SUSTAINABILITY VICTORIA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Treasurer of the Board of Bus Projects
Christine is a CPA-qualified corporate services leader with a passion for driving shared business services. With extensive leadership experience in both public and not-for-profit sectors, she has deep expertise in driving change and managing transformational projects. Christine has worked in partnership with board, executive and leadership teams at RISING Melbourne and Department of Education and Training, Victoria to build organisational strategies, budgets, investment opportunities, information systems and facilities.
Christine is a passionate gardener and loves all things green and growing. Outside of work, Christine is the Treasurer of the Board of Bus Projects, a leading artist-led contemporary art space.
CEO Claire Ferres Miles provided a comprehensive report of program delivery against milestones. Despite challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions currently in place, programs are tracking well and are largely on schedule.
ABC Radio has invited Claire Ferres Miles to be a regular guest on Libbi Gorr's Saturday morning program ‘This Weekend Life'. A recent interview covered ‘alternatives to plastic - the storage rather than the food, and what is being researched? Staying ahead of the curve'. The next interview is scheduled for Saturday 29 October.
Job Titles:
- Manager Office of the CEO
Dionne is passionate about working with people and organisations to achieve strong outcomes for the Victorian community. She believes an effective public service delivers sound policy, which helps make Victoria a great state.
Over the past 15 years, she has held a range of roles largely in the environment portfolio. These have given her valuable insights in the workings of government from roles as a ministerial adviser through to acting chief of staff.
Her work includes: renewing the Victorian Landcare Program and the environmental response to the 2019/20 bushfires; resolving longstanding challenges for Government, including the plan to permanently end native timber harvesting and landmark additions to Victoria's National Parks.
Dionne has an Executive Masters in Public Administration and bachelor degrees in Public Policy and Management (Honours) and Arts (majoring in Political Science and English).
From starting out in zoology and animal behaviour, Emily has spent over 15 years working in education, science communication, behaviour change and insights. Her work has taken her from zoos to schools to humanitarian organisations and finally state government.
She loves working out why people do the things they do, and how we can help our communities take on more pro-environmental action - in ways that make sense to them. The Strategy, Research and Growth group's role is to ensure Sustainability Victoria's programs are data-driven, future ready and responsive to emergent trends, opportunities, and risks.
Job Titles:
- Director of Industry and Infrastructure
Focusing on driving change for the future, Gwyneth has spent more than 20 years in the water, natural resource management, energy, and climate change space. Before coming to Sustainability Victoria, Gwyneth has held executive positions in Australia and New Zealand. She also spent more than 10 years with Melbourne Water, where she played an integral role in improving their strategic direction and sector leadership outcomes.
Gwyneth is passionate about channelling her values into her professional practice, motivating her to work towards better environmental and social outcomes.
Job Titles:
- Director People, Partnerships and Communications
Hannah is a values-driven, empathetic public sector leader who is motivated by making large scale changes in the community. For over 20 years, Hannah has been a trusted advisor to executive teams within the Victoria Public Service, in strategy and communications, engagement and leadership.
Hannah is passionate about storytelling and putting people at the centre of an organisation's vision and goals. She is a creative visionary with a results-driven mindset, enabling cross-functional teams to deliver solutions that have the stakeholder's needs in mind.
Hannah leads the People, Performance and Communications group at Sustainability Victoria. The group's role is to set SV staff up for success to realise their full potential in delivering impact through the SV2030 strategy and to inspire change by telling the story of our impact.
Mr Scheffer brings considerable knowledge and experience in government policy, program management and public administration. Throughout his career he has made it a priority to engage directly with the communities and organisations affected by government decision-making and has actively engaged in local campaigns.
His work as an MP involved legislation, advocacy and, as chair of Joint Investigatory Committees, directing research and consultation with communities and experts, across Australia and internationally.
