Our Advisory Boards

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• Ajay Bhatia*

  

  Ajay Bhatia is the CEO of Mobile.de, part of the Adevinta group.

  Prior to this appointment in August 2022, Ajay was the Managing Director of Carsales Australia for over two years and other senior roles.

  Ajay has just under two decades of executive leadership experience In Australia and Asia with over 15 years of P/L management in pure digital and classifieds businesses. During this time he has held several commercial and technical leadership positions managing all aspects of digital businesses ranging from GM Commercial, Media Sales, Dealer Sales, Digital Marketing, Product Director, CIO to Managing Director. Ajay currently manages a large P/L and has public company responsibilities such as conducting regular investor briefings and results roadshows.

  Ajay has been a Non-Executive Director with several companies and has served on boards ranging from Public, Private to Not for profit.

  Ajay's academic experience includes lecturing university students and he holds the honorary position of Adjunct Professor at UTS Business School.

  Ajay is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School having completed the Advanced Management Program. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Master's in Management from the same university.

  Ajay was named Australian CIO of the Year in 2015.

  Ajay is a results and people focussed leader who has a keen interest in business leadership, strong product and tech background and believes in value creation through digital and customer excellence.

• Nina Blackwell*

  

  Nina has been the Executive Director of the Firelight Foundation since July 2015. Nina joined Firelight from Humanity United, a leading human rights foundation, which is part of the Omidyar Group of philanthropies and represents one of the major philanthropic investments of Pam and Pierre Omidyar. As Senior Strategic Advisor and Head of External Affairs at Humanity United, Nina led the Communications, Policy, and Partnerships teams to support and leverage the organization's strategic work in the prevention of conflict, mass atrocities and modern slavery. Nina also had responsibility for Humanity United’s award-winning partnership with the Guardian News and Media, reporting comprehensively on modern slavery.

  Prior to joining Humanity United, Nina spent several years at Yahoo! Inc., where she led two global teams as Senior Director of Americas Communications and Senior Director of Global Public Affairs. Nina was responsible for developing global communications across a broad range of issues including privacy, data governance, online safety, human rights and freedom of expression. Nina also built and managed a global corporate social responsibility communications practice, promoting Yahoo!’s sustainability, accessibility and safety programs, as well as Yahoo! For Good and the Yahoo! Employee Foundation.

  Nina joined Yahoo! after seven years working for US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, first as Special Advisor and then as Press Secretary and Spokesperson. Her work with Senator Clinton began during her historic campaign for the United States Senate, proceeded through the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks and spanned the successful 2006 Senate re-election campaign and the 2008 Presidential Campaign.

  A native Australian, Nina began her career with almost a decade working in Australian national and state politics, including three years as National Campaign Manager for an Australian Republic, culminating in the historic 1999 national republic referendum campaign and vote.

  Nina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Psychology, a Master of Arts in Political Science and Women’s Studies and a Bachelor of Laws from UTS with Honors where she specialized in human rights and constitutional law.

• Jason Collins*

  Jason Collins is Head of global asset management firm Blackrock Australia, where he leads commercial and operational aspects of the Australian business. He also serves as an executive director on the board of BlackRock Australia and BlackRock New Zealand.  Jason was previously Deputy Head of BlackRock Australasia. 

  

  He joined BlackRock in 2013 and has held multiple senior roles including as Head of iShares and Index Investments for Australia and New Zealand and Head of Client Business, Australasia. Prior to that, Jason held leadership roles in Australia and Asia including at BT Financial Group and Deutsche Bank. He is a UTS alumnus, with a Bachelor of Business and Graduate Diploma in Communications from UTS.

• Jason Collins

  

  Jason Collins was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the European Australian Business Council in 2007. As CEO, Jason leads a team responsible for the delivery of the Council’s business advocacy and policy programmes, membership and institutional relations with government agencies, chambers, industry groups, and other stakeholders.

  He is also the Chair of European Business Organisations (EBO Worldwide), a peak association headquartered in Brussels of European chambers of commerce and business councils in over fifty countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Indo-Pacific, and in Europe.

  He also serves as the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Belgium in Sydney.

  Jason is a non-executive director and chair of the governance, nomination and remuneration committee of Business Events Sydney; a member of Screen Producers Australia’s export advisory council; Chair of the Australia Youth Trust; and is a former Chair of the Australasian Sponsorship Marketing Association.

  He also serves on the advisory boards of various Australian and Europe-based government, research centres and industry bodies, including the UTS Business School Dean’s Industry Advisory Board, and is a regular commentator on trade and investment issues at business events and in the media.

• Peter Freedman

  

  Peter is the Founder and Chairman of The Freedman Group, an Australian design and manufacturing company that is one of the world’s leading producers of audio technology and home to some of the world’s premier pro audio brands including RØDE, SoundField, APHEX and Event Electronics.

  RØDE has won dozens of design and business excellence awards, including recognition as Australian Manufacturing Exporter of the Year in 2013. RØDE’s innovations are designed and manufactured at the company’s Sydney facility and, thanks to ongoing investment in capital and personnel, are the world’s number one audio solutions in several categories.

  Peter is passionate about fostering excellence in the performance industry and is the principal individual supporter of the Sydney Festival, a patron of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and a founding sponsor of the Walton Family Foundation’s new arts precinct in the United States, The Momentary. He is also a sponsor of Good Design Australia and has appeared as a judge on the Network Ten television show, “Australia By Design: Innovations”. Peter’s interests in entrepreneurship, design, technology and creativity, as well as his focus in Australian innovation makes him an ideal partner for UTS Business School.

• Rose Herceg

  Rose Herceg has been country leader of WPP in Australia and New Zealand since January 2022. She founded Pophouse, one of Australia’s leading agencies, which joined the STW Group in 2007. She became Chief Strategy Officer of WPP AUNZ following its merger with STW in 2016. 

• Jim Hughes

  

  He has been a director of a number of companies; both commercial organisations and not for profit community entities throughout Australia over the last 40 years. Jim also has extensive experience in the financial services and insurance industries where he worked in senior roles for the Royal and Sun Alliance Group of companies. Of recent times he was an inaugural independent Director of Youi Insurance, and chaired their Audit and Risk committees. Jim retired from Youi in June 2021.

  Of recent years he has engaged with indigenous Australians in the Kimberley region to assist with building expanding business models in the areas of Native Title law, accounting, heritage and social impact initiatives to enhance employment and build contemporary sustainable career outcomes.

  Jim was Chairman of the Apex Foundation of Australia and the past National Chairman, and recently appointed Honorary Life Member, of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

  In January 2012, Jim was awarded a ‘Member of the Order of Australia AM’ for services to the insurance industry, the Apex Clubs of Australia, the advancement of men’s health and support for the arts. In July 2019, Jim was appointed as an Adjunct Associate Professor to the Health Faculty at the University of Technology Sydney.

• Peter Kazacos, OAM

  

  Peter is the Managing Director of Destin trading as Kazacos Industries and has over 40 years’ experience in the IT industry. He founded KAZ in 1988 and led the company over its 17-year history. Mr. Kazacos was responsible for guiding KAZ from a small IT services company in NSW to one of Asia Pacific’s leading IT services and business process outsourcing service providers. KAZ grew from 350 employees from its inception, through to listing on the ASX in 2000, to over 4000 employees, as a fully owned subsidiary of Telstra.

  Mr Kazacos was the founder and Executive Chairman of Anittel Ltd, having spent 8 years building the company into one of Australia’s leading IT&C service providers operating outside the major metropolitan areas. In 2010, Anittel was acquired by publicly listed company, Hostech, representing a major strategic milestone in the transformation and convergence of the IT&T industry. Anittel was sold to Inabox Group in January 2015.

