About us

Mark O’Brien AM has lived in western Queensland for 35 years and worked in both private and public sectors, with extensive experience in logistics for rural and remote areas of the state. Mark served as Mayor of Murweh Shire Council for eight years from 2004–12, and for six of these years, was a Queensland Local Government Grants Commissioner.

Having developed the concept of ‘cluster fencing’ he was appointed as a Queensland Government Wild Dog Fence Commissioner, and more recently as a Queensland Drought Commissioner. After helping to corporatise the Save the Bilby Fund as its inaugural Chairman, Mark then served nine years as Chair of the South Western Natural Resource Management Group.

Mark has been Chairman of CoEx since October 2018.

Natalie joined Coca-Cola South Pacific in 2020, and leads public affairs, communication and sustainability for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Prior to joining Coca-Cola Natalie worked as a consultant in the UK and Australia, advising on communication strategy, public affairs, brand communications and government relations for businesses and brands operating in the retail, food and beverage, alcohol, and energy and environment sectors.

Natalie is a member of the Board of the Australian Beverages Council and Chair of its Packaging Working Group, and is a member of the ANZPAC Plastics Pact Collective Action Group.

Richard Ballinger is a highly experienced lawyer who has worked with Consumer Goods businesses both as General Counsel and in large private practice law firms, as well as sitting on their management teams.

He is skilled in partnering business leaders to achieve their goals and manage their issues including M&A transactions, regulatory and compliance, joint ventures and brand partnerships, supply and distribution arrangements, product liability issues and dispute resolution. Richard holds a number of director roles and is a graduate of the AICD.

Monica is a non-executive director with sustainability, technology and global investment expertise. In addition to COEX, Monica is a director of Enova Renewable Energy, Queensland University of Technology and QBDF Venture Fund managed by QIC. She is an impact investor and strong ESG advocate. She was founding director of B Corporation Aust/NZ and has advisory board roles with Beyond Zero Emissions and the SheEO capital fund for women led businesses.

The cornerstone of Monica’s executive career was her ability to deliver revenue growth, new business formation or transformation in challenging and uncertain environments. She held leadership, sales, operations, and strategy roles in New York, Abu Dhabi, Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Brisbane.

Her expertise accumulated over decades and across continents has its foundations in the industrial sectors of global trade, transportation and logistics, followed by a decade in professional services predominantly in government reform and most recently in sustainability, technology, start-ups, education and venture capital.

Andrew Clark has more than 25 years’ experience providing assurance, financial management, consulting, governance and risk management services in the private and public sectors and has held a range of executive finance positions. He currently provides  assurance and client engagement services for business digitisation for clients in Queensland and the Federal Government with a focus on improving governance, risk and compliance.

Before leading a national consulting practice, Andrew was a Chief Financial Officer with Airservices Australia, providing financial strategic management for one of the world’s leading air traffic control and fire rescue providers during a period of industry and service delivery change.

Edward Dowse is an experienced finance and commercial leader with nearly 20 years of experience across a range of industries, including fast moving consumer goods, manufacturing and transportation. He has been with Lion for over six years and currently leads their involvement in container deposit schemes across Australia and New Zealand. Prior to Lion, Ed spent over 10 years at EY advising major lenders, investors and corporates in relation to business performance, strategic options analysis, financial restructures and turnarounds in both Australia and Europe.

Jeff Maguire has more than 40 years of supply chain experience, encompassing manufacturing and logistics in a variety of roles and functions, including line management, project management, and strategic management roles.

He has been with Coca-Cola Amatil for 30 years and is leading its participation in Container Refund Schemes (CRS) across Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Jeff’s global connections tap into a comprehensive knowledge base of active CRS operations from around the world to assist with successful local implementation and continuous improvement of the various schemes.

Cathy Cook is a leading public affairs professional with decades of experience steering regulatory initiatives and advocacy in Australia, the US and India.

As head of Corporate Affairs for the Australian Beverages Council Cathy is leading the industry’s efforts in Container Refund Schemes (CRS) across Australia.

Prior to this Cathy spent many years working with business and government in almost 30 countries, including as a diplomat.

Working in the US private sector for 15 of those years with both corporates and trade bodies she managed high impact litigation, crisis response, influence campaigns and advocacy.

Dominique Tim So is a Senior Lawyer for James Cook University, having previously worked in private practice and as a General Counsel for an ASX-listed company. She has practised in Property, Corporate and Commercial Law.

Dominique has acted on behalf of small to large businesses, high-net-worth individuals, private and public companies, not-for-profit organisations and government corporations across a wide array of industries. Dominique has held previous Director’s positions with government-owned corporation Port of Townsville Limited and the statutory not-for-profit Townsville Hospital Foundation.