Mr Scheffer has a longstanding engagement in environment policy, and during his time as the Member for Eastern Victoria worked with communities and organisations on a broad range of environment issues, including forestry, farming, water, coasts and the uncertain future of the coal industry in the LaTrobe Valley and the impact this would have on the local community and on Victoria as a whole.
Job Titles:
- Secretary of the Department of Environment
Judi Harris brings expertise in education and local government with a strong focus on community engagement. She is a former Mildura Rural City councillor (2008-2016) and held the council's environmental sustainability portfolio from 2012 to 2016.
Judi has held numerous board and committee memberships in arts, education and sustainability, including five years as Deputy Chair of the former Mildura Regional Waste Management Group. Her 36-year education career included secondary education, eight years as an enhancement tutor in communication and media studies at Monash University, and educational consulting in the United States of America for four years. Judi holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Secondary Teachers Certificate. Judi is a member of the Board's Performance and Culture and Audit Risk and Finance Committees.
Judith Landsberg has founded and led educational and environmental initiatives, delivered complex climate and energy projects to industry and government, and she has an ongoing interest in innovation in the energy sector.
Judith's experience includes leading a project for the Bureau of Meteorology to provide tailored climate information to the electricity sector for climate risk analysis, and leading the City of Melbourne Low Carbon Future team, including delivering the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project.
She ran Greenrock, a leading sustainability non-profit in Bermuda that provided environmental education and sustainability advocacy, bringing an award-winning, UN-endorsed, environmental education program to Bermuda's schools. She also has experience in education, having taught high school. She was also manager of scholarships for the General Sir John Monash Foundation.
Judith is an experienced non-profit director. She has a Bachelor of Science in Physics from ANU, a PhD in Physics from Oxford University, and a Master of Environmental Leadership from Duke University. She is a fellow of the Institute of Community Directors Australia (ICDA).
Job Titles:
- Co - Director Regions and Community Action
Katie is passionate about inspiring and empowering collective action to create a positive future for people and the natural world. Before coming to Sustainability Victoria, Katie led Zoos Victoria's transformation to a world leader in community action, behaviour change and education, including overseeing development of a five-year Community Action Masterplan and award-winning behaviour change campaigns.
Katie has a strong interest in human rights issues and worked with the Governor of Victoria to create the Peace & Prosperity Kitchen Garden Program for refugee and migrant women. Since arriving at SV, Katie has focused on building SV's ability to inspire action and deliver measurable impact to create a sustainable future.
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Kerry's strengths lie in corporate and operational leadership, strategic planning, financial acumen and positive organisational change. Kerry is the Managing Partner of a mentoring consultancy, The Leader's Mentor. Previous to that he was the Chief Executive Officer of Court Services Victoria.
Prior roles include, the Chief Executive and Manager Director of CityWide Services (2001-2015), an environmental, civil engineering and recycling operation, owned by the City of Melbourne. Earlier he was the founding Chief Executive Officer of Excell Corporation Australia (1996-2001) delivering open-space services, facilities management, and civil engineering services to local governments across Eastern Australia.
Kerry is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and sits on 4 other boards, one as Chair and the others as a non-executive director. Kerry chairs the Sustainability Victoria Board's Audit, Risk and Finance Committee.
Mark Wakeham has over 2 decades experience working on climate and sustainability policy, campaigns and communications. He is an experienced board director, CEO and changemaker.
Mark has held leadership roles in the Australian environment and union movements including as CEO of Environment Victoria and a Senior Policy Advisor on Climate and Energy for the Australian Council of Trade Unions. Mark has deep expertise on climate, energy and sustainability issues, systems and solutions. He currently works as the Australian Program Director for The Sunrise Project, a climate strategy and philanthropy organisation and is a Board Director of the Energy and Water Ombudsman of Victoria.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts (History) and Commerce (Economics) and a Graduate Diploma in Adult Education. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to study successful energy transitions.
