Lesley has a diverse background in which arts and education have been dominant themes. Her involvement with The Hunger Project however began when her career path had diverged into social entrepreneurship.
Lesley visited India in 2008 with THP and she has been a personal investor and advocate of their work since.
David is the Group General Manager People, Culture and Communications at St Vincent’s Health Australia
David’s extensive experience covers the full scope of human resource management including working with senior teams and boards in several major organisations. David’s prior career experience includes eight years in executive search, twelve years with Qantas as Group General Manager Human Resources and two years as Head of Human Resources for Insurance Australia Group. David commenced with St Vincent’s Health Australia in April 2013 with responsibility for providing strategic leadership and direction to the human resources functions across the group. David is Chairman of The Station Ltd, a homeless shelter providing a range of services in inner city Sydney and is also an adjunct lecturer at the University of NSW for the Executive MBA program. David has a Master of Business Administration with Distinction from Lancaster University in the UK, a Bachelor of Business from the University of Western Sydney, a Certificate in Superannuation Management from Macquarie University and a Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Ailan’s commitment to family values, community service and maintaining good health was instilled in her through the leadership example set by her adopted Australian grandparents. These values are reflected in the community development programs of the Hunger Project.
Ailan’s involvement with The Hunger Project started in 2008, when she became an investor in the Domi-Achiansa epicentre project in Ghana. In 2010, Ailan visited numerous epicentre projects in the Eastern Region of Ghana, including Domi-Achiansa. She then visited the communities of Bangladesh in 2012 and Malawi in 2016.
The consistent messages from the local villagers of positive change and achievement of sustainable self-reliance inspired Ailan to join the West Australian Development Board in 2011 to advocate and raise funds for the work of The Hunger Project.
Deborah is passionate about the development of human potential, with over 30 years international experience educating, training and mentoring executives and leaders of government agencies, companies and community-based organisations in education, Industry, women’s development, public health and international development in the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and Asia.
Deborah has trained and coached over fifteen thousand people individually and in workshop settings in achieving breakthroughs in personal effectiveness. Her core belief is that every person has abilities that are distinct. Her clients are able to identify their unique strengths and talents, build new capacities for themselves and others and live into all they can be.
Deborah works with men and women leaders to develop their gifts and encourage them in clarifying vision and purpose, building confidence and expanding their leadership ability.
Clients include executives from Shell, PWC, Ford, Esso, P&O, BBC, Barclays Bank, British Rail, British Telecom, IBM, Marks and Spencer, Unilever, Arts Council of Australia, Woodhead and the Government of Western Australia.
David has over 20 years’ experience in Banking & Finance and is currently a Regional Executive within Corporate Financial Services at the Commonwealth Bank.
He leads a team of 25 Corporate and Business Bankers who manage medium to large sized business clients. The clients are typically privately owned and from a wide range of industries in Victoria.
David has been actively involved in the ‘Not For Profit’ sector, including participation in a CBA leadership programme with the Hunger Project in India during 2012 and previously as a board member and finance committee member of Wesley Mission Victoria for 5 years.
David has a BA with majors in Political Science and Administration, Post Graduate Diploma in Banking & Finance (Monash) and Post Graduate Diploma in Organisation Behaviour (Swinburne) and a Fellow of FINSIA.
Roger Massy-Greene is the Chairman of Networks NSW, the joint venture entity that manages the three electricity distribution networks in NSW. Mr Massy-Greene is a director of OneVentures Pty Ltd, a technology venture capital firm. He co-founded the ASX 200 company Excel Coal Limited and was its Chairman until its acquisition by Peabody Energy in 2006. Mr Massy-Greene serves as Chairman of the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal Committee in Sydney and of Eureka Benevolent Foundation, a family foundation focused on social justice issues. He is the Deputy President of Cranbrook School in Sydney.
Simon Blackburn is a Director in McKinsey & Company’s Sydney office, and has been with McKinsey for 17 years. He has a particular passion for organisational change and development including the theme of leader-driven change, and he leads the Transformational Change service line for McKinsey’s Organisation practice in Asia, serving clients in both the private and public sectors. He has a strong personal interest in transformation, with a focus on changing behaviours to drive lasting performance improvement.
Simon originally trained as an engineer and spent 11 years in McKinsey’s Boston office prior to returning to Australia in 2008. His experience spans organisation, strategy, operations, information technology, and marketing & sales.
In addition to the National Board of The Hunger Project, Simon serves on the board of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and previously on the board of Parents as Teachers National Centre, and the Massachusetts STEM Collaborative.
Debra Kwasnicki is a Director of The Hunger Project Australia.
Debra is also a Partner at Sheldon Harris Consulting. With 15 years’ experience in Executive Search and Assessment she was a partner at Russell Reynolds Associates, and served as an independent management consultant in the technology industry. Prior to her consulting career, Debra was General Manager, Customer Service and Quality, with Telstra Corporation and had a 12-year career with IBM Australia Limited, where she served in a variety of sales, management, technical support and human resources roles. She was also Chair of the Human Resources Subcommittee for the Salvation Army Advisory Board.
Debra took a sabbatical in 2012, living and working in Malawi and volunteering for The Hunger Project in Africa where she assisted the organisation to improve their operational effectiveness in working towards their goal of ending hunger and poverty.
Rachel Akehurst is a Director of The Hunger Project Australia.
She is the principal of RSA Consulting and has worked in the area of leadership and cultural transformation for 28 years. She has a degree in Social Psychology from London School of Economics.
Bruce Beeren is a fellow of CPA Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has over 30 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is currently a director of a number of public companies including Origin Energy and Veda Group, and is a Director of the Trustee of the Equipsuper Superannuation Fund.
Lesley has a diverse background in which arts and education have been dominant themes. Her involvement with The Hunger Project however began when her career path had diverged into social entrepreneurship.
