFP boards and her formal qualifications include a Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology), Graduate Certificate in Management, a Diploma of Social Science and is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Managing Director of the Company’s subsidiary, Australian Investment Company Services Limited (AICS). Member of the Investment Committee.
Mr Freeman became Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director in January 2018 having been Chief Investment Officer since joining the Company in February 2007. Prior to this he was a Partner with Goldman Sachs JBWere where he spent 12 years advising the Investment Companies on their investment and dealing activities. He has a deep knowledge and experience of investments markets and the Company’s approaches, policies and processes. He is also Managing Director of Djerriwarrh Investments Limited, AMCIL Limited and Mirrabooka Investments Limited.
As the CEO for My Room - Children's Cancer Charity Margaret's focus is to build on significant external partnerships and growing the fundraising revenue for our cause.
Margaret is a strategic networker across both the corporate and entertainment industry. She's well known for her skills in connecting the right people at the right time to make things happen. She's social, vibrant and driven to achieve results for all stakeholders she works with. An overachiever who thrives on exceptional results!
She is passionate about making a difference in her charity and community work and as such, has been strategic in supporting My Room Children's Cancer Research for the last 15 years. Margaret is also a member of the Advisory Council for the Multicultural Commission and a Taskforce Member of the Commonwealth Games Bid 2030. She has the backing of many in her network who have made a difference in attracting public support to these wonderful causes.
Christine Kilpatrick has been Chief Executive of the Royal Melbourne Hospital since 2017. Previous appointments include Chief Executive, the Royal Children’s Hospital from 2008 – 2017, Executive Director Medical Services, Melbourne Health and Executive Director Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne Health 2004-2008. Prior to these appointments she was a neurologist, specialising in epilepsy.
Christine is a member of several boards including, WEHI, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, HealthShare Victoria and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC). She was awarded a Centenary medal in 2003, in 2014 was included in the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, in 2017 was a recipient of the Inaugural Distinguished Fellow’s Award, Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, in 2018 inducted in the top 50 Public Sector Women and in 2019 appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.
Chris Campbell joined Citywide as CEO in October 2015.
He has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in the resources and energy sectors within Australia and internationally. The majority of this time was spent at BHP Billiton where he held a variety of senior roles. Chris joined Citywide from EnergyAustralia.
A senior executive at some of the worlds most innovative companies, Georgia is passionate about building the APAC region through launching new and exciting products that change the way businesses operate which helps them perform in ways they hadn't previously thought was possible.
Her mantra is "Ask why, do different" and this has allowed her to cultivate team cultures where innovation, diversity and taking intelligent risks thrives. She is passionate about developing people who put customer obsession at their core.
Prior to Relativity, she was a Country Manager and Leadership Team member at Uber, and have led sales, customer success and delivery, product and marketing teams for over 15 years in APAC, the USA and South America with some prominent global brands. She follows great leaders who she can learn from, and find exciting technology to bring to customers in our local market.
When she's not at work she is a keen traveller, an obsessed skiier and a work in progress golfer. She loves learning new languages/cultures, being a mum, and meeting new and fascinating people.
Global industry is under its most significant change in history with the advent of the digital age – Fintech and startup disruption, Sweeping regulatory change, changing consumer demands and significant advances in technology are all combining to change traditional industry as we know it. Michael spent his career leveraging technology for strategic advantage for complex organisations. From enhanced customer experience, to increased employee productivity to building new capabilities and services for the digital economy, he had the privilege to architect and implement the digital change agenda successfully in multiple contexts.
Leading, developing and inspiring large diverse teams to embrace new opportunities and working with management boards and government to build the case for digital change - Michael shaped his executive skills around the digital paradigm.
In his personal time he like to spend time with his family and friends, as well as read and travel extensively. His most complex leadership role is being a father, a role that continues to challenge and inspire him to be better on a daily basis - and one that reminds him every day how integrated technology is to the next generation's lives.
