2023 WiBF National Industry Awards – Judges Panel

Brian Hartzer

Company Director, Advisor, and Investor

An experienced executive, leadership mentor and investor who is Chairman of Beforepay, an ASX-listed salary advance business; 2Be, a new specialty lender that helps parents help their children get onto the property ladder; and Reejig, an AI-based HR technology startup. He is also President of the Australian Museum Trust, a senior advisor to Quantium and an angel investor in and advisor to several fintech and technology start-ups.

Previously Brian was CEO of the Westpac Banking Group from 2015 to 2019. Prior to that he spent 15 years in senior executive roles at Westpac, RBS, and ANZ, and ten years as a consultant with First Manhattan Consulting Group.

Brian’s book, The Leadership Star: A Practical Guide to Building Engagement, was published by Wiley in 2021.

Brian graduated from Princeton University with a degree in European History and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Ian Saines

Non-Executive Director, Deputy Chair

Ian has had an extensive executive career in investment and commercial banking, and asset management. His executive roles included Chief Executive — Funds Management at Challenger Limited, Group Executive – Institutional Banking and Markets at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Managing Director at Zurich Capital Markets Asia and Executive Vice President at Bankers Trust Australia plus various roles at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Ian is currently a non-executive director of Macquarie Bank Limited, non-executive director of Treasury Corporation of NSW (TCorp), independent non-executive director of Air Lease Corporation (a Los Angeles based public listed company), Deputy Chair of American Australian Association Limited and Deputy Chair of the United States Study Centre at the University of Sydney. He was formerly a director of Father Chris Riley’s Youth off the Streets and a director of Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA).

Ian is currently a member of the Salvation Army’s Sydney Corporate and Philanthropic Council and a member of the advisory committee of Catholic Schools Broken Bay (CSBB).

Ian earned a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with first-class honours from the University of New South Wales and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD).

Kyle Loades

Chairman, Non-Executive Director, Advisor

Kyle is a Chairman, Non-Executive Director and Advisor with more than two decades of experience across the commercial, community and public sectors. He has a particular interest and experience in the transformation of business facing disruption. Kyle is currently Chair of Active Super, a Non-Executive Director of AMA Group (ASX:AMA)& Great Southern Bank, Chair of HMRI (Hunter Medical Research Institute) and a Conjoint Professor of Practice at the Newcastle Business School at University of Newcastle.

In 2017 Kyle completed a three-and-a-half-year term as Chairman of the NRMA where he directed a period of significant cultural and operational change requiring considerable strategy and risk expertise. Kyle is the former Chair of the Australian Transformation and Turnaround Association In an executive capacity he established, grew and managed an independent car broking business that disrupted the motor vehicle retail industry. The company was purchased by ASX listed A.P Eagers.

Kyle is a Fellow of the AICD and AusTTA, has completed an MBA at University of Newcastle, a Harvard Business School Certificate in Disruptive Strategy, a Transformation Leadership Program at ANU, a Diploma of Superannuation at AIST and Professional Banking Fundamentals at Finsia.

Anna Cesarano

Chief Executive Officer

Doltone House Catering and Venue Collection

Anna Cesarano is the CEO of Doltone House catering and venue collection, awarded second generation NSW Family Business of the year in 2009. The business comprises six NSW venue locations, 40 event spaces and the brand celebrated 50 golden years in 2019. As a Family Business Australia NSW Board Member from 2014-2017, she participated as a mentor in the Family Business Australia Next Generation mentoring programme. In 2014, inducted into the Hall of Fame as Meeting and Event Australia’s Specialty Venue group. Anna is the co-founder of the Biaggio Signorelli Foundation, honouring her late father and founder of the business, to raise funds for a cure and research into Mesothelioma (asbestos cancer), raising almost $8million in 12 years.

Cathryn Lyall

Partner, Seed Space VC

Cathryn is a highly experienced senior executive, Board member and strategic adviser with over 34 years of experience across capital markets, finance, banking, government and fintech in Australia and the United Kingdom. She is a Partner at Seed Space Venture Capital, the Co-Founder of not-for-profit Seed Money Australia, and a NED for numerous Boards including Wisr (ASX: WZR), national industry body Fintech Australia, and several start-up and scale-up fintechs domestically and in the UK.

Cathryn’s extensive experience in the Australian and British Financial Services sectors includes roles at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange. Most notably, as Non-Executive Director Deutsche Bank UK Bank, sitting on the Bank’s Board Risk Committee (BRC), the Listed Derivatives Risk and Compliance Committee (LDRCC), and the Nomination Committee as Chair post the GFC at a particularly challenging time for global Banks.

She is a vocal advocate for diversity at all levels of Financial Services and has mentored numerous women in Capital Markets as well as emerging fintech entrepreneurs.

She has been named in the Financial News Top 100 Women, Innovate Finance Top 100 Women in Fintech and Top 35 Women in Fintech Investment, and is a mentor for Aspiring Rare Birds. She has twin 9 year olds, is a former slalom canoeist, and juggles work and life from Kiama, NSW.

