Find out more about the Board of Governors and the staff of The Ian Potter Foundation.
Chairman
BCom(Hons) Melb MBA Columbia Hon LLD Melb Hon LLD Monash
Governor since 1987, Chairman since 1994
Mr Goode is the Chairman of the Boards of Diversified United Investment Limited (since 1991), and is Chairman Emeritus of Flagstaff Partners (having been Chairman 2010 – 2019).
In February 2010 he retired as Chairman of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group; in July 2007 as Chairman of Woodside Petroleum Ltd after serving as a director for 19 years and as Chairman for 8 years.
Mr Goode was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in June 2001. He is a Life Member of Philanthropy Australia.
Governor
BCom(Hons) Melb MBA Harvard CPA FFin
Governor since 2013
Tony Burgess is Chairman of Flagstaff Partners, an independent corporate finance advisory firm.
Mr Burgess has over 30 years of experience in corporate finance in Melbourne, London and New York. He is a Director of the listed investment company, Diversified United Investment Limited, a Director of Melbourne Business School Limited, Chairman of the Melbourne Foundation for Business and Economics.
He is a member of CPA Australia and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.
Governor
FMedSci FTSE FAHMS(Hon) MB BS MD (UTAS) DSc (Melb) MBA (UQ) Dipl Clin Sci (Adel) FRACP FRCPE FRCP FAAN
Governor since 2021
Professor Sir Edward Byrne was appointed to the Foundation's Board of Governors in April 2021. Prior to his appointment, Professor Byrne was the President and Principal of King’s College London, and Chairman of King’s Health Partners from 2014 – 2021.
At King’s College, Professor Byrne established a new university mission and vision for 2029 and significantly increased the range of degrees and programmes available to students. Professor Byrne also founded the King’s Business School and through his work and connections with industry and business, King’s College has grown its global links as well as partnerships within London.
Governor
B.Com LL.B (Hons) Melb Hon LLD Melbourne and Monash Universities
Governor since 2016
After completing his degrees Alex Chernov practised as a barrister for over 30 years in commercial law and equity and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1980.
He became Chairman of the Victorian Bar, Vice President of the Australian Bar Association and, later, President of the Law Council of Australia and Vice President of LawAsia.
In 2009 he was elected as Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2008 and a Companion of the Order in 2012.
Alex Chernov was sworn in Victoria’s 28th Governor in 2011 and as deputy to the Governor-General in 2014.
Governor
BA Melb LLB Syd PostGradDipHist Melb HonDUniv ACU
Governor since 2015
Susan Crennan was appointed to the High Court of Australia in November 2005. She had then served for almost two years as a judge on the Federal Court. Before then, Susan Crennan was a barrister for 24 years, 14 of them as one of her Majesty’s Counsel (Queen’s Counsel).
She has been a member and chair of several committees of the Victorian Bar and the University of Melbourne, including serving as Deputy‑Chancellor of the University. In 2008 she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia.
Governor
FRACI FAIMM Hon DSc Curtin Hon DSc UQ Hon DUniv UniSA
Governor since 2007
Mr Davis has many years of experience in resource management, both in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and the United Kingdom, serving more than 40 years with Rio Tinto Plc at which he held a number of managerial posts around the world, ultimately as Chief
Governor
BSc(Hons) Melb PhD Melb
Governor since 2021
Professor Karen Day was appointed to the Foundation's Board of Governors in September 2021. Professor Day is an infectious disease epidemiologist dedicated to improving global public health. She is a founder of the scientific discipline of malaria genomic epidemiology.
Professor Day is also an experienced educator and academic administrator in medicine and science and has held senior leadership posts in universities in the UK, US and Australia. She is an Emeritus Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, having been one of the first women science “dons” at that College.
From 2004-13, Professor Day led the development of interdisciplinary global public health programs as Director of the Institute of Urban and Global Health at New York University. Most recently she has been the Dean of Science at the University of Melbourne where she now continues her malaria epidemiology research.
Governor
BCom Melb SFFin
Governor since 2021
Craig Drummond most recently retired as Chief Executive Officer of Medibank Private Ltd, a position he held since July 2016.
Prior to this Craig has had over 30 years of experience in the financial sector including chief executive roles at Goldman Sachs JB Were, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and NAB.
Craig is currently a non-executive director of Transurban Limited and Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited and President of the Geelong Football Club.
Craig is a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and is a Chartered Accountant.
Governor
FTSE FRSN, BSc Hons PhD Melb
Governor since 2021
Professor Emma Johnston was appointed to the Foundation's Board of Governors in September 2021.
Professor Johnston was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor Research at UNSW and Director of the Sydney Harbour Research Program for the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.
In 2018 she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “distinguished service to higher education, particularly to marine ecology and ecotoxicology, as an academic, researcher and administrator, and to scientific institutes”.
