Our Board

World Vision Australia has a Board comprising non-executive directors who meet as a full Board regularly.  Our Board also operates through standing committees which assist the full Board in discharging its responsibilities for:
  • the integrity of our financial reporting
  • compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, internal standards, policies and expectations of key stakeholders, including customers, employees and the Australian public
  • the effectiveness of our internal control and risk management framework, including its audit functions
  • the appointment of our senior Executive leaders
  • our objectives, purposes and standards and policies on key issues
  • an effective governance structure and an appropriate corporate culture
For more information, please view the World Vision Australia Corporate Governance Statement 2018.

Shannon Adams (Board Chair)

LLB, FAICD

Shannon Adams joined our Board in 2005 and the World Vision International Board in 2013. He was appointed Chair of our Board with effect from 2018. Shannon is a lawyer who has advised financial institutions and other financial service providers since the early 1980s. He has been the managing partner of several legal firms and is now a partner at Piper Alderman. He specialises in financial services law and corporate governance, with a strong emphasis on the mutual banking sector.

Special responsibilities:  Board Chair

 

 

Darryl Gardiner

 

Darryl Gardiner joined our Board in 2016. He is a regular speaker and trainer in New Zealand and internationally. He joined the World Vision New Zealand Board in June 2010 and is Chair of its People and Culture Committee. He is an Anglican priest and has been involved in youth and community work for more than 35 years. He sits on several not-for-profit boards.

Special responsibilities: Audit and Risk Committee

Donna Shepherd

BA, MIIM, GAICD

Donna Shepherd joined our Board in 2008 and is currently the Chair of the World Vision International Board. Donna is a director of Creating Communities Australia, a community and economic development consultancy. She holds a Masters in International Management from the School for International Training in Vermont USA.

She has worked in the USA, Tunisia, Ecuador and Australia and has extensive experience in international development, social planning, shared value, strategic planning, communications, media and governance. Donna has also served on the boards of LandCorp, Urban Development Institute's Envirodevelopment, the University of Western Australia Extension, Southern Arc, Ausdance WA, Chrissie Parrot Dance Collective and the Independent Filmmakers Association.

Special responsibilities: People, Culture and Nominations Committee

Wendy Simpson

OAM, BSocSci, GradDip Ed, BLitt, MBA, FRMIT, FAICD

Wendy Simpson joined our Board in 2013. Wendy is an experienced, versatile global business leader and entrepreneur. She was the Founding Chairman of Springboard Enterprises Australia, Australia’s only internationally-focused business accelerator for women entrepreneurs seeking investment capital.

Previously, Wendy was a Senior Vice President of Alcatel Asia Pacific and was responsible for a sales budget of 4.2 billion euros. She implemented the sales of major mobile and broadband services to 17 countries and was on the team that negotiated with the Chinese government to bring the internet to China. She has also held global leadership roles with QBE Insurance, Alcatel and TNT International. Wendy is on the organising committee of the annual Sydney Prayer Breakfast.

In February 2013, Wendy was honoured in the Australia Day 2013 Honours with a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community through a range of women's and youth organisations. On International Women’s Day 2013 she was inducted into the Australian Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame. Wendy was appointed to the Board of General Sir John Monash Foundation in January 2015.

Special responsibilities: People, Culture and Nominations Committee

Tim McCormack

LLB (Hons), PhD, FAAL

Tim McCormack joined our Board in 2013. He is a Professor of Law at the Melbourne Law School and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Tasmania Law School. Tim is the Special Advisor on International Humanitarian Law to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague and is a Member of the National Advisory Committee on International Humanitarian Law, Australian Red Cross. He recently returned from a year in the US as a Fulbright Senior Fellow, Charles H Stockton Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and James Barr Ames Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Tim has held several other globally significant positions. He was a member of the International Group of Experts to draft the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations in Tallinn from 2014 to 2016. He served as one of two international observers with Lord David Trimble, former First Minister of Northern Ireland for Phase Two of the Turkel Commission of Enquiry into Israel's Processes for Investigating Allegations of War Crimes in Jerusalem from 2011 to 2013. He provided expert Law of War advice to Major Dan Mori in the defence of David Hicks before the US Military Commission in Guantanamo Bay from 2003 to 2007. He was Amicus Curiae on International Law Issues for the trial of Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague from 2002 to 2006.

Tim has participated in multilateral treaty negotiations with Australian Government delegations in Geneva, New York, Rome and The Hague and serves on the international advisory boards of several academic institutions in the US, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Israel, Indonesia and New Zealand.