Matt is driven by the potential for the world to make positive change. He has spent some 20 years working in the sustainability sector, with a particular bent for delivering a best practice waste and recycling sector that brings true circularity to our material usage.
Matt has spent time in consulting, the not-for-profit sector and more than eight years with SV.
Job Titles:
- Head of Sustainability for Vicinity Centres
Meredith Banks brings diverse experience to the Board of Sustainability Victoria, after more than 20 years working with public and private sector organisations to champion sustainability and the environment. Meredith's expertise leading holistic sustainability strategies, seamlessly integrated into corporate business strategy, provides her with a unique perspective on delivering value through sustainability.
Currently the Head of Sustainability for Vicinity Centres, Meredith is working to embed sustainability into every facet of one of Australia's leading property portfolios. Meredith's delivery of business, social and environmental sustainability programs, has positioned Vicinity as one of the world's most sustainable retail Real Estate Investment Trusts.
Prior to her time at Vicinity, Meredith was a Director at Treasury Wine Estates where she led the development and direction of their global corporate responsibility program. She has also held sustainability and environmental roles with Metcash, Lion Group and Visy. After working for industry body and public sector organisations, Australian Food & Grocery Council - Packaging Stewardship Forum and EcoRecycle Victoria, Meredith also has an acute understanding of public practice and advocacy.
Neil Pharaoh has more than fifteen years of domestic and international experience in campaigning, advocacy and stakeholder engagement. He is an experienced Senior Consulting Executive, advising and consulting to improve strategy, impact, outcomes and engagement across the social purpose and business sectors.
Before consulting, Neil worked in various senior fundraising, marketing, communications, campaigns and government relations roles including education and child welfare and, internationally, in geopolitical risk and international aid and development organisations.
Neil currently serves as director for a number of philanthropic, health and education organisations. He has a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Marketing) and Bachelor of Laws from the Australian National University and is a Graduate of the Australia Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). Neil is a member of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee.
Job Titles:
- Acting CEO
- Co - Director Regions and Community Action
Paul has worked in the sustainability field for more than 25 years. He comes to Sustainability Victoria from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, where he has been leading work streams on policy and programs addressing energy sustainability, affordability, reliability and security since 2016. Paul was CEO of the Moreland Energy Foundation Limited for over 8 years and worked for 10 years with Sustainability Victoria (mainly with predecessor organisations).
Paul also delivers a subject at RMIT University in the Masters of Renewable Energy Engineering program - The social, environmental and economic context of sustainable energy. Paul is excited to be at SV to work with the Victorian community to achieve net zero carbon emissions and build a circular economy.
Acting CEO Paul Murfitt provided a detailed report of program delivery against milestones and the continued focus on programs to improve kerbside recycling and collection for local councils. The Board heard the challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions currently in place have impacted staff resilience. To address this and support staff Sustainability Victoria has implemented additional health and wellbeing initiatives. The Board supported these efforts and appreciates the extraordinary efforts of staff over the past 2 years. The Board also recognised the need to maintain Sustainability Victoria's competitive advantage as an employer of choice across the Victorian Public Service.
Job Titles:
- Board Member and Chair of the Performance and Culture Committee
Sarah McDowell has 15 years experience in energy policy and regulation in Australia.
Currently serving as a Commissioner at Energy Safe Victoria and as a consultant, she has extensive experience in developing and implementing policies and programs focused on enabling renewable energy in our grid and driving energy efficient outcomes in our industries and communities.
Prior to commencing her Commission appointment, Sarah led the energy division at Victoria's utility regulator, the Essential Services Commission. During this time, Sarah oversaw both a record growth in licenses issued to renewable energy generators and the reform of our electricity network rules to enable more distributed energy resources across Victoria's grid.
Sarah's other roles include advising government on energy efficiency policies, including the Victorian Energy Upgrades program. She has also worked at the Australian Energy Regulator, advising its board for six years on regulatory matters. Sarah holds qualifications in economics, politics and law.