Professor Johnston is a national advocate for the Science and Technology sector, Co-Chief Author of the Australian Government’s State of Environment Report, and a Director on the Board of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Governor
MD BS Melb PhD Lon Hon LLD Melb Hon LLD Monash FTSE FRACP FRCP FRCPI FAMMal FAMSing
Governor since 2013
Professor Larkins has over 40 years of experience in medicine, science and higher education. Formerly Dean of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne; Vice-Chancellor & President, Monash University; and Chancellor of La Trobe University. Other roles have included Chairman of the National Health and Research Council, President of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Chairman of Universities Australia
He has also been President of the Endocrine Society of Australia, Chair of the Accreditation Committee of the Australian Medical Council, a member on two occasions of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, member of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council, President of the National Stroke Foundation, and Chair of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Council.
Governor
BA LLB(Hons) Melb BCL Oxon HonDUniv ACU HonLLD Melb
Governor since 2004
Allan Myers is one of Her Majesty’s Counsel (Queen’s Counsel) in all States and Territories of Australia and a barrister in England and Papua New Guinea. For 40 years he has practised continuously as a barrister, principally in Victoria, as well as all other jurisdictions within Australia, Papua New Guinea and England.
Over many years Allan has held memberships and chairmanships of committees and foundations at the Victorian Bar, University Of Melbourne, Oxford University, Monivae College, Florey Neurosciences Institute, the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, and others. He was the founding Chair of the Grattan Institute. Allan is the current Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.
In June 2016, was made a Commander of the Order of Australia.
Life Governor
HonDUniv ACU HonLLD Monash
Life Governor since 1993
Lady [Primrose] Potter has been an active supporter of the Australian arts sector for several decades. She was Founding Honorary Patron of the Melba Foundation, Founding Patron of the Victorian Opera Company and Patron-in-Chief of The Melbourne Opera Company. She has also served as director and Victorian Chairman of the Elizabethan Theatre Trust and founding director of the Bell Shakespeare Company, and Director of the Australian Ballet School.
In the field of Contemporary Art, Lady Potter has been Patron of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, is current Patron of The Ian Potter Museum of Art at Melbourne University, Honorary Life Member of the National Gallery Victoria and was founding benefactor of the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Lady Potter was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for her contribution to the community in 1988, followed by a Companion of the Order of Australian in 2003.
Governor
BS UofA AM PhD Harvard HonDUniv UofA HonDUniv UChile HonDUniv Macquarie HonDUniv UQ FAA FRS NAS
Governor since 2015
Brian Schmidt is a Laureate Fellow and Distinguished Professor at The Australian National University. Professor Schmidt received undergraduate degrees in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Arizona in 1989 and completed his Astronomy Master's degree (1992) and PhD (1993) from Harvard University.
He won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics leading the team that made the startling discovery that the expansion rate of the Universe is accelerating, He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, The United States Academy of Science, and the Royal Society, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2013.
He is currently Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University.
Governor
FAA FASSA MSc MD FFPHM FAFPHM FRACP FRANZCOG Hon DSc Hon DUniv Hon FRACGP Hon MD Hon FRCPCH Hon LLB (honoris causa)
Governor since 2016
Professor Fiona Stanley AC is the Founding Director and Patron of the Telethon Kids Institute, Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Western Australia and Patron of Murdoch’s new Indigenous health research centre, Ngangk Yira Research Centre for Aboriginal Health and Social Equity, which launched in early 2018. She is also a Director of the Australian National Development Index at the University of Melbourne.
She is a board member of the Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation and has previously been on the board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She is also a former member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, and has served on major international, national and local committees.
For her research on behalf of Australia's children and Aboriginal social justice, she was named Australian of the Year in 2003 and in 2006 she was made a UNICEF Australia Ambassador for Early Childhood Development.
Chief Executive Officer
Craig Connelly commenced as CEO of The Ian Potter Foundation in December 2015. Craig previously spent 25 years working in a variety of roles in the Australian financial services sector, initially with respected chartered accounting firm, Price Waterhouse, followed by 11 years as a leading Australian equities analyst and partner with JB Were. In 2004 Craig successfully established his own Australian Equities long/short fund before selling his interest in the fund in late 2011.
Over the past 15 years, Craig has spent time supporting personal philanthropic pursuits, including his Swim For Life campaign; raising funds for the Royal Melbourne Hospital 5 West cancer day ward. Craig is a founding trustee of the National Parks Conservation Trust, a founding Board member of Watertrust Australia Ltd, and, in early 2021, Craig also joined the Board of Sane Australia.
Senior Program Manager
Dr Alberto Furlan is Senior Program Manager providing strategic advice to the Board around impactful partnerships with the not-for-profit sector. Dr Furlan specifically manages the Community Wellbeing area of funding and leads the program management team's implementation of the Foundation's strategic approach to grantmaking.
After completing a degree in Philosophy at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Italy Alberto moved to Australia in 2001 to undertake doctoral studies in Anthropology at the University of Sydney. Alberto spent over five years in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, first as an academic fieldwork researcher and later as a regional anthropologist employed by the Central Land Council in Tennant Creek working on the management and protection of sacred sites.
Alberto volunteers on the Board of The Social Studio, a Melbourne-based social enterprise comprising a fashion school and clothing label that operates to create meaningful and long-term social change for young people of migrant and refugee backgrounds facing barriers to employment and education.