Fiona David GAICD FRSA

CEO and Founder, Adviser and Board Member

Fiona is CEO and founder of Fair Futures, specialists in the “S” in ESG. As a globally renowned executive, lawyer and researcher, Fiona has an impressive track record of driving human rights outcomes through evidence-led collaborations with government, intergovernmental organisations and business. Career highlights include creating the Global Slavery Index, brokering multi-stakeholder partnerships to generate the UN global estimates of modern slavery, and influencing the passage of the Modern Slavery Act in the UK and Australia.

Fiona has provided strategic and technical advice on the build of indices covering issues as diverse as single-use plastics, overfishing and Indigenous employment. Fiona is a Non-Executive Director of the Coolaroo Foundation, ACCESS-NRI (Australia’s weather and climate systems simulator), and Alternative to Nicola Forrest, on the Forrest Research Foundation Board of Governors. Fiona is a Member of Chief Executive Women, and part of the Leadership Development Committee.

Fiona Trigona

Executive General Manager, Group Treasurer at NBN Co.

Fiona has been NBN Co Group Treasurer since March 2021 and is responsible for driving the strategic direction of funding activities, growing NBN Co’s investor base and running a broad range of funding programs. In her previous role, Fiona was Head of Funding and Balance Sheet for NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp), where she was responsible for the management and funding of the $100bn Balance Sheet.

Her career highlights include the issuance of NBN’s inaugural Green Bond issue. The A$800m transaction represents the largest AUD green bond offering by an Australian corporate on record. This was recently followed by NBN’s inaugural EUR1.35bn ($A2.1bn) Green bond in the European market which was the largest Green Bond issued in any currency by an Australian corporate issuer to date.

She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney, majoring in Pure Mathematics and Chemistry, and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia (FINSIA). In addition to her accreditation with the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA), she was a member of the AFMA Market Governance Committee and AFMA Professionalism Committee and a former chair of the NSW Sustainability Bond Committee. Her passion for the profession also extends to championing diversity and development and as well as being a regular panellist and speaker at events like the Women in Banking and Finance Conference, she is an experienced mentor and has participated in a number of internal and industry programs.

Holly Kramer

Non-Executive Director, MAICD

Holly is a full time Non-executive Director and Chief Executive, with extensive experience in retail and consumer markets across a range of industries. She has long been an advocate for gender equality, business ethics/culture and sustainability. She is the former CEO of Australian retailer Best & Less and has more than 25 years’ experience in general management and marketing, including roles at Telstra, Pacific Brands and Ford Motor Company (in the US and Australia.) Holly is the recipient of the Sir Charles McGrath Award for a distinguished career in Marketing.

Holly currently sits on a range of listed, unlisted and not for profit organisations. Her portfolio includes the board of the ANZ Group Holdings (ASX:ANZ/from August 1) and Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW), where she chairs the board’s Sustainability Committee. She also sits on the boards of New Zealand dairy cooperative, Fonterra (ASX/NZX:FSF) and Agritech start-up Nbryo. Holly is a Pro Chancellor of Western Sydney University and sits on the board of indigenous scholarship NFP, the GO (Goodes-O’Loughlin) Foundation.

In addition to her Board roles, Holly is a Senior Advisor at Pollination Group, a Climate Investment and Advisory Firm and she sits on the Bain & Company Advisory Council. Holly’s previous governance roles included the Boards of Australia Post, where she was Deputy Chair, The Lendi Group, which she Chaired, along with Endeavour Group, Nine Entertainment, AMP, Abacus Property and 2XU.

Dr Juliet Bourke

Human Capital Advisor, Board Member

Dr Juliet Bourke is a Professor of Practice in the Business School at the University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia, workplace advisor and board member. Formerly a partner in Human Capital at Deloitte and founder, she continues to advise global organisations on diversity, equity and inclusion, particularly inclusive leadership and interpersonal inclusion.

She is well known for her thought leadership and has regularly published in the Harvard Business Review and spoken at TEDx. Her most recent book is entitled “Which two heads are better than one? The extraordinary power of diversity of thinking and inclusive leadership”.

Melanie Willis

Non-Executive Director, Chair, Board Member

Melanie Willis is an experienced Non-Executive Director and currently serves as Chair of QBE AusPac (ASX:QBE) and is on the Boards of Challenger Limited (ASX:CGF), PEXA Limited (ASX:PXA) and PayPal Australia. Melanie chairs the Risk Committee at Challenger and Audit and Risk at PEXA and Remuneration and Audit at PayPal Australia. Melanie’s experience as a Director includes global fin tech and platform players, building new revenue streams for businesses facing disruption, transitioning businesses from singular product focus to a broader purposed led strategy, offshore expansion and mergers and acquisitions.

Melanie has a strong connection to the start-up community acting as an Adviser and Advocate. She is an Investor and Advisory Board member on the facial recognition company, Noahface, prop tech investment group, Taronga Group Ventures, and an Investment Committee member of venture capital group, Tidal Ventures. She is an Adviser to The Big Issue on growth strategies and investments. Melanie was NSW Chapter Chair of Chief Executive Women and Chair of the Education Committee for the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) 30% Club. Melanie has held a number of senior leadership roles including CEO, NRMA Investments, with responsibility for NRMA’s $900m Investment portfolio, tourism and leisure subsidiaries and venture fund (including investments in Sendle, Airtasker and Campify), Group strategy and innovation. Prior to this she was CEO of a consumer credit start up and held senior executive roles in corporate and structured finance at Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust.