  Prior to establishing KAZ and founding Anittel, Mr Kazacos held a number of senior technical positions in the Australian IT industry with leading Australian organisations.

  Current Executive Positions:

  • Chairman of Allegra Orthopaedics (ASX:AMT)
  • Chairman of Retriever Communications
  • Member of UNSW Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Board
    • LGIAsuper o Independent director
    • Chair, Audit and Risk Management Committee
    • Member, Investment Committee
    • OAM Recipient
    • Director of Kazacos Foundation
    • Director of KAZ Group of Companies
    • Director of KAZ Early Learning Centre
    • Director of KAZCARE
    • Director or Kamalei Childrens Centre
    • Director of Kpower
    • Director of Koori Kulcha Aboriginal Corporation
    • Managing Director of Your Angel Charity
    • Director of Skilligence Pty Ltd
    • Director Grammatakia Pty Ltd

  Previous Executive Positions:

  • Ex-Chairman of Astute Payroll
  • Chairman of Axxis Group formerly Anittel Group (ASX:AYG)
  • Chairman of Kaz Group (Formerly ASX:KAZ)
  • Chairman of Roses Only
  • Chairman of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA)
  • Advisory board for BMC Software Inc.
  • Chairman of Neller
  • Chairman of CSIRO ICS Sector Advisory Council
  • Member of AAS Advisory Council
  • Member of Fronde Advisory Board

  Mr. Kazacos was the recipient of the inaugural, Australian Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 award in the Technology, Communications, E-Commerce and Biotechnology category. Mr. Kazacos was also inducted into the Hall of Fame for the 3rd Annual IT&T Awards in October 2004. This Award was in the category of “Champion of the vendor community”. Mr Kazacos was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the inaugural ARN IT Industry Awards Ceremony (September 07).

  Mr Kazacos was the recipient of the prestigious CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT at the 2008 iAwards. This award is presented in recognition of outstanding accomplishments of an individual in the Australian ICT industry.

  Mr Kazacos is the Southern Highlands Foundation Philanthropist of the Year 2009.

  The Philanthropy Awards honour the significant service, efforts and contributions of those involved in philanthropy. This award is given to celebrate of the outstanding contribution of time, leadership and financial support made by the many wonderful businesses, individuals, volunteers, community organisations and schools in the Southern Highlands.

  Mr Kazacos was recognised for sharing his entrepreneurial skills with the community and his support for youth, family and disability support services and medical research

  Mr Kazacos, together with his wife Vicki founded the charity Your Angel which focuses on providing direct support to disadvantaged people in the community. Through this initiative, The Cooks Cooking School provides support for people with physical, mental and financial disabilities. Another major initiative is the YAY NAO project which utilises humanoid robot to help children living with Autism and other behavioural issues. Your Angel also provides support to the indigenous community through the Koori Kulcha Aboriginal Corporation.

  Mr Kazacos holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science (Applied Mathematics and Computer Science) from the University of New South Wales.

• Don Koch* (Co-Chair)

  

  Don is a senior financial sector leader with global expertise in creating value through focus on shareholder and customer outcomes. Highly-developed board, stakeholder and regulator relationship skills combined with international cross-cultural awareness and market knowledge. He is an experienced people and change leader within the financial services sector having been engaged across multiple countries including Australia, Asia and Europe. A deep understanding of technology combined with an innovative and disruptive approach to business has seen many successful transformations undertaken, including Australia, Italy, Poland, India and Thailand.

  Don has performed at board level as a managing director, non-executive director and at C-Suite level as CEO, COO and CIO.

  Don is currently Chair of BNK Group (ASX:BBC); Chairman of Cache Invest an enterprising Fintech; a Director of ResysRight, a Medtech enterprise; a Governor on the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation; Honorary Treasurer and Board Member of Glaucoma Australia as well as Co-Chair of the Dean's Industry Advisory Board at the University of Technology Sydney Business School.

