2022 BCCM Leaders' Summit

Ex-CEO and Founder, Vanguard Australia

Jeremy Duffield spent over 30 years with The Vanguard Group in its formative stages, from 1980. He began as Assistant to the legendary founder, Jack Bogle, and went on to head Planning and Development for the US company until 1996 when he moved home to Australia to start Vanguard’s first international subsidiary. He was the founding Managing Director of Vanguard Investments Australia until 2007 and Chair until 2010. He also led Vanguard Asia Pacific and Vanguard International Planning and Development.

Since 2012 Jeremy has been working to build digital financial advice capabilities as founding Chairman of SuperEd, which also includes Retirement Essentials. He’s passionate about getting clients better retirement outcomes.

His current non-executive roles include chair of MLC’s asset management subsidiary and director of Vanguard Super; previously, he was founding chairman of Plum Financial Services and director of MLC’s Responsible Entities.

He has previously served as the Chairman of the Australian (now Monash) Centre For Financial Studies, vice chairman of the Investment and Financial Services Association (now the Financial Service Council), a member of the Financial Sector Advisory Council and a member of the Australia As A Financial Centre Forum.

CEO, Unica Group (Spain)

Enrique de los Ríos was born in Almería, Spain, in 1964. His first degree, in Physics, came from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid; his graduate degree was in Telecommunications, and he obtained his MBA in 1991 from the Universidad Pontifica Comillas.

His career in telecommunications began more than twenty years ago with Amper, before he moved on to Siemens and Alcatel. He made an important transition to the agri-food sector in Almería as the Director of Sales and Marketing at Hazera. Ten years later he became Director of the agri-business consultancy B-Ideas, before accepting his present position in 2009 as founder and General Director of the co-operative UNICA GROUP.

UNICA is the leading co-operative in agricultural exports from Spain. Founded in 2009 as a second-tier horticultural co-operative, UNICA GROUP’s vocation has been to integrate first-tier co-operatives in order to augment their sales potential at the point of origin. UNICA currently brings together 15 member co-operatives, 5,000 growers, 5,000 warehouse employees, 12,000 fieldworkers and a catalogue of over one hundred different products. Their last growing season exceeded 500 million kilos of product.

While General Manager at UNICA, Enrique de los Ríos continued his leadership formation in co-operatives at the University of Missouri in the United States of America, and at the ADECA program for Senior Managers of Agri-Food companies, through the International Institute San Telmo in Spain.

Senior ETF Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence and author of The Bogle Effect (US)

Eric Balchunas is a senior exchange-traded funds (ETF) analyst at Bloomberg, where he has over a decade of experience working with ETF data, designing new functions and writing ETF research for the Bloomberg terminal. He also writes articles, feature stories and blog posts on ETFs for Bloomberg.com and appears each week on Bloomberg TV and Radio to discuss ETFs.

President, Youth Network, International Cooperative Alliance (Spain)

Ana Aguirre is co-founder and worker-owner at TAZEBAEZ S.Coop, an innovation group that focuses its activity in the creation of learning and training ecosystems for companies and education institutions (Travelling U.); visual communication (MakeItVisual); and participates in various companies in emerging sectors. In TAZEBAEZ Ana leads the Cooperative Development line and is a member of the innovation consultancy team. Since 2020 she is COO of Platform Cooperatives NOW! (Mondragon University and New School) and she was one of 12 participants at the Harvard Research Sprint on Data Cooperatives.

Ana serves as Global President of the Youth Network and Youth Representative in the Board in the International Cooperative Alliance, where she also represents youth in the Cooperative Identity Advisory Group.

Journalist, ABC Insiders

David Gordon Speers is an Australian journalist and host of Insiders on ABC TV. Previously he was political editor at Sky News Australia, as well as host of PM Agenda, The Last Word and Speers Tonight.

Lord Mayor of Melbourne

Sally Capp was re-elected Lord Mayor of Melbourne in October 2020 after having previously been elected in May 2018 and is the first woman to be directly elected as Lord Mayor.

Sally’s top priority is bringing the buzz back to Melbourne and driving the city’s economic recovery following the devastation caused by the COVID pandemic.

Sally is committed to helping rough sleepers get more support and a pathway into secure housing, and ensuring Melbourne remains a global leader in environmental sustainability.

Sally 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 and Victorian Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia. A passionate Collingwood Football Club supporter, in 2004 Sally made history as the first female board member of Collingwood Football Club.

Sally began her career as a Solicitor, after completing Law (Hons) and Commerce degrees at the University of Melbourne. She has held senior roles at both KPMG and ANZ, and co-founded a small business which she took to the ASX.

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.

Chief Executive Officer, Newcastle Building Society (UK)

Andrew became Chief Executive of Newcastle Building Society in 2015.

He has a track record in transforming and developing businesses, including nearly 30 years in the mutual sector. A proven Chief Executive, Andrew has particular strength in building effective leadership teams and organisations with values driven, authentic cultures. His wide experience and customer focus has seen him guide the long term growth of brands through clearly defined, innovative, purpose led strategies. He is a strong advocate for the role of mutuals in the financial services sector and appreciates the balance between delivering profitability and meaningful member value.

Andrew is a Board member of the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, a Director of the North East England Chamber of Commerce and President of the Chamber Council.

Australian Financial Journalist and Commentator

Michael Pascoe is one of Australia’s most respected and experienced finance and economics commentators with more than four decades in newspaper, broadcast and online journalism.

With a wit honed by conducting thousands of interviews, Michael shines as an MC and panel facilitator, guiding discussion and audience involvement.

Michael can be seen on Channel Seven’s Sunrise and news programs, the ABC’s The Drum and is Contributing Editor for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age’s BusinessDay.com.au sites. He is an acclaimed conference speaker, MC and facilitator, bringing rare humour and plain language to the dismal science. 

Michael was born and educated in Queensland, starting his career with The Courier-Mail before working in Hong Kong for three years. He joined the Australian Financial Review in Sydney and then pioneered specialist finance journalism in commercial broadcasting – first with the Macquarie Radio network, then with Channel 9, Sky News and 7.

Michael has four sons, maintains a love of Rugby Union, a dislike of gardening and what he calls “an outlook of optimistic scepticism”.

Director, Watts Sustainability (UK)

Peter is an experienced sustainability consultant helping clients mitigate risks and most importantly understand and implement the opportunities presented by more sustainable ways of working. He is a Chartered Environmentalist and a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. He runs the consultancy Watts Sustainability with a client list including LEGO, DHL, Institute of Cancer Research and ITV amongst many others.

He specialises in the design and implementation of sustainability and ESG strategy with particular expertise on the ‘E’– with projects including helping organisations develop net-zero and climate crisis response strategies, setting improvement programmes and developing engagement and behaviour change programmes.

He has been working with the BCCM on the ESG Sustainable Mutual Value Programme and is particularly enthusiastic about how the co-operative and mutual model can deliver benefits to the environment as well as society.

Managing Director, Mutuo (UK)

Peter Hunt founded Mutuo in 2001 as the first cross mutual sector body to promote co-operative and mutual business to opinion formers and decision makers. For ten years prior, he was General Secretary of the Co-operative Party (UK). He is co-founder of Supporters Direct, the football supporters’ initiative, which went on to establish over 100 supporters’ trusts at professional football clubs.

Peter led the Parliamentary teams which piloted five private members bills through the UK Parliament, working with all parties to update co-operative and mutual law. He advised the UK Coalition Government on its plans to mutualise Post Office Ltd and in 2012 published the report of the Ownership Commission, a two-year study into corporate diversity.

Peter has worked with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) since 2015, co-authoring the “Peoples’ Business” research document.

In 2018–19 he led the successful industry alliance to develop the Australian Treasury Laws Amendment (Mutual Reforms) Act 2019, the first renewal of Australian mutuals legislation for 20 years.

Partner and National Head of Financial Services, Grant Thornton

Darren leads the Financial Services Industry practice for Grant Thornton in Australia. With a background in internal and external audit, Darren joined Grant Thornton as a partner in July 2018. He is a specialist in financial services with over 19 years as a partner with a Big 4 firm, as an auditor and risk advisor. Darren is a specialist in the insurance, health, superannuation, electricity, investment and retail banking, property and funds management industries.

Darren has spent most of his career in Melbourne, and has spent 5 years London and 2 years in Adelaide. Darren meets the APRA Fit and Proper auditor requirements for ADIs, insurers and superannuation entities. Darren is the Chair of the Deakin University Accounting Department Advisory Board and Chair of the Business Reporting Leaders Forum Significant Issues Group for Integrated Reporting for SMEs.