Her core skills include strategy, innovation, mergers and acquisitions, investment, capital allocation, finance and risk.

Michael Dwyer AM, FAICD, FASFA

Michael is Patron of Australia for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) after 22 years as a Director. He is also Chair of NSW TCorp and Member of Board Investment, Audit and Risk and People and Remuneration Committees. Chair of Bennelong Funds Management, Director of Iress Limited and the Sydney Financial Forum, and a member of the ASIC Consultative Panel (ACP).

Michael has more than 30 years’ experience in the superannuation and Investment sectors. He was CEO of First State Super (now Aware Super, one of Australia’s largest super funds) for 14 years, and was also General Manager of NSW industry super fund ASSET Super for 10 years. He is a former Director and now Life Member of the Association of Super Funds of Australia (ASFA) and a founding Director and Life Member of Fund Executive Association (FEAL).

Peter Cook

Executive Director, Non-Executive Director

Peter is an Executive Director of public listed Novatti Group Limited (ASX:NOV), a Non-Executive Director of International Bank of Australia Pty Ltd and an Executive Director of AUDC Pty Ltd with its multi-chain AUDD stablecoin. Peter’s career has been largely based on founding and leading fast growth telecommunications and payments companies in Australia, Canada, Africa and Asia. Peter is a regular speaker and thought leader on entrepreneurship, innovation, digital transformation and payments.

Peter is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon; has completed a BSc (UNSW), a Grad Dip Computing (Canberra) and the Graduate Diploma in Securities course from the Securities Institute of Australia. Peter is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Sally Loane

Chairman and Non-Executive Director, Former Business Executive, Journalist, Broadcaster

The former CEO of the Financial Services Council, Sally is Chairman of Destination NSW, a Director of Chubb Insurance Australia; the Garvan Foundation and PanKind, the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Research Foundation and a former Director of Venues NSW. She is a member of the Advisory Board of Orizontas and a mentor with McCarthy Mentoring.

Sally was the first female Director of Waratahs Rugby in its 135-year history and served on the board of SCEGGS Darlinghurst. After 25 years as a journalist and broadcaster with 702ABC Sydney Radio, The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian, she worked as a corporate affairs executive with Coca-Cola Amatil.

Sally uses her experience in financial services policy development to advocate for women to become financially independent, through mentoring elite female athletes through the Minerva Network and elite female STEM professionals in the Super Stars of STEM program. She was an advisor to the NSW Council for Women’s Economic Opportunity and the NSW Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Assault Corporate Leadership Group.

She has had a long history of service to the community, currently serving as a Trustee of the ANZAC Memorial Building in NSW; Governor of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation; Global Ambassador for Business Events Sydney; a member of Chief Executive Women; patron of Lou’s Place and sits on the Nominations Committee for Sydney University Sport and Fitness Ltd. Sally chaired the Salvation Army’s Sydney East Doorknock Appeal and was Deputy Chair of the Committee for Sydney.

Vincent Chin

Group Head of Treasury, Goodman Group

Vincent Chin was appointed to the position of Group Head of Treasury at Goodman Group in 2005. Goodman Treasury is made up of 5 Treasury professionals in London, Brussels and in Sydney. It has a strong focus on Capital Management and Planning focusing on strategic management of debt, liquidity and financial markets risk. It manages exposures in EURO, GBP, USD, RMB, JPY HKD, NZD and BRL with a debt portfolio of over A$14.5bn. Goodman and its managed partnerships are active debt issuers in the Australian, New Zealand, US, Asian and Euromarkets tapping the US144a, private placements and using local and Euro MTN Programs.

Vincent has over than 20 years experience in financial markets and treasury management spanning banking, property and construction. He is also a member of the MBA Advisory Board, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.

He has a Masters of Business (Accounting and Finance) and completed his Bachelor of Business from UTS in 1995. He is married with two children and interests include sport, travel and reading.

Virginia Malley, Non-Executive Director

BA, MAppFin, Juris Doctor, GradDipEnvLaw, LLM, FAICD

Virginia Malley is currently a Non-Executive Director of icare and Perpetual Equity Investment Co Ltd (ASX:PIC), Chair of the Review Panel of the Australian Carbon Industry Code Of Conduct, and Chair of Pinnacle Fund Services and Bell Asset Management Compliance Committees.

Virginia Malley has over 30 years of experience in financial services and environmental markets, corporate governance, risk management and regulatory compliance. Virginia has previously served on the boards of NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, Macquarie Investment Management Ltd, Perpetual Superannuation Limited, the Clean Energy Regulator, Morphic Ethical Equities Fund Ltd and the Nature Conservation Trust of NSW. In her executive career, she was the Chief Risk Officer at Macquarie Funds Management Group, overseeing risk management of portfolios worth more than $85 billion and invested in clean technologies, publicly traded debt securities, listed equities, derivatives, currencies and private equity.