• David Langford*

  

  David is Managing Director at Long Lake Research Group, an independent investment research and advisory firm focused on innovation, agility and capital management.

  He is an Adjunct Professor at UTS Business School where he coaches MBA student teams undertaking strategic consulting projects for corporate clients, mentors honours students and delivers Masterclasses within the finance discipline. David has also convened the UTS Venture Day pitching competition judging panel since the competition’s inception in 2017 and is a member of the UTS Faculty of Science Dean's Advisory Board.

  David has spent around 25 years advising Australian and global institutional investors and corporations. He is a long-standing researcher, advisor and independent thinker in the telecommunications, media and technology industries, where innovation and global change dominate value creation. He has held analytical and strategic leadership roles in some of Australia’s largest corporations and Wall Street investment banks over the past 30 years. David's background includes roles as General Manager - Corporate Analysis at Telstra, Senior Communications Analyst at Morgan Stanley and Head of Equity Research at both Lehman Brothers and ING Investment Management.

  David holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and a Master of Business (Accounting and Finance) from the University of Technology, Sydney and is a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA)..

• Lyn Lewis-Smith (Co-Chair)

  

  Lyn is CEO of BESydney and leads a global team of professionals spanning Europe, North America and Asia who are charged with securing global meetings of strategic, economic and social benefit to Sydney, Australia. The organisation works across sectors which include infrastructure, technology, professional services, advanced manufacturing, education and health.

  Lyn has led transformation globally, passionately advocating for Australian business, scientific and cultural achievements on the world stage. She received the Destination International’s Humanitarian Award for her co-authored and published research, with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Business School, into the social legacies of hosting international business events: Determining Business Events Legacies beyond the Tourism spend.

  An experienced non-executive director in chair and member roles on boards and committees, she is a Fellow of the UTS, Adjunct Professor and Co-Chair of the UTS Business School, Director of Committee for Sydney, Association of Australian Convention Bureaux, the Women’s Resilience Centre and Asia Pacific Chair of DestinationNEXT.

  Lyn is a strong advocate for the advancement and professional development of women in all facets of leadership in Australia. In 2018, she Co-Chaired the Global Summit of Women held in Sydney and is a Women in Leadership Ambassador for the UTS Business School, a member of the International Women’s Forum Australia and a Minerva Network Mentor.

• John Lydon

  John Lydon is Co-Chair of Australian Climate Leaders’ Coalition, a member of the NSW Net Zero and Clean Economy Board, Chair of Generation Australia, and serves as an Industry Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney Business School. Previously he was the Managing Partner of McKinsey Australia & New Zealand, holding several roles across the global Firm. John also served as Economic Commissioner of Greater Cities Commission from 2021-2023. 

  

  
  
  John’s purpose is to help business and public organisations create sustainable, inclusive value for all their stakeholders: including shareholders, citizens, society and the environment. He most enjoys working closely with CEOs, Boards and civic leaders to help them develop and grow - realising their personal potential and that of the organisations they lead. 
  
  Building on 25 years of global experience at McKinsey, John supports, challenges and coaches leaders and their organisations through formal (e.g. Board) and informal roles. He works across business, public and social sectors to help build systemic solutions to complex problems and opportunities, in particular the dual challenges of climate change and inclusive economic growth. 
  
  At McKinsey, notably as managing partner in Australia & NZ from 2013-2019, John had a track record of innovation and growth. This included both transformative strategies and delivered operational improvement for consulting clients, as well as the evolution of McKinsey’s consulting work beyond traditional strategy to areas like digital and analytics, capability building, commercial transformation, implementation and restructuring. Through his term leading the practice, McKinsey A&NZ more than tripled its scale and impact while becoming much more diverse, inclusive and externally engaged. 
  