Senior Program Manager
Louise Arkles is Senior Program Manager responsible for the Foundation's Sustainable funding pillar.
She is an active member of the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network and was instrumental in The Ian Potter Foundation winning Philanthropy Australia’s 2017 Environmental Philanthropy Award.
Louise joined the Foundation in 2015 as Program Manager for Environment, Arts, and The Ian Potter Cultural Trust.
Previously, Louise has worked in philanthropy with individual donors and grant-making foundations for two decades, focusing on sharing the history, the passion, the outcomes and the impact of people’s generosity in order to raise the profile and effectiveness of philanthropy in Australia. She created the first Australian library specialising in philanthropy at the national peak body (Philanthropy Australia) in 2001 and went on to edit the Australian Philanthropy magazine.
Senior Program Manager
Nicole Bortone has worked at the Foundation since March 2011 and is now the Senior Program Manager responsible for managing the Foundation’s Early Childhood Development grants program as well as managing The Alec Prentice Sewell Gift.
Nicole is also the founder of the Early Childhood Impact Alliance: a group of corporate and philanthropic funders that meet regularly to learn about the latest research, program innovations, and policy affecting young children and their families in order to improve collaboration and strategic investment in this space.
Nicole has completed a Master of Public Policy and Management at the University of Melbourne as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science and International Studies).
Program Manager
Lauren joined the Foundation in March 2017 and is now Program Manager for the Foundation's Health pillar which comprises the Public Health Research Projects and Medical Research program areas.
Lauren graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Human Structure and Function) from The University of Melbourne in 2012, and a Master in Public Health (Global Health) in 2015, also at The University of Melbourne. Lauren’s experience in Public Health includes travelling to Rural India to study Community Development, volunteering with CanTeen and working on a range of projects in the Community Health sector.
Program Manager
Mairead joined the Foundation in June 2016 and is the Program Manager for The George Alexander Foundation responsible for the administration of the scholarship and fellowship programs run through that foundation.
Mairead graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (Honours) from The University of Melbourne where Mairead has tutored and lectured in the School of Culture and Communication at an undergraduate, honours and masters level.
Research and Evaluation Manager
Dr Squirrel Main has been The Ian Potter Foundation’s Research and Evaluation Manager since 2015. She is co-chair of the Philanthropic Evaluation and Data Analysis network. Over the past two decades, she has conducted evaluations for schools, outdoor education programs, the US Department of Education, childcare settings, and homelessness programs.
An evaluator and a data analyst with a passion for measuring and improving outcomes across education, health and community wellbeing sectors, Squirrel completed her Masters at Stanford University in Evaluation and Policy Analysis. She finished her PhD at the University of Auckland investigating teacher support systems in low-socioeconomic schools.
Squirrel has worked as a Senior Research Officer at the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a research assistant to Maxine McKew at the University of Melbourne, and an outdoor instructor for three years at the New Zealand Outward Bound School. She began her career as a primary school teacher.
Communications Manager
Sara Hearn joined the Foundation in 2015 to primarily develop and maintain the Foundation's websites and other digital media platforms. In October 2016, she took on the role of Communications Manager.
Sara's background includes working in online publishing in the higher education sector and managing digital services for the academic and corporate library sectors. She has also previously held senior positions in marketing and publicity in the higher education and publishing sectors.
Communications Officer
Nina Beer joined the Ian Potter Foundation in January 2019 in the role of Communications Officer. Nina's background includes internal communications in the higher education sector and launching a community arts collective.
Administration Manager
Gail Lewry joined the Foundation in 2006. She started her career as a secondary school teacher.
Administration Officer
Sue has worked for The Ian Potter Foundation since 2007. After completing a Senior Secretarial diploma in 1979, Sue was recruited by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. She then moved on to a career within the oil industry before moving to an administration role with a small engineering company. Sue then took a 6-year career break while living in the UK and USA, before returning to Melbourne in 2006. Sue completed a Diploma in Visual Arts in 1996 and still continues to paint/create in her spare time.
Office Coordinator
Nicole Hunter joined the Foundation in 2019 taking on the role of Office Coordinator. For the last 14 years, Nicole has worked for a range of ethical organisations including Oxfam Australian and the Australian Conservation Foundation in a range of administration and organisational support roles.
Chief Finance Officer
Anna McCallum joined The Ian Potter Foundation in November 2018. Anna is a Chartered Accountant who has over 20 years of experience working across various industries both in Australia and the UK.
After completing her commerce degree in Melbourne, she joined PwC as a graduate accountant – it was there that she gained her membership to the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Since leaving PwC, Anna has been the CFO of Golf Australia, and most recently the Executive Officer of the Marian and E.H. Flack Trust.
Anna is also the Chief Finance Officer for The Ian Potter Cultural Trust and The George Alexander Foundation.
Finance Officer
Viktoria joined the Foundation in 2019. She has a Bachelor of Finance and Accounting from RMIT University and was previously General Manager of the Melbourne School of Fashion.
The Hon Sir Daryl Dawson AC, KBE, served 1998—2020