Tim has recently been appointed the inaugural DFAT visiting Legal Fellow from August 2017 to June 2018 and has also been appointed the New Zealand Law Foundation Distinguished Visiting Scholar for 2018

Special responsibilities: People, Culture and Nominations Committee (Chair)

Fiona Pearse

BEc, CPA, GAICD

Fiona Pearse joined our Board in 2011. She is an experienced professional non-executive director, with extensive financial, commercial and risk expertise. Her accounting and tax career spanned almost two decades at leading ASX-listed global companies, BHP Billiton and and BlueScope Steel. Her previous non-executive directorships include City West Water, a A$2 billion water utility. She is currently a non-executive director of UCA Funds Management, one of Australia’s largest dedicated ethical fund managers, managing funds more than A$1 billion and Scotch College, one of Australia’s leading independent schools. She is an Advisory Board member to a FinTech developing state-of-the-art governance, risk and compliance software solutions for the financial services industry. She has a Senior Executive MBA, is a Fellow of CPA Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Special responsibilities: Audit and Risk Committee

 

 

Claire Rogers

MBA, BA

Our CEO Claire Rogers joined WVA and was appointed to our Board in 2016. She is a social innovator with a proven track record of strategy development and delivery for major change initiatives, helping organisations adapt to the tech-disrupted economy, and aligning physical and digital execution to maximise opportunities.

In her previous role as head of ANZ Australia’s digital banking, Claire spearheaded the bank's digital channels transformation, and is recognised for her capacity to grow customer facing business across both physical and digital channels. Prior to this Claire held many executive positions in ANZ across retail, institutional wealth and corporate segments driving revenue growth. A highly-networked influencer, Claire brings to different environments finely-honed communication and negotiation skills, strength and compassion that creates strong community buy-in and support. Claire was the Chair of Ridley Theological College, Melbourne from 2008 to 2016. Claire is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Board. She has also volunteered as a mentor for Springboard Enterprises, supporting women entrepreneurs as they take concepts to market in the technology and digital sectors.

Jon Seeley

FCA, BEc, MBA, GAICD

Jon Seeley joined our Board in 2017. He is a Chartered Accountant with an Economics degree from the University of Adelaide and an MBA from Lancaster University, UK.

Jon is Group Managing Director of Seeley International, a manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning products including Breezair and Braemar, employing around 550 people with manufacturing plants in Adelaide, Albury and Denver.

Jon has previously worked for Deloitte and Goldman Sachs JBWere, in addition to spending 10 years overseas in the not-for-profit sector with relief and development organisations, including postings to Austria, Turkey, Uzbekistan and the UK. Jon lives in Adelaide with his wife and two school-aged children.

Special responsibilities: Audit and Risk Committee

 

 

Gordon Allison

BPhysio (Hons), GradDip BnkFin, GradDip Acct, MApplFin, FFin, GAICD

Gordon Allison joined our Board in 2017. He is currently Executive Manager to the Office of the Chief Operating Officer of National Australia Bank. Gordon has 15 years’ experience in financial services in various roles including finance, risk management, treasury, product and portfolio management.

Prior to a career in finance, Gordon worked in community health, delivering health services to marginalised residents of rooming and boarding houses.

Special responsibilities: Audit and Risk Committee (Chair)

 

 

Bessie Vaneris 

MBA, BBus

Bessie Vaneris joined our Board in 2017. She has been World Vision International’s (WVI) Chief People Officer since October 2008. Prior to World Vision, Bessie had an executive career in human resources, together with banking and finance, risk, mergers and acquisitions including senior roles in several major banks. Originally from Australia, Bessie is based in London, UK. She brings broad experience from the banking and business sectors across Australia, New Zealand, UK and USA. Her portfolio includes people and culture, corporate security, corporate real estate, non-government organisation accountability and a major procurement project - Provision.

Special responsibilities: Audit and Risk Committee, People, Culture and Nominations Committee

Past Board members

George Savvides
Jude Barraclough
Rob Goudswaard
Colin Carter
Bishop John Harrower
Dr Louise Baur
Rev Geoffrey M Fletcher
Bruce R Odgen
John G Denton
Victor N Upson 
Rev Dr Godfrey N Vose
Rev Dr Lewis A Born
Bruce R Redpath
Milton A Morris    
Rev Professor Ian Breward
David H Jenkin
Joan Levett
Rev Dr Elizabeth Nolan
May Lorna O'Brien
Assoc Professor Joseph V Remenyi
Graeme S Irvine
Rex John Keily
Anita P Wynne
Simon V Mckeon
Peter FS King
Christopher T Daly
Dean R Hirsch
Dr Anugerah Pekerti
George Savvides
Margaret A Rodgers
Gary Brown
Anne Robinson
Brian E Lampton
Kim E Vanden Hengel
Assoc Professor Joan Abbott-Chapman
Rosanna YM Wong    
John Conn
Michael Prince
Barry J Pipella

2012-2018
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