CEO, CBH Group

Ben commenced as Chief Executive Officer in December 2021. Previously, he was Chief Operations Officer from February 2019 where he was responsible for leading CBH’s world-class storage and handling, logistics, engineering and shipping services. Ben joined CBH in 2014, serving as Commercial and Business Development Manager, before becoming General Manager Planning, Strategy and Development.

Before joining CBH, Ben worked for an investment advisory firm and an international professional services firm. Ben holds a Bachelor of Business, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and is on the board of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM).

CEO, Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-operative

Matt has spent the majority of his career working for co-operatives, where he has gained over 18 years of experience trading and marketing food and food commodities worldwide. Matt joined GFC in 2014 as the General Manager of Marketing & Business Development before taking over as CEO in July 2018.

Before joining GFC, Matt held several senior positions with Australian export firms, notably as Head of Trading at Australia’s largest grain trader and co-operative, CBH, and a US-based multinational.

Matt holds an honours degree in agribusiness marketing, a graduate diploma in applied finance and investment, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In addition to his role at GFC, Matt has been a Non-executive Director on several not-for-profit boards, most recently taking on the role of Chair of Tourism Geraldton Mid-West.

CEO, Futurity

Ross Higgins is a highly experienced CEO and a seasoned financial services executive. He joined Futurity in January 2019 and has re-invented Futurity’s education product range, driving our transformation into Australia’s leading issuer of tax-effective, life-event Education Bonds.

Prior to Futurity, Ross founded Generation Life and during his 17-year tenure built it to be Australia’s leading investment bond provider. He was instrumental in the creation of its ground-breaking LifeBuilder and ChildBuilder Bonds, which captured an impressive market share.

Ross is a well-credentialed financial services professional with a diversified career experience spanning more than 35 years. This includes extensive senior executive and specialist consultancy experience – predominantly with major Australian, prudentially regulated financial institutions – including over 12 years with IOOF, two years with Australian Unity and over 10 years as a financial services lawyer.

Throughout his career, Ross has been a leading figure in industry affairs with considerable involvement with legislative reviews and lobby relevant to financial services regulation and product taxation. He’s been passionately involved in winning better taxation arrangements for investment bonds, education bonds and funeral plans – principally as a longstanding Executive Director of Friendly Societies Australia and for 16 years as an active member of APRA’s CEO’s forum.

Group CEO, Capricorn Society

David has over 35 years’ experience in the automotive industry and has held senior sales, marketing and general management roles over the past two decades. Prior to his appointment as Capricorn’s Group Chief Executive Officer in July 2019 he was CEO of the co-operative’s Automotive Division from 2013. Before joining Capricorn in 2006 David was Group General Manager of Supply Direct, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX listed Ausdrill, and responsible for its operations in Australia, United Kingdom, South Africa and West Africa. He was also a former Associate Director and Group General Manager of ASX listed Coventry Group Ltd and was responsible for the sales, marketing and administration of the Group’s automotive businesses. In 2019 David received an Outstanding Contribution to the Industry award in recognition of his leadership, innovation, vision, work ethic and integrity which has made a positive and measurable impact to the ongoing development of Australia’s Automotive Aftermarket Industry. David is a current Director of various Capricorn subsidiary Boards, a former Director and Past President of the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association as well as being the Chairman of the AAAA’s sub-committee for the automotive industry e-commerce project. He is also a current Director of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals and a State Councillor of the Co-operatives Federation of WA. 

Manager, Hepburn Wind

Taryn lives in Central Victoria and is the part-time manager of Australia’s first community-owned co-operative wind farm Hepburn Wind, working there for 12 years. The wind farm has pioneered the community energy movement in Australia and has been recognised with national and global awards for its unique approach. Hepburn Wind delivers a range of partnership programs under the collaborative banner of Hepburn Z-NET with their council and community such as solar and battery bulk buy, energy audits, EV bulk buy andEV charging infrastructure to reach zero-net emissions by 2030. Taryn is a founding director of RE-Alliance, a founding director of the Coalition for Community Energy, a Smart Energy Council director, a 2017 Winston Churchill Trust Fellow and a 2021 inductee to the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll. 

