GREENING AUSTRALIA - Key Persons
Prior to joining the Board in 2017, Charl worked with Greening Australia for many years in various voluntary capacities, including serving on the Board of Greening Australia NSW.
With a background in economics, he started his career as a management consultant before moving into investment management roles with the Australian Industry Development Corporation, Lend Lease Corporation and MLC Limited in the private equity, infrastructure and alternative asset sectors.
Charl was responsible for establishing and managing MLC's significant international private equity programme and also managed its infrastructure investments in Asia.
He currently serves as a Member of Investment Committees, and was a past Member of the Board of New Forests, an international investment management firm focused on sustainable forestry and associated environmental markets.
Lynise is a highly skilled and passionate ecologist with a PhD from La Trobe University in Melbourne and over 15 years' experience working within professional environmental consulting firms in the educational and government sectors. She has been instrumental in developing Reef Aid, Greening Australia's major program to improve water quality on the Great Barrier Reef.
Lynise has significant experience in delivering numerous terrestrial and aquatic environmental and conservation projects throughout Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. This has included designing and being responsible for the delivery and analysis of large complex research projects, field assessment protocols, vegetation classification, flora and fauna identification, mapping, stakeholder engagement and determining best practice mitigation and management.
During completion of her PhD, Lynise worked with Parks Victoria on a large scale best practice management program for Cytisus scoparius, and as a post-fire management officer. After finishing her studies she went on to work as a researcher with CSIRO on the ecology and management of invasive macrophytes in northern Australian wetlands which involved working closely with local indigenous land managers.
Just prior to joining Greening Australia in 2016, Lynise worked as a Senior Ecologist for the Queensland Government within their Carbon Accumulation Through Ecosystem Recovery project, managing numerous complex projects while also working as an ecological consultant.
During her career Lynise has been involved in numerous publications, presentations and organisation of workshops, and is a highly respected expert in her field.
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Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Non - Executive Director of NuFarm Limited
Gordon has held senior roles across a diverse range of sectors and has expertise in government relations, policy and communications. He has served as Chair of Greening Australia from 2014-2019.
Gordon's experience includes 10 years with the Tasmanian Forestry Commission in field and management roles, and a position as policy advisor for John Hewson, the then leader of the opposition. Gordon holds an honours degree in Forest Science from the University of Melbourne, a masters degree from the University of Tasmania and an MBA.
In addition to serving on the Greening Australia Board, Gordon is a non-executive director of NuFarm Limited, Primary Healthcare Limited and Midway Limited, and has served on the Advisory Board of The Nature Conservancy since 2013.
Job Titles:
- Land and Restoration Lead
Fascinated by the environment from a young age, Graham has worked with Greening Australia for over 15 years. After studying environmental science and resource management, he worked with us to complete his honours degree which focused on the relationship between sheep and trees. On graduating he was employed by Greening Australia, and today works as our Land and Restoration Lead in the capital region and in south-east New South Wales.
Heather joined Greening Australia as CEO in July 2023. Starting her career as an engineer, Heather has significant experience in strategic leadership spanning the not-for-profit, private and public sectors, and a lifelong passion for conservation and sustainability.
Heather joins Greening Australia following a 4.5 year stint as CEO at Bush Heritage Australia where she led the organisation through a period of growth, driving the development of its 2030 strategy with a focus on collaboration with farmers and other land managers for a more sustainable future.
Heather also holds current and previous board and leadership positions at organisations including Sustainability Victoria, ALCA, Zoos Victoria, CSIRO, Landcare, and Amcor.
"Many people wanted to help after the fires, so we worked with the community and ACT Government to help heal the landscape around Canberra. Over a ten-year period, an incredible 15,000 volunteers have helped plant over 300,000 seedlings across hundreds of hectares of the ACT. Now fifteen years after the fires many of these areas are thriving again. "
In 1998, Isabel Jirasek and Simon Dixon purchased their first rural property, an 80 hectare block between Canberra and Yass in NSW. Soon after they bought the neighbouring farm doubling the size of ‘Bundidgerry'. The landholders sought to protect and enhance the remaining native bush and creek areas of their new farm, while also improving productivity. With little experience or training in land management however they needed support to achieve their vision. Over the past 20 years, Isabel and Simon have worked with us to transform their property into a diverse and productive farm. Their journey provides many valuable lessons for other landholders across the region.
When Isabel and Simon moved onto Bundidgerry it had remaining pockets of native bush, wetlands, dams and creeks with abundant wildlife including red neck wallabies, swamp wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos, antechinus, dunnarts and echidnas. But like many properties in the region that have been poorly managed in the past, the land was plagued by blackberries, bare patches from overgrazing, salinity, a large rabbit population, and poor water quality due to erosion and unstable creek banks.
Isabel and Simon immediately began assessing what needed to be done, creating a farm plan. They began work to control the blackberries and rabbits and planted tube stock to stabilise the creeks and saline areas. In 2000, funding from Greening Australia enabled them to fence part of the creek to limit damage by their grazing cattle, provide alternative water sources and protect areas of native bush.
Greening Australia project manager Jeni De Landre says she feels privileged to be part of Isabel and Simon's vision for Bundidgerry.
John brings to Greening Australia professional services leadership and corporate finance advisory experience gained working in Australia and across Asia.
John spent the majority of his working career with EY, including leading EYs Transaction Advisory Services business across the Asia-Pacific region living in Hong Kong.
John is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia and a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Job Titles:
- Business Consultant
- Member of the Board
Julie, a business consultant in strategy, governance and change management, has acted as an advisor to not-for-profits for over twenty years. She is a Fellow Chartered Accountant in Australia and the UK, Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of Leadership Victoria.
As well as sitting on the Greening Australia Board, she is a Non-Executive Director of RACV, Loddon Mallee Waste & Resource Recovery Board and Maldon Hospital.
Julie is currently a mentor to the Board of Windarring Disability and a mentor to a participant of the Bendigo "New and Emerging Leaders Program" run by Leadership Victoria.
Karen Lukins - Chief Legal Officer, Secretary
Job Titles:
- Company Secretary
- General Counsel
Karen is an experienced commercial lawyer, with particular expertise in property, contract and legal and regulatory compliance. Karen holds degrees in Science and Laws (Honours) from Monash University. She commenced her career in private practice at Herbert Geer & Rundle, now Thomson Geer, before pursuing commercial in-house counsel roles. Her in-house experience spans over 20 years across various sectors including financial services, media and entertainment and environment.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director Engagement
Kate has a background in stakeholder management and brand partnership and has worked across the not-for-profit, education and the commercial sector within and UK and Australia. In more recent years, Kate has moved into the environment and sustainability space - an area that reflects her personal interests and values.
She enjoys working at Greening Australia and being part of a collaborative culture where we genuinely create tangible change and long-term impact for the environment. Every day we are learning something new on our journey to tackle our biggest environmental problems and she believes that working in partnership with supporters and stakeholders is how we can create even bigger impact.
Outside of work Kate enjoys travel, reading, hiking in our beautiful and varied landscapes and keeping active with beach runs.
"Since I was a little boy, I've had a strong feeling toward land and country, and a connection to wild places. But going to school, there wasn't really an environment sector, and no career path to follow."
The conservation industry has come a long way since Martin Potts, our Program Specialist in Gippsland, was at school. Having no academic outlet for his passion for nature, he tried to study business at university, but left disheartened with the greed he felt was instilled in the training principles. Instead, Martin set off into the wilderness, living off bush foods for months on end. When he finally returned to the city, he realised how much he still had to learn about native plants so became a horticulture apprentice. Several more years of "walkabout", taught him how to grow plants in different conditions and climates.
By the time Martin had completed his extraordinary journey, the environmental field had started to take shape and after earning his degree, he was recruited by Greening Australia. Martin describes his work as "large-scale gardening and land-healing".
Neale and Lynette Griggs purchased Crooked Waterhole - 100 hectares of land at Giru, near Ayr in North Queensland - in 2015.
The property was an investment for their son Rodney and his children, but the land was in disrepair, having been neglected for decades by previous owners.
Neale and Lynette set about tirelessly cleaning up the property, clearing woody weeds and restoring the homestead.
The property also contains unique remnant habitat that drains into the Haughton River, but rafts of exotic weeks had taken over the creek, depleting the dissolved oxygen in the water so most native fish, including barramundi which previously thrived there, couldn't survive.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director Restoration
After working in Central Australia and the Goldfield region of WA as a stockman, Peter went onto complete a degree in Agribusiness at Monash University. He then managed the southern zone from Dubbo to Tasmania for Pivot Agriculture.
Peter has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the seed industry, having worked as the CEO and Managing Director of PPG Wrightson and Heritage Seeds, respectively.
Radha has had a 20-year career in driving capital markets toward investing in climate change solutions and sustainable development. She is motivated to ensure that sustainable land use is an integral part of the transition to a net-zero emissions economy.
With Greening Australia looking to meet ambitious 2030 goals through environmental markets and investment, Radha is an instrumental member of the board with her extensive experience in business development, strategy and capital raising.
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Robin is an experienced director, executive and commercial lawyer.
With a background in law, accounting and finance, the early days of her career were at KPMG followed by King & Wood Mallesons. She then moved into the mining and resources industry where she has over 17 years of commercial experience at an executive and board level. Robin was raised in the Great Southern region of Western Australia and retains a strong connection with the regions.
She is legal counsel for FMR Investments, a private mining group based in Perth and is also a non-executive director of Euroz Hartleys Group Limited.
Job Titles:
- Board Member & Chair of Thriving on Country Committee
Scott Anderson is a proud Birriah, Turrbal and Nywaigi descendant. He is Chair of Greening Australia's Thriving on Country Committee and a member of the Greening Australia Board. He is also the CEO of Many Nations Ltd which provides hostel accommodation and supports educational outcomes for some of the most disengaged and disadvantaged First Nations young people who are attending Silver Lining Schools in Queensland.
Scott specialises in business and strategic planning and utilises his community engagement skills to support business development, commercial enterprise and sustainable financial strategies for Indigenous businesses. He has a strong understanding of community, cultural and commercial implications for sustainable business modelling.
Scott has extensive experience in the Tourism, Agribusiness, Conservation and Land Management, Education, Vocational Education & Training (VET), Early Learning, Government and Community sectors and has the ability to incorporate innovation to support business development and sustainable growth strategies.