  In 2020, John took a year's sabbatical from McKinsey to explore the concept of aligning economic value with social value, including serving as an honorary university professor, collaborating with and helping build a range of business and civil society organisations, and continuously learning. He also holds an MBA from INSEAD (France), a BA (Economic History and Politics) from London University, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and completed the Art and Practice of Leadership Development program at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
  

• Mangala Martinus

  

  Mangala Martinus is managing director and founder of Payments Consulting Network, an international management consulting firm that provides strategic advisory and market research services to the banking and payments industries, and Merchant Advisory, which supports organisations to optimise payments acceptance (in-store and online). The business has a presence across Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

  He is an alumnus having completed his MBA at UTS specialising in strategy and marketing, and has over 30 years’ experience in financial services and payments.

  He is currently focused on supporting clients in the retail, not-for-profit, hospitality and tourism sectors with payments optimisation. He is passionate about contributing to the community through philanthropic funding, mentoring, pro bono services and advocacy, and is a Pledge 1% ambassador in Asia-Pacific.

• Keryn Thompson*

  

  Keryn has over 25 years’ experience as a finance and business management professional, specialising in financial markets.

  Her executive experience includes senior positions at ANZ and Macquarie Group, where during her 17 years Keryn held a number of roles in the Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Group as well as in Finance. More recently Keryn spent 5 years consulting in the markets business at CBA.

  Keryn has acted as an advisor and leader on a range of significant issues and challenges facing financial markets businesses and has lead the positioning of these businesses to best respond to external challenges and in providing a framework for the successful delivery of change with a strong focus on business performance, risk and corporate governance.

  Keryn is a graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, qualified Chartered Accountant, Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a UTS alumna.

• Jenny West*

  

  Jenny is the former Deputy Secretary, Trade & International, Global NSW, Investment NSW and a UTS Alumna.

  She has a very strong understanding of Federal Government, a digital innovation background and multi-sector expertise domestically and internationally. Prior to Investment NSW , she was at Austrade where she was the General Manager for Trade & Investment and most recently, the General Manager for Digital Innovation and Client Services. Prior to Austrade, Jenny was the NSW-ACT State Director for Telstra Country Wide. A large sales and people leadership role she was responsible for running Retail Stores across the State as well as being the face of Telstra in the local community and key Regional areas. This included managing the NBN rollout, customer advocacy, stakeholder management and public relations with respective State/Federal MPs.

  Jenny also has an extensive financial services background and was one of the key emerging, global female leaders within the Westpac Group. She operated as a key enabler between Offshore and Onshore. In her role as the Head of Migrant & Expatriate Banking she was responsible for setting up new international products and processes, establishing Expatriate Banking offshore and brining new international customers to Westpac. Whilst at Westpac she was the Regional General Manager for Sydney CBD - its largest business and consumer banking region.

  Jenny is passionate about leadership, global issues, new technologies and building culturally diverse high performing teams.

• Max York

  

  Max was appointed Chief Marketing Officer of Pacific National, Australia’s largest rail freight company, in October 2018. He left PN in mid-2020 to pursue consulting and company directing opportunities.

  He was previously Chief Executive Officer of GE Australia in 2017-18, where the company has all of its business units represented - Aviation, Power, Renewable Energy, Oil and Gas, Transportation, Digital and Healthcare. Prior to being appointed CEO, he led the GE Aviation business, comprising commercial engines, services and systems in ANZ & South East Asia, South Pacific, Hong Kong and India for various periods since 2003. He also worked in GE Aviation’s global Sales & Marketing HQ in Cincinnati, USA. 
  
  Max joined General Electric in 2000 after 18 years as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy, reaching the rank of Commander. He specialised in combat systems and integrated logistics management, serving in various leadership roles afloat and ashore in Australia, Washington DC and the Persian Gulf. 
  
  Max holds bachelors and masters degrees in electronics and communications engineering from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and a graduate diploma in management from the Australian Graduate School of Management. Max is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a past Governor of the Australian American Chamber of Commerce. He is a past member of the Business Council of Australia, the Dean’s Advisory Board of the University of Sydney Engineering Faculty, and the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council.