Executive GM Strategy and Investments, NRMA

Vivian was appointed to the role of Executive General Manager, Strategy & Investments in June 2021. She is responsible for the NRMA Group’s corporate and portfolio strategies, corporate development, investments, ESG, sustainability, legal, company secretariat, brand and corporate affairs functions. She sets the strategic direction of the NRMA group and pursues opportunities that delivers shared value – Member value, economic value and societal value. 

Vivian has extensive experience in strategy consulting in Australia, the United States, New Zealand, China and South East Asia. In her previous role with Booz & Company / PwC Strategy&, she advised a range of organisations in areas including growth strategy, portfolio strategy, operating model design, organisation and culture transformation. Prior to this, she worked at Deutsche Bank investment banking, and in carbon markets with GreenCollar.

Chair, Employers Mutual Limited (EML)

As well as EML Chair, Paul Baker serves as Director of one of EML’s subsidiary companies, Hospitality Employers Mutual Limited. Paul Baker has experience in the areas of insurance, reinsurance, commercial and administrative law, risk management, business management and corporate governance. He is a practising lawyer of 30 years and has been Managing Director of Meridian Lawyers since 2004, a law firm which he established and has since grown to more than 140 staff.

Paul has served as the legal member of the Consumer Medicines Information Commonwealth Task Force and South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service Ethics Committee. He was also a partner of Ebsworth and Ebsworth Lawyers and a former Director of Guild Accountants.

CEO, Bank of Us

Paul joined Bank of us as Chief Executive Officer in 2005 and has been responsible for laying the foundations for the growth and development of the company. Prior to joining Bank of us, Paul had 25 years’ experience in local government including 18 years’ combined experience as General Manager at Meander Valley and West Tamar Councils.

Paul is a Director (Chair) of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and is a past President of the Launceston Chamber of Commerce and Local Government Managers Australia (Tasmania Division). He is a life member of Local Government Managers Australia and a Fellow and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Department of Accounting, Monash University

Dr Paul Thambar is an accounting academic with the Department of Accounting at Monash University and came into academia after a long commercial career as a financial controller in banking, insurance, funds management and information technology. Paul’s research interests are in strategy, performance measurement and management controls in commercial, mutual and co-ops and not-for-profit organisations. Paul has researched strategy and management controls in the Australian cotton industry across multiple firms as part of his doctoral research. Paul teaches accounting in the Monash MBA program and in the Master of Accounting program. Prior to joining Monash in February 2016, Paul was at UTS Business School from 2010 to 2015 where he also completed a PhD in Accounting. Paul is a Fellow member (FCMA) of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK and holds the CGMA designation. Paul has led the research team which has worked collaboratively with BCCM and the sector to develop the Mutual Value Measurement (MVM) Framework© which is now being adopted by many CMEs.

CEO, BCCM

Melina Morrison is the inaugural CEO of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals. She is an advocate for all forms of mutually owned enterprise, regularly contributing commentary and appearing as a spokesperson for the sector. Melina has commissioned, edited and co-written the sector’s first national mapping reports. Melina’s former roles in the co-operative sector include five years as editor of the flagship publication for the global peak body, the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA). Melina wrote the message platform for the ICA’s global strategy, Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade. Her advocacy work for the sector resulted in Australia minting a coin commemorating the International Year of Co-operatives in 2012. Melina successfully lobbied for a Senate inquiry into the co-operative and mutual business sector, which handed down its report in March 2016. 

Chair, BCCM

Terry Agnew is the former Group CEO of RAC in Western Australia. The RAC motoring club provides a range of diverse services to over one million Western Australians in the areas of motoring, insurance, finance, travel and tourism, retirement and home services. Terry is the current Chair of the Business Council of Co-operatives of Mutuals, Curtin Business School Advisory Council and Edge Employment Solutions (a disability employment service). He is also a Director of RAA Insurance and MDA National Insurance (both subsidiaries of mutual organisations) and a Founding Member of CEO’s for Gender Equity. Terry is a member of two global entities, Chairing the FIA University Board and a member of the Board of the Global Mobility Alliance. 

CEO, Co-operation Housing

Eugenie is the CEO of Co-operation Housing, a registered community housing provider specialising in the co-operative model.  Her work with Co-operation Housing builds on her knowledge and experience as a sustainability educator, developer and consultant.

Eugenie’s work has a strong focus on community living.  She successfully completed two small, and now multi-award-winning developments, in the Town of Victoria Park.  She worked closely with Co-operation Housing on the development of new housing co-operatives prior to being appointed in the CEO role.

Eugenie’s qualifications include a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainability and Advanced Diploma in Accounting.  She brings experience in property development and the social and affordable housing sector and is an affiliate of an international network of cohousing professionals.  She has previously served on not-for-profit boards and has completed relevant training facilitated by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Social Care Lead, BCCM

Gillian McFee is an adviser to the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM). She specialises in Community Service Mutuals and works with the BCCM to grow awareness about the role of co-operatives and mutuals in human services such as the NDIS, disability employment, community care and housing.

In 2014 – 2016 Gillian chaired the BCCM’s Public Service Mutuals Taskforce which produced a White Paper on how co-operatives and mutuals provide an alternative to existing organisation forms and to the privatisation of public services.

Advocacy and Sector Development Lead, BCCM

Antony McMullen is a seasoned co-operative developer committed to building local prosperity for the common good. His passion for good governance is recognized through his designation as Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia (formerly Chartered Secretaries Australia); he co-drafted the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) Co-operative and Mutual Enterprise best-practice governance framework. He holds qualifications in social impact (social entrepreneurship), community development, community services management and co-operative leadership.

Antony has helped develop and has co-founded several co-operatives, serving on co-operative boards as both Secretary and Chair, so he has a firsthand understanding of the benefits and challenges of the co-operative business model. He is the co-founder of the first co-operative co-working space in Melbourne – 888 Co-operative Causeway  – which hosts regular social and solidarity economy events and even a podcast (The Co-operative Way).

CEO, Defence Bank

David commenced as Chief Executive Officer of Defence Bank in February 2018. He has initiated a major ‘member experience’ transformation program aimed at reducing member effort at every touchpoint.

David has spent 35 years in the financial services sector in Australia and New Zealand. During this time, he has led major retail and business banking divisions in major and regional banks.

Prior to his appointment as CEO of Defence Bank he was CEO of Hume Bank, a leading Mutual Bank in Regional NSW/Victoria. He is a passionate advocate for the member-owned banking sector and its role in the contemporary financial services landscape within Australia.

David grew up on a farming property in New Zealand. He studied at Lincoln College (Canterbury University), London Business School and Wharton Business School.

Managing Director, CEHL

Liz is the Managing Director of Common Equity Housing Limited (CEHL), the largest provider of co-operative housing in Australia.

Her background spans a broad range of roles in the private, public and community sectors and extensive executive and non-executive Board Director experience. In 2012, Liz shifted her professional focus to delivering innovate affordable housing solutions to end homelessness and housing insecurity.

Liz embraces her role at CEHL as an important opportunity to deliver affordable housing that is more than just housing – that also offers security of tenure and creates a community that encourages and supports the active participation of co-op members. 

CEO, BankFirst

Michelle is the Chief Executive Officer of Bank First and brings over 25 years of financial services experience in Australia and internationally. Prior to joining Bank First in February 2021, Michelle was CEO of RACQ Bank and held senior positions at Suncorp, National Australia Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Insurance Australia Group. She is driven by a deep respect for people and passionate about the powerful combination of people leadership, partnership and organisational competencies. Michelle is a member of FINSIA, a graduate of AICD and has completed an MBA (with Distinction). She has previously held Executive Director positions on the Boards of a superannuation trustee at Suncorp, and the Board of RACQ Financial Planning Pty Ltd. On a personal level, Michelle directs her energies toward issues related to women, education, equality, inclusion, and empowerment.

Senior Lecturer, University of Newcastle

Dr Sidsel Grimstad is Senior Lecturer in the College of Human and Social Futures at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. She is a Norwegian-born researcher on co-operative housing and co-operative business solutions. Prior to moving to Australia nineteen years ago, Sidsel worked as an adviser for environmental and international development aid organisations in Norway and for the United Nations. She also had lived experience from living in housing co-operatives in Norway. She is Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council and housing co-operative sector funded project: Articulating Value in Housing Co-operatives (2021-2023). This ARC project is led by Ass Professor Louise Crabtree-Hayes, from Western Sydney University.

Director, Co-op Bonds

Clare Fountain is a regionally based award-winning consultant with 20+ years experience. During this time, Clare has supported purpose-driven groups to develop viable business models for their organisations and collaborations. She has demonstrated experience in developing and accessing financially viable and sustainable business models that maintain a strong connection to their vision and purpose. Clare has also been a mentor and consultant in two national co-op development programs: Farming Together and Co-operative Farming and has completed the ‘Co-operatives and Mutuals Strategic Development Program’ run by AIM/UWA. Clare is currently supporting the BCCM to ensure their Education program meets the needs of BCCM members and the co-operative and mutual sector.

Director, AltusQ

Stephen’s focus is strategic facilitation – helping boards and senior leadership teams set their direction, agree their path and execute their plan.

Originally trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG, Stephen worked in the corporate recovery and reconstruction area in Australia and the UK, exposing him to a broad range of businesses in varying degrees of distress.

Subsequently he moved into banking and held various senior credit and regional management positions with NAB. Immediately prior to joining AltusQ in 2001 he was Chief Operating Officer for a fast growing firm servicing self-managed superannuation funds.

He has held several board positions including Chair of an international business coaching organisation and Chair of HeartKids Australia, a national charity devoted to helping kids suffering from Congenital Heart Disease.

Chairman and CEO, Co-operative Supermarkets Australia

Warwick started his career with The Coca-Cola Company in Australia in 1981.  His subsequent 32 year career with Coca-Cola was spent half in Europe and half in Australia, culminating in holding the position of Managing Director of Australasia for Coca-Cola Amatil for 12 years.

This was followed by a 3 year term with Keurig in the USA,  a global coffee business, assuming the role of International President.

Warwick started working with the grocery independents in Australia in late 2017 as an advisor and subsequently assumed the role of Chairman and CEO of Co-operative Supermarkets Australia when it was formed in 2019.

Founder and Development Director, Property Collectives

Tim Riley is the founder of Property Collectives, developers and advisors who focus on projects with impact.

Since 2010 Property Collectives has established itself as one of the leading deliberative development groups in Australia, building 80 homes across 10 projects in Melbourne. Their building groups bring people together to co-develop the homes and communities they want at cost.

Property Collectives also provide capital & investment advisory to Clients via their cooperative network of property professionals that specialise in the development & management of long term assets.

Law Society Accredited Specialist in Business Law

Mark is a NSW Law Society Accredited Specialist in Business Law. As an experienced commercial lawyer and negotiator, his practice concentrates on the areas of contract and commercial law, corporate governance law, fundraising, insolvency and restructuring and intellectual property. Mark’s clients include a diverse array of private clients, government agencies, peak industry representative bodies, Co-operatives, chartered and CPA accountants, insolvency practitioners, corporate retailers and many others.

Mark is an expert in the requirements of the Corporations Act 2001 and additional obligations of transparency and accountability of Governmental bodies, as well as the range of other legislation that governs business entities in Australia.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Economics from the ANU. He was admitted to practice in the ACT in 1986 and founded the practice that is BAL Lawyers today.

CEO, Police Bank

Greg McKenna is Chief Executive Officer of Police Bank. Greg has been working in Banking and finance since 1986 and has played a large role in the Bank and the Police Community, having served on the Board of Police Bank as a Director between July 2012 and July 2018 and then as Chair where he was key to refreshing the Bank’s strategy.

Greg has a deep understanding of the bank and a commitment to the Policing Community and a deep knowledge of Australian banking and economics.

CEO, Kudos Services

In 2020, Darrin was appointed as the second CEO at Kudos Services, Australia’s first employee owned mutual to form from a public agency. Darrin joined Kudos at a formative time when following its formation in 2018, the Kudos membership was finding its voice around active member engagement. Darrin’s leadership style is a natural fit for Kudos where he empowers people to be the best they can. During his short time with Kudos, Darrin has worked with and for the Kudos membership and board in co-designing a three-year strategy and business plan, engaging the membership through its elected Member’s Council and harnessing the inherent can-do culture within the Kudos membership to sustainably grow its therapy business with higher impact in under-serviced regions.

Prior to joining  Kudos, Darrin held senior roles in South Australia with the Royal Society for the Blind, the Adelaide Football Club and the National Heat Foundation.

CEO, Supporting Independent Living Cooperative (SILC)

Group Executive—Home Health, Australian Unity

Ms Bowden was appointed to the position of Group Executive, Home Health with effect from 12th September 2022, she was previously the Group Executive People & Culture. Ms Bowden joined Australian Unity in February 2017. She led the Group’s transformation agenda to reshape the enterprise operating model, putting the customer front and centre and driving new and more efficient ways of working. In September 2018, Ms Bowden was appointed Group Executive, People & Culture.

Ms Bowden is responsible for leading the Home Health Platform: comprising home care (including Indigenous services) and Remedy Healthcare businesses—creating an integrated healthcare platform to provide healthcare solutions for in-home, community and virtual settings.

Prior to joining Australian Unity, Ms Bowden was the Director of People Solutions Group Pty Ltd, a boutique consulting firm focused on operating model design and transformational change. Ms Bowden brings to Australian Unity diverse industry experience, having successfully led and supported people functions in complex, commercial environments in banking, insurance, media and healthcare. Previous clients and employers include News Limited, Suncorp, ANZ and Ramsay Health Care.

Chief Impact Officer, Bank Australia

Sasha Courville is Bank Australia’s inaugural Chief Impact Officer, leading the sustainability, impact, strategic planning, corporate affairs and marketing teams, and contributing to Bank Australia’s commitment to create positive impact for people and the planet.

Prior to this role, Sasha was Executive, Social Impact at NAB where she led efforts to embed sustainability into NAB’s group strategy, focusing shared value responses to society’s biggest challenges. She led NAB’s climate action strategy including setting decarbonisation targets across its lending portfolio, in line with the Net Zero Banking Alliance, and strengthening investments in customer resilience, including through natural capital considerations. She also was responsible for overseeing NAB’s natural disaster resilience efforts, its Reconciliation Action Plans, Accessibility Action Plans and integrated reporting. Previously, Sasha was Executive Director of the London-based ISEAL Alliance, the global association for sustainability standards and assurance systems. She has also worked as an international consultant on social justice and environmental sustainability issues in soft commodity sectors, and as an academic, based at the Regulatory Institutions Network at the ANU. Sasha was deeply involved in setting up the Fairtrade labelling system in Australia and New Zealand

Sasha is a Commissioner, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, and an Independent Director of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative. Sasha has a PhD on coffee from the ANU, an MSc from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from York University in Canada.

Dean Faculty of Business and Economics, Head Monash Business School, Monash University

Professor Simon Wilkie’s career spans a remarkable array of roles that extend beyond the higher education sphere and include appointments as Chief Economic Policy Strategist at Microsoft Corporation and Chief Economist with the US Federal Communications Commission.

In 2019, Professor Wilkie joined Monash Business School from the University of Southern California (USC), where he was Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and Professor of Economics, Communication and Law in the USC Gould School of Law. He was previously head of USC’s Department of Economics and the USC Center for Communication Law and Policy.

Prof Wilkie has a PhD and MA in Economics from the University of Rochester, and a BComm (Hons) with first-class honours in Economics from the University of New South Wales.

His research has particularly focused on game theory, its application to business strategy, economic and regulatory policy design, and the economics of the communications industries.

With an exceptional record for advancing multi-disciplinary collaborative research and leveraging its potential to transform policy and create lasting impact, he is widely published on the subjects of spectrum auctions, game theory and telecommunications regulation in leading scholarly journals.

He is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Communication and a former member of the editorial board of the Journal of Public Economic Theory.

Member for Fraser, Chair of the Standing Committee on Economics

Born in Brindisi, Italy, Daniel was a young child when he moved with his family to Australia. He grew up in Canberra and completed his first degrees – arts and law – at the ANU. He then completed a Master of Economics (University of Sydney) and a PhD in economics from Yale.

He has lectured at Monash University, was an economic adviser in the Gillard government and was a Victorian MP from 2014 to 2018. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer of Victoria, Daniel helped deliver major infrastructure projects and developed innovative financing structures for community projects.

In 2018 he was preselected for the new federal seat of Fraser and became its first MP at the 2019 election, re-elected in 2022. Daniel is now chair of the House of Representatives’ Standing Economics Committee. In August 2022, Daniel published ‘Safety Net: The Future of Welfare in Australia’, which aims to explore the ways in which Federal assistance grants can get more bang for their buck, achieving better long term outcomes for the most vulnerable in the community.