COLONY 47 - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Senior Finance Leader
Amy is a senior finance leader with over 20 years of experience in the finance industry and Energy sectors, having worked across various finance and leadership roles during that time. She is currently working in the role of Leader Finance at TasNetworks, a position she has held for the past six years.
Amy is a Chartered Accountant and graduate of the Tasmanian Leaders Program. A proud Tasmanian who enjoys connecting with others and is passionate about using collaborative leadership to enable people to become the best version of themselves.
Angela joined Colony 47 in November of 2019 and brought with her a broad range of experience across the hospitality, corporate, vocational and higher education sectors, spanning over 20 years. Her primary focus has been business, strategy, HR and operational management within these industries which she is now applying in the community services context.
Angela holds a Bachelor of Business Management degree from the University of Tasmania and she is passionate about her involvement within the community and supporting Tasmanians to achieve their goals in life.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chair
- Executive Manager at the Tasmanian Health Service
Anne-Marie is Executive Manager at the Tasmanian Health Service. Her qualifications include a Master of Public Health, MB BSc, B Bus, and she is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management and Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Clare Pearson commenced as Colony 47's Chief Impact Officer in June 2023 having worked in suicide prevention for close to a decade with both OzHelp Tasmania Foundation (as Executive Officer) and Lifeline Tasmania (as Deputy CEO).
Clare holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (Theatre/Media) from Charles Sturt University and spent more than thirteen years in a variety of roles within performing arts organisations in Hobart, Melbourne and Edinburgh.
Clare is passionate about harnessing the power of interpersonal connection and collaborating with others to support a connected, thriving Tasmanian community.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the National Youth Employment Body
Dianne Underwood was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Colony 47 in February 2023.
Dianne brings a broad range of experience over 25 years across insurance, law, utilities, tourism, and hospitality sectors. Dianne's main areas of practice include strategic planning, business transformation, change management, employee, and customer experience management. Dianne has played a leadership role in various corporate organisations and on various committees and Boards and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Dianne is currently a Director on the Board of Metro Tasmania.
Dianne is a member of the National Youth Employment Body, the Tasmanian Youth Employment Alliance, Housing Connect Collaborating Partners Group, and a member of the Ministerial Working Group on Housing.
Dianne is passionate about improving the social and economic outcomes for all young Tasmanians and believes that everyone deserves an opportunity to showcase their talents and skills.
Harry McKee was born in Northern Ireland. He showed tremendous fortitude establishing himself after the tragic death of his own father when he was 12, which plunged the family into poverty. Harry left school to labour on his father's foreclosed farm, the youngest children went to orphanages and old Nan went into service. Harry took on a mortgage while still a teenager to rebuy the farm and reunite the family. He lived and died on that small farm in Castlecliff.
Josh is a Social Impact professional, with expertise in housing, employment and positive mental health outcomes. He is the founder of the Just Be Nice Project; integrating, managing and co-ordinating social impact outcomes for non-profit, community and for-profit organisations across the globe. With a wide variety of professional and entrepreneurial experience across multiple industries, Josh is passionate about helping people, help people.
Louise is a Tasmanian born, Melbourne trained corporate and commercial lawyer who has advised clients in the energy and resources sectors for over 20 years. While working at leading law firms in Melbourne, Perth, London and Dublin Louise maintained her strong ties to Tasmania and returned home to live in Hobart in 2018.
She is actively involved with Dress for Success and a number of other community, arts and social justice initiatives and brings to the Colony 47 Board an international perspective and wide ranging legal and commercial experience.
Margaret Jean Colville was born in Victoria on 21 July 1943. She met her husband Jim at a Melbourne church, where he was a minister in training and Margaret a member of the choir. They moved to Tasmania in 1967. They have four children.
Margaret was committed to her community. Her involvement became even more focused after the birth of her third child who has Down syndrome. Her drive for services and support for parents of children with Down syndrome led her to establish Towers Incorporated, a multifunctional service for people with special needs; Toy Town, a toy library for children with disabilities; and the Down Syndrome Association of Tasmania.
Margaret was a strong advocate for people with special needs. For many years, doctors referred parents of newly born Down syndrome babies to meet Margaret. She passed her skill onto others who continue this work today.
In 1973, Margaret assisted her husband Jim when he founded Colony 47. She held office both nationally and locally with the Australian Association of Special Education and Down Syndrome Association. She also was President of the Hobart Zonta Club.
Margaret served on the Guardianship and Administration Board of Tasmania for ten years, before being appointed Deputy Public Guardian in the Office of the Public Guardian in 1998. She brought to the role her supportive and warm personality as well as her immense insight into the needs of those with special needs.
Margaret also served on the Colony 47 Board for 19 years.
Margaret, and Jim spent ten years restoring their historic home ‘Bangalor' in Bagdad. The cottage and gardens are often visited by community groups for fundraising purposes.
Mel has been working in the ICT industry for over 25 years and has held many senior roles including Chief Information Officer at Aurora Energy and ICT Leader at TasNetworks.
In 2016 she started her own ICT Advisory and Project consultancy business in Hobart, Ignite Project Services which currently employs ten people and has contracts with large Government departments and Government owned entities.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Non - Executive Director
- Senior Executive
Norm is an experienced senior executive and non-executive director across the energy, infrastructure and community sectors. Building on his early career in the Australian and international utility sectors, Norm progressed his career in Tasmania over the past 20 years, with CEO roles including Aurora Energy, two major Government Departments and major Aged Care provider, OneCare Limited. In parallel to his executive career, Norm has gained extensive non-executive director and management consulting experience across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
Job Titles:
- Acting Housing Solutions Manager
Olivia joined Colony 47 in 2012, bringing a range of experience from the hospitality and tourism sectors. Olivia has worked in roles across the housing division since 2015, leading the Housing Connect Front Door program since 2016. Olivia utilises her frontline experience in housing and youth programs to ensure that we deliver services in a way that is community centred and keeps people at the forefront of everything we do.
Olivia holds a Bachelor of Arts and Graduate Certificate in Public Policy from the University of Tasmania and is passionate about working with the whole of community towards ensuring all Tasmanians are safely and affordably housed.
Sophie has dedicated her career to addressing complex issues across the nexus of disadvantage, education, community wellbeing, climate and biodiversity. She has scaled positive impact and business growth locally, and within the Asia Pacific, the United States and Europe.
Sophie's governance experience spans not for profit, education, government and business. She brings client and customer-centricity, commitment to innovation, commercial acumen, cultural awareness, and expertise overseeing technology transformation. Sophie enjoys connecting people committed to making a difference with solutions to some of our community's most challenging problems.
Toby has over 15 years experience working in service delivery and management roles across youth and family programs, including 9 years working within Colony 47 youth programs.
Toby joined our executive team in 2023 to support our youth programs to design and deliver models of services that best meet the needs of young people in our community.
Toby holds a Bachelor of Social Work and is passionate about best practice that is informed and led by the young people we work with.
Tony is an accomplished executive leader known for his transformative work in infrastructure strategy, development and operations. With a career spanning 30+ years, he has consistently delivered innovative solutions that drive positive customer and community outcomes.
In addition to his corporate achievements, Tony has been a dedicated supporter of community development. He channels his passion into empowering junior and senior sporting organisations, mentoring individuals and fostering collaboration between organisations. Leveraging his expertise, he's assisted with developing sporting facilities that not only elevate performance but also unite communities.
Tony enjoys seeing the positive impact that people who care can make on the longer-term outcomes within the community and is dedicated in assisting those who are disadvantaged to make positive steps to improve their lives.