AMERICAN WORLDWIDE AGENCIES - Key Persons


Alex Knowles

Job Titles:
  • Director
Alex entered the industry as a management trainee with the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand allowing him to attend university whilst learning the industry position by position. This provided total immersion in the industry, including stints in stevedoring and at-sea time. This ultimately led to a position in the USA as EVP of one of the most innovative and profitable ocean carriers of its time. Alex was instrumental in creating and launching Australia New Zealand Direct Line. After creation of ANZDL, Alex moved back to New Zealand and was instrumental in leading the campaign to remove cabotage and driving the changes in the Tasman Accord. This resulted in dramatically lowering the cost of ocean transportation in these sectors. Following another stint realigning ANZDL, Alex chose to take on the role as COO of Direct Container Line ultimately leading to the formation of NACA and the Vanguard Group. After completing the integration of this group, he chose to take a more entrepreneurial path focused on building a range of businesses in the software and wider transportation sectors. Today Alex brings his range of expertise to AWA focusing on strategic direction and seeking enhancements for the group.

Donald Lamy

Job Titles:
  • North American Director of Air New Zealand Cargo

Graham Burford - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
As a young man in Australia, Graham Burford began his logistics career running documents around the Sydney airport. He quickly gained experience in every department of a retail freight forwarder before specializing in air and ocean freight consolidations from the United States to Asia. This experience took Graham to Asia in 2005, where he was a route development manager for one of Asia's largest international freight forwarding and logistics companies. In late 2007, Graham relocated to the U.S. to work with a U.S.-based air freight consolidator as vice president of sales. As a result of developing new trade lanes and expanding the company's footprint to new destinations, Graham oversaw a 40 percent revenue increase over his first five years. He now oversees business development and relationship management for AWA.

Jesse Maugle - VP

Job Titles:
  • Vice President
  • Vice President of AWA
Before opening the AWA Chicago office, Jesse Maugle got his start in 2006 as a customs clerk for a multinational freight forwarder in Sydney, Australia. After establishing a solid reputation and a wealth of hands-on experience, Jesse eagerly accepted the opportunity to move across the ocean to Los Angeles to broaden his skill set and knowledge of the U.S. marketplace. Excelling as a customer service agent in the competitive L.A. market and always looking for new challenges, Jesse moved to Chicago in 2009 to manage a large import account and later build a successful FAK program.

Peter Lamy - President

Job Titles:
  • President
Peter Lamy was raised in the cargo industry-his father, Donald Lamy, was North American Director of Air New Zealand Cargo. He took his first airline job on the ramp of Flying Tigers in the early '80s. Over the years, he managed airline cargo operations at the LAX airport for carriers such as Braniff, Amerijet, and Aeromexico. In 1991, Peter made the switch from airline operations to wholesale freight forwarding in the South Pacific. In 1994, he was the first employee of a new wholesale forwarder that focused primarily on the New Zealand and Australian lane trade. By the time he departed the company in 2012, Peter had grown the company into a global forwarder. Peter has amassed a wealth of relationships and knowledge over the years, and he leverages all of them to the benefit of his customers at AWA.

Regina March - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer
Regina is a CPA with over 20 years of diverse experience in the freight forwarding and logistics industries as controller and CFO. Regina has a proven track record in implementing effective systems, strategies and processes to improve organizational performance for the benefit of AWA's customers. Regina and her financial team work closely with AWA's customers and vendors to ensure that both payables and receivables are handled in an efficient and accurate manner.