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.

Keith Allan has more than 30 years experience in treasury and corporate finance from his time at Coca-Cola Amatil. He brings his knowledge in risk management to the Board, with extensive exposure to a wide range of banking and global financial markets.

A key facet of this experience has been the development and maintenance of key relationships with a wide range of stakeholders which has been established in a dynamic environment of acquisitions and divestments throughout the Asia Pacific region, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. Keith has held the role of Group Treasurer at Coca-Cola Amatil for the past ten years and has been a Board member of Container Exchange since it commenced operations in 2018.

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 roles as a Director of two joint venture companies.

Monica is a non-executive director with technology investment, global supply chain and sustainability expertise. She currently holds directorships with BenchOn, Queensland University of Technology and an Investment Committee member of QBDF Venture Fund managed by QIC.

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 technology, start-ups, education and venture capital.

Andrew Clark has more than 20 years experience providing assurance, financial management, consulting, governance and risk management services and has held a range of executive finance positions. He is a Partner with Assured Business providing enterprise resource planning and business transformation services 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.

Karen is the founder of beverage product, Spring & Grove, a naturally flavoured sparkling spring water with zero calories, zero sweeteners and zero preservatives. Karen is passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation.

In 2017, Karen was a finalist for the Women in Technology Sue Wickenden Startup Entrepreneur Award and the Women’s Agenda Emerging Entrepreneur Award. Karen is a supporter of the startup ecosystem at QUT, contributing to the university wide initiative to significantly grow the support for student, alumni and staff founders.

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.