The Board of SVA governs our overall direction and purpose, acting as the centrepiece of governance, fiduciary and overall responsibility for SVA and related companies.
Responsibilities include the approval of new members. Our board brings a diverse range of business, financial, entrepreneurial and philanthropic capabilities to SVA.
Company secretariat services are provided by Justine Isemonger.
Our people are our greatest asset. Find out more about the SVA team.
Paul Robertson AO
Chair, Social Ventures Australia
Paul Robertson is currently Chair of Goodstart Early Learning, Chair of Trustees of St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, Chair of Tonic Health Media, and Chair of Kinela.
He is Founder and Director of Financial Markets Foundation for Children. He is also Director of Dementia Australia, Telco Together Foundation, Grace Papers and Sydney Theatre Company Foundation.
Paul has extensive experience in banking including 27 years at Macquarie Bank/Hill Samuel where he was an Executive Director, Global Treasurer and Integrity Officer of the Bank. He was also a Director and CEO of Macquarie Risk Advisory Services. Paul has served on a number of other commercial boards.
Adrian Appo OAM
Founding Chief Executive Officer, Ganbina
Adrian is currently Executive Director of First Australians Capital (FAC). As Founding CEO of Ganbina, Adrian has been instrumental in motivating thousands of Indigenous people in the Goulburn Valley to improve their circumstances. A graduate of Fairley Leadership’s Community Leadership Program and the Williamson Community Leadership Program, Adrian has also studied at the Harvard Business School.
A Gureng Gureng man, Adrian served with distinction in the Royal Australian Air Force. He holds a Bachelor of Teaching and taught for several years after leaving the RAAF. Adrian then moved into the professional recruitment industry working as a consultant with both the private and public sectors before joining Ganbina. He was awarded an OAM in 2011 for service to Indigenous youth through career planning, employment and training programs, and was one of the inaugural AMP Tomorrow Makers award recipients in 2014.
Adrian also holds current directorships with Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship, Children’s Ground, Indigenous Leadership Network Victoria, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority and Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing. He is also a member of the Indigenous Social Enterprise Fund Advisory Committee.
Robert Fitzgerald AM
Commissioner, Productivity Commission
Robert is a Commissioner with the Productivity Commission, where he has served since 2004. Most recently he has been appointed NSW’s first Ageing and Disability Commissioner and has been a Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse.
A commercial lawyer for more than 20 years, including with top-tier firm Clayton Utz, Robert has also held a number of policy-related roles including as a member of the National Competition Council.
Prior to joining the Productivity Commission, Robert was Community and Disability Services Commissioner and Deputy Ombudsman in New South Wales.
His considerable experience with the not-for-profit sector includes serving as Chair of the Australian Charities and Not-For Profits Commission Advisory Board, President of the Australian Council of Social Services, and over 30 years of volunteering with numerous community services.
Tanya Gilerman
Partner, Financial Services, KPMG
Tanya Gilerman is currently Chief Risk Officer at KPMG and has been a partner in KPMG Sydney’s Audit Financial Services practice for the last 15 years. From 2009 to 2013, Tanya’s role has also included the function of Chief Operating Officer of Audit nationally.
During the last 20 years, Tanya has worked with clients principally in the banking, finance and investment management industries. During this time, Tanya has provided assurance services and undertaken reviews of risk management practices, compliance plans and provided accounting advice.
Tanya has extensive experience working with Boards and senior management during times of change and restructure.Tanya was formally a non-executive Director of The Benevolent Society and is a graduate of the 2006 Sydney Leadership Programme.
Chris Harrop
Director, Bain & Company
Chris Harrop is a Director in the Melbourne office of Bain & Company and a member of the global board of directors at Bain & Company, where he has worked for over 20 years in both the US and Australia.
Chris has worked with clients in many industries, and has specialised in projects addressing corporate strategy, growth strategy, customer experience improvement and broad-based transformational change.
Chris was a long-serving member of the Board of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and currently serves as the Director on the Brandenburg Foundation Board. He earned an MBA (honours) from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland and a Bachelor of Commerce (honours) from Otago University in New Zealand.
Daisy Mallett
Partner, King & Wood Mallesons
Daisy Mallett is a risk management and dispute resolution specialist, with a particular focus on cross-border disputes.
Daisy was a member of the Australian Delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Arbitration and Conciliation Working Group, as well as being a member of the New South Wales Law Society’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, a member of the Law Council of Australia’s Transnational Litigation Committee, a fellow of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration Group. Daisy was a member of the Philanthropy Australia New Generation of Giving Program and is Chair of the Crawford Foundation.
Daisy’s legal practice has involved considerable pro bono work, including acting for the government of Southern Sudan in a border dispute and the UK House of Lords test case on the admissibility of evidence obtained through torture in criminal terrorist prosecutions.
Lisa Paul AO PSM
Lisa Paul is a prominent Australian policymaker. She has been a Commonwealth Government Chief Executive for ten years and has more than 20 years public sector experience, including three Deputy CEO roles.
In 2011, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to public sector leadership in key policy and program implementation, and also received the Australia Chartered Accountants’ Federal Government Leader of the Year award. She was an inaugural member of the AFR Knowledge 100. She was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2003.
Lisa is also a Melbourne University Enterprise Professor and Bond University Councilor. Lisa is a Director on the boards of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue, APM International, Australian Schools Plus, Navitas, High Resolves and Programmed Group.