Specialties: Digital, Strategy, Transformation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Operational Excellence, Enterprise Architecture, Team Building, Leadership
Demara is an accomplished executive with over 30 years’ experience leading capital and service intensive sectors. Demara’s proven business acumen sees her combine strategic insight and a strong intuition to ensure UMS maintains a competitive edge.
A people-focused leader, Demara takes pride in ensuring her team at UMS is competent, confident and motivated to deliver the highest quality of service through a continuous commitment to innovate and add value.
Shane Young is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at PETstock Pty Ltd based in Australia. He wrote his business plan for PETstock in the sand on Coolangatta Beach & he is delighted to see it become a reality. With a family of over 1500 members & 140+ stores (& growing) located across Australia & NZ, PETstock provide quality products & services for all pet owners.
At the of age 19, dreams turned into reality & he purchased my first stockfeed store in Ballarat, Victoria alongside his family. Shane's entrepreneurial spirit, passion for animals & business acumen combined has formed the foundations of the PETstock brand. Staying true to his roots, the first PETstock store was born in 2002, in his home town of Ballarat, & today is proudly the home of our second & 100th store.
Being the founder of PETstock was only the tip of the iceberg! His passion & commitment for animals extends to their total wellbeing, & from this, PETstock Vet was created. The first Animal Hospital rolled out in 2012 & continues to be the focus for the brand in coming years.
Their vision is to create a world class retail experience both in our stores and online. Built on the foundation of family values, fun & a healthy lifestyle.
Kellie was appointed Chief Executive Australia in 2021. Prior to this, Kellie had been Managing Director, Pacific Operations, Aluminium since September 2018. She joined Rio Tinto in 2001 and has held a number of safety, operational and leadership roles across both the Iron Ore and Aluminium businesses. In her new role, Kellie will represent Rio Tinto’s Australian interests with all stakeholders and bring her operational experience and community values to listen, respond and set the direction for the business. She has a people-centric approach with a strong commercial background, and is an advocate for Indigenous Australians.
Kellie holds a Bachelor of Science and a Health & Safety Diploma from Curtin University Western Australia.
Kellie is married with two children and enjoys family time watching rugby and exploring Australia.
Mark was appointed to the joint role of State General Manager Westpac Retail Victoria/Tasmania and Chief Executive, Bank of Melbourne in 2019. Mark lead a team of more than 2,000 passionate Victorians and Tasmanians who serve over 2 million customers through a network of more than 230 branches and business banking centres across metropolitan Melbourne, regional Victoria and across Tasmania.
With 30 years’ experience in executive roles across Australia and Europe, Mark has a background in banking, franchising, retail, and oil and gas. Since coming to Australia from his role overseeing franchising for Abbey National’s retail banking business, Mark has held senior distribution roles at ANZ, National Australia Bank and RAMS. Between 2015 and 2019, Westpac’s franchised mortgage network RAMS more than doubled
under Mark’s leadership.
Together with his local executive team, Mark oversees a unique banking culture that’s integrated into local communities and has strong links to the economic prosperity of both states. With an offering that spans retail banking, business banking (including SME and property finance), and private banking on the Bank of Melbourne side, it is Victoria’s uniquely local banking alternative. As Australia’s first bank and oldest company, Westpac is a full-service financial services business that serves 13 million customers through a portfolio of brands in Australia, New Zealand and internationally. Bank of Melbourne supports the organisations and institutions that make Victoria one of the world’s most liveable places – from Melbourne’s newest arts hub in the city’s north, Collingwood Yards, to its famed food and wine culture at the annual Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, and the hallowed turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Through its charitable foundation, Bank of Melbourne has supported more than 125 local charities with $3.6 million in grants. Each year, Westpac Foundation supports dozens of charities and social enterprises, such as STREAT and Good Cycles, through its community and social enterprise grants. The Westpac Scholars program has also supported a new generation of brilliant young Victorians and Tasmanians to challenge, explore and set new benchmarks in innovation, research, and social change with single and multi-year scholarships.
Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Studies from the University of Ulster, and qualifications in strategy and organisation from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Mark is passionate about customer service, diversity and inclusion.
Mark, his wife and their 3 children moved to Australia from Ireland in 2003. They live in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs and have adopted Collingwood in the AFL, while remaining dedicated supporters of Ireland’s national rugby union team.
James Sinclair is the CEO & Principal of Signature Hospitality Group, home to the fastest growing brands in Australia’s sporting and hospitality landscape, including The Sporting Globe Bar & Grill, TGI Fridays (Asia Pacific) and WJWills Eatery. With a background as a financial analyst at Deloitte and Thomson Reuters, Sinclair has vast expertise in leadership, people management, hospitality, omnichannel retail, as well as a sharp commercial finance and real estate acumen. Focused on providing exemplary customer experience and giving aspiring franchise owners the support they need to thrive, Sinclair loves being an entrepreneur and helping to grow businesses.
Dr Shane Kelly has more than 30 years’ experience in health care including 19 years as chief executive officer at hospitals and health care organisations in Australia.
Previous roles include Mater Misericordiae Group Chief Executive Officer, WA North Metropolitan Health Service Chief Executive and St John of God Subiaco Hospital Chief Executive Officer (2005 to 2013).
Adjunct Professor at the School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame Australia.
Mike Foster was previously the CEO and Executive Director of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand (FANZ). In line with restructuring of Fujitsu’s global organisation he was appointed as Head of the Oceania Region in April 2014 reporting directly to the Global President. He had been instrumental in driving the company’s business strategy at the enterprise level and to develop Fujitsu’s presence as a Tier 1 Technology Services Integrator with over 5,000 people in Australia and New Zealand.
Mike’s career to date spans over 25 years in the ICT industry in Australia and North America. Prior to Fujitsu, he spent nine years in senior executive positions at Telstra, including Managing Director, Business Sales, and more recently as the Chief Executive Officer, KAZ Group. Before joining Telstra, he was Managing Director, EMC, Australia/New Zealand and Managing Director, NCR Australia.
Mike’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Education from Victoria University, a Master of Strategic Marketing from Charles Sturt University, qualifications in Conducting Business Negotiations, Company Mergers and Acquisitions from Harvard University, and a qualification in Sustaining High Performance from Babson Graduate College in Boston, USA. He is an accomplished public speaker, having actively participated in public speaking at events in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and South Korea on various topics including Internet Banking, Electronic Commerce, Electronic Funds Transfer, Relationship Banking, Smart Card Technologies, Electronic Security and Home Banking.
He is a strong supporter of diversity in the workplace and serves as a board member of the Male Champions of Change STEM. During his career he has been appointed to many boards including the boards of KAZ, AAS, NCR and numerous boards within Telstra including joint venture boards. He is a former board member of AIIA, Stellar Call Centre and Telstra Clear NZ.
Outside work Mike enjoys cycling, AFL football, golf and spending time with his wife Annie, their two children and his extended family.
Since leaving Fujitsu, Mike is active in supporting some Australian based startups in Automation and AI. He will bring a broad range of experience and capabilities to Mentor List.
As Chief Executive Officer Linfox Logistics Australia and New Zealand, Mark is based in Melbourne and responsible for leading the largest privately-owned logistics company in Asia Pacific to achieve its vision to be Australia and New Zealand’s most trusted logistics partner.
Mark leads the way with a focused and integrated business strategy designed to deliver industry-leading safety, wellbeing and industry compliance, outstanding customer service and smarter, environmentally sustainable supply chain solutions positioned for growth and prosperity – underpinned by Linfox’s LIFT values of loyalty, integrity, fairness and trust.
Mark joined Linfox in 2006, progressing through various senior roles including business unit President positions, before being appointed Linfox Chief Operations Officer ANZ in 2017 and Chief Executive Officer Linfox Logistics ANZ soon after.
Prior to joining Linfox, Mark held senior executive board and management roles with major multi-national companies in the FMCG and retail sectors, including international appointments and responsibilities.
In these roles, Mark delivered significant outcomes in safety, commercial, operations, sales, customer management, marketing and corporate affairs. In recent years, Mark has been keenly focused on driving technology and innovation for logistics in Australia and New Zealand.
Mark studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and Harvard Business School.
Mark is passionate about promoting the broad and fulfilling career paths on offer in the logistics industry, and paving the way for people of diverse ages, gender and culture to build a successful future in logistics.
Mark currently sits on a number of boards, including the Linfox Logistics ANZ Board, Australian Logistics Council (ALC) and Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds (HHTS) Foundation Board. He was recently welcomed to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) College of Business & Law Advisory Board.
Simon is tasked with owning the sales strategy, culture, leadership and people management of the sales operation. He has more than 25 years of experience in IT sales and business management. Prior to working at MongoDB and Splunk, Simon held sales and management positions at a variety of enterprise technology organisations, including Dell EMC and Symantec. Simon is based in Melbourne, Australia.
Greg proudly leads our talented and passionate team of Growth Advisors delivering industry expertise to mid-sized businesses.
He specialises in working with businesses with complex cashflow difficulties and developing commercial outcomes. Greg has extensive experience in Manufacturing, Retail, Logistics, Real Estate and Education.
As a result of spending two years in China, Greg has developed a strong understanding of the complexities of doing business in that country and the importance of a strong regional network.
Stephen Rue is Chief Executive Officer at NBN Co.
Mr Rue commenced as Chief Executive Officer at NBN Co on 1 September 2018.
Prior to this, Mr Rue was Chief Financial Officer at NBN Co, and was responsible for the financial management of NBN Co's business activities, business planning, financial reporting, financial control, management reporting, taxation and treasury, as well as procurement and supply.
Mr Rue joined NBN Co in July 2014 as a member of the Executive Committee, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge in financial management and high profile company transformation.
Before joining NBN Co, Mr Rue spent 17 years in various leadership roles at News Corp Australia including a decade as Chief Financial Officer. He also served as a Director on a number of associated boards including Foxtel, Fox Sports, REA Group and Australian Associated Press, as well as Chairman of the Communication Newspaper Group in Perth and Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club.
Mr Rue is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Business Studies and a Diploma in Professional Accounting.
Roberto joined CCI as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in September 2015. He brings with him more than 20 years’ management experience, having previously held the positions of Managing Director ANZ Private Wealth, Managing Director ANZ Trustees and Managing Director Super Concepts. Rob’s management portfolio also includes a range of executive director roles on the Boards of ANZ financial advice companies.
Rob has a passion for developing strong relationships with customers, building energised and engaged workplaces and developing solutions to enable businesses to directly benefit communities. Having served as a World Vision Advisory Council Member, a Non-Executive Director and Treasurer of Co.As.It (Italian Assistance Organisation) and as a Trustee of the Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation, Rob has a great social-responsibility footprint.
Roberto holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours), and is a graduate of the 2013 Leadership Victoria - Williamson Community Leadership Program.
David Anderson is the Managing Director at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and his career in the broadcast television and media industry spans more than 30 years.
A leader in television production who has been responsible for commissioning successful programs across all genres as well as overseeing the corporation’s digital transformation, he joined the ABC in 1989.
A succession of high-level positions has ensured his familiarity with every aspect of the ABC. David has played a pivotal role in leading its transition from a broadcaster into a modern digital media organisation, providing trusted on-demand content for the changing needs and expectations of audiences.
As Director of Strategy & Planning, David worked to find significant efficiencies and focus more of the ABC’s expenditure on content, products and services for audiences. During his tenure as Director of Digital Network, he led the organisation’s transformation by looking at ways to engage new audiences online and investing in creating personalised and connected digital services.
Immediately before his appointment to his current role, David held the position of Director Entertainment & Specialist. This broad portfolio spans the ABC’s broadcast television networks, including on-demand products and services and all associated websites and apps, along with all ABC radio music networks, podcasts and specialist radio content.
David was a board member of Freeview Australia until June 2020 and has been the ABC’s Managing Director since May 2019.
Kathrine Dyer began her appointment as NBN Co's Chief Operating Officer on 8 July 2020 after previously holding the role of Chief Network Deployment Officer.
Kathrine joined NBN Co from Telstra in November 2010 and her appointment to the Executive Committee follows her role as Executive General Manager, Regional Deployment, where she oversaw the design and build of the nbn™ network from both an operational and strategic perspective.
Kathrine's knowledge and expertise within telecommunications is formidable, having been built over more than 20 years working in the sector. She was at the forefront of fibre optics development and Greenfields strategic planning while at Telstra.
Kathrine also has an extensive background in telecommunications legislative and regulatory management. She has a Bachelor of Business from RMIT University.
Jacob Varghese is the CEO of Maurice Blackburn. He leads our national social justice law firm from our Melbourne head office.
Jacob first joined Maurice Blackburn in 2002, and became CEO in 2017. Before taking on his latest role, Jacob was part of our firm's award-winning class actions team, recognised for their dispute resolution skills. He was also the Principal overseeing our social justice practice and he provided legal input to our litigation funding business, Claims Funding Australia.
Jacob’s achievements include working on four shareholder class actions which each achieved settlements in excess of $100 million for shareholders, and leading the team that achieved Australia’s largest food safety class action settlement. His contribution in the social justice practice includes acting for 109 babies of asylum seekers, which resulted in the babies and their families being given visas and released from detention. Jacob also spearheaded the Federal Court challenge against unfair poker machines.
As CEO, Jacob combines his experience as a top litigator with strategic and lateral approaches to legal matters and his broader view of the political landscape.
Jacob also acknowledges the importance of the firm’s legacy and the role he plays in leading the firm as it continues to grow.
Jacob holds Honours in Laws from the University of Melbourne and was admitted to practice law in 2003. He joined Maurice Blackburn as an articled clerk, leaving several years later to work as a political adviser in Canberra before returning to the firm in 2006.
Michelle is thrilled and humbled to be the CEO of Movember – the leading global men's health charity. Movember has raised over $A 1 billion from a community of more than 5 million supporters, and has delivered and funded over 1200 evidence-based programs to positively change the face of men’s health. Movember is on a mission to step-change men’s mental health – with an emphasis on early intervention and suicide prevention – and understands the power of social connection and encouraging men to take action early in tough times. Movember is also a leading global supporter of enhanced prostate and testicular cancer tests and treatment, and quality of life for survivors. Movember fundraises and supports men’s health programs in more than 20 countries around the world.
Michelle comes to Movember with 20+ years’ experience in leadership roles in international blue-chip organisations including Treasury Wine Estates, EY, Marks & Spencer and Accenture. She has extensive global business experience, having lived and worked in Australia, Asia, the UK and the USA. Michelle is a visionary, creative, caring and authentic leader who drives exceptional results through empowered teams. She is passionate about innovation, positive change, human potential, and health and wellbeing.
Michelle holds a BA Hons in Psychology (UQ), B.Bus (QUT) and an MBA from the University of Melbourne. She is a mum to two young daughters, and likes hiking, wine, travel and socialising.
Joe has had an outstanding career in the construction industry over the past 30-years, both domestically in Australia and internationally in the Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern regions. He was most recently the CEO of Hansen Yuncken.
He spent several years working in Dubai, where he was responsible for a range of development projects with a portfolio value of approximately US$27bn and annual turnover of around US$4bn.
Joe is passionate about fostering career pathways and providing opportunities for employees.
Sally Capp is the first directly-elected female Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne. She was the first woman to hold the post of Agent-General for Victoria in the UK, Europe and Israel. She has also served as the CEO for the Committee for Melbourne.
Sally began her career as a solicitor, after completing Law (Hons) and Commerce degrees at the University of Melbourne.
Sally has worked in business big and small. Sally has held senior roles at both KPMG and ANZ, and she took the small business she co-founded to the ASX. Most recently she was Victorian Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia.
A passionate Magpie, in 2004 she made history as the first female board member of Collingwood FC. She is involved in a number of charities, currently sitting on the board of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, the Mary Jane Lewis Scholarship Foundation and the Melbourne University Faculty of Business and Economics.
