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Our company’s directors are committed to adding value to UNICEF Australia by bringing their wide range of skills and experience to the Board. 

Ann Sherry AO (Chair) 

Ann is one of Australia's leading business executives with a career that spans Government, Banking and Cruise Tourism. She is an active philanthropist with a passion for improving opportunities and removing barriers for women in STEM and sport, and supporting opportunities for Indigenous Australians.

Ann is the Chair of UNICEF Australia, Enero Group, the Port of Townsville, Queensland Airports Limited, the Super Members Council and Circa. She is the Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology, a Non-executive Director of National Australia Bank and a Member of Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.

Beginning her working life as a Radiographer, Ann became First Assistant Secretary of the Office of the Status of Women in Canberra before moving to the banking sector initially in HR roles, then in CEO roles with Westpac NZ, the Bank of Melbourne and most recently with Carnival Australia.

The Australian Government awarded Ann the Centenary Medal in 2001 and in 2004 she was awarded an Order of Australia. In 2015 Ann was named as the overall winner of the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence Award.

Nigel Andrade 

Nigel Andrade is a Partner and the Global Chair of Kearney’s Strategy, Growth, and Organisation Transformation services.

In 2022, Nigel joined Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council (GBPC) as a Senior Fellow. GBPC is rated by the University of Pennsylvania “Go To Think Tank Index Report” as one of the top for-profit think tanks in the world. Half of his professional time is now dedicated to working with select Boards and CEOs to uncover and realise powerful ways their organizations can address huge socio-environmental challenges while delivering sustainable returns.

Nigel is the lead partner of Kearney IGNITE (previously Proposition & Customer Experience or PCE Labs) which he founded in 2015. IGNITE’s purpose is to partner with clients around the world to deliver ‘sustainable growth’, that is both defensible and responsible.

He is passionate about innovation, shared value and stakeholder capitalism and has co-authored the book Australia 2034: Luckier by Design with Peter Munro, which lays out a capability manifesto for Australian businesses to thrive over the next two decades. Other recent publications include the “State of Shared Value in Australia and New Zealand 2019” report and a 2021 paper on “Customer ESG-Elasticity” and “Stakeholder Capitalism”.

Nigel is also a Non-Executive Director of Next25, an Australian non-partisan think-tank and a member of the Education Strategy & Policy Committee of the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Board.

Nigel and his wife, Darya, live between Sydney and Byron Bay and are enjoying being parents themselves - of little Luke Alexander Andrade – which has increased Nigel’s awareness of the help, love and care all children of the world need. 

Jacqui De Lacy 

Jacqui De Lacy is Abt Global Chief Global Development Officer, responsible for leading Abt’s development and technical services in alignment with its mission and values. She has a deep practical understanding of development issues and operations and has the capacity to shape, implement, and review individual programs and large development portfolios in ways that maximize impact. 

Jacqui possesses excellent leadership and management skills and is a thought leader on development issues in the Asia Pacific region. She is often invited to speak at conferences and events on international development and can engage effectively with the media and with a very broad range of stakeholders.

Prior to joining Abt (then JTA) in 2014, De Lacy represented the Australian Aid program (then AusAid, now DFAT) in multiple high-profile positions, including head of AusAid Indonesia, head of the Food Security Branch, Global Crisis Response Coordinator, and Head of the PNG Branch in Canberra. While head of AusAID Indonesia, De Lacy led policy dialogue, coalition building and advocacy efforts with the Indonesian government at the national and subnational level and civil society organizations in a wide range of technical areas, including social protection, women’s empowerment, health, economic governance, and electoral reform and legal reform.

Jacqui has extensive experience representing Australia on UN funds and programs, at conferences, and in development policy and issues, including ASEAN, APEC, and the G20. De Lacy holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Toby Hall 

Toby Hall is currently Chair of Sana Health Group and For Purpose Aged Care, he is a direct and the Chair Elect for Integral Diagnostics(ASX IDX) and a member of the Fujitsu Australia Advisory Board. Toby was previously CEO of St Vincent’s Health Australia, Australia’s second largest healthcare provider in April 2014. Prior to this, he was the CEO of Mission Australia, COO of World Vision Australia and CEO of South Taranaki District Council. He is a qualified accountant with an MBA, Toby is passionate about helping people “be the best they can be”.

Toby chaired ASX listed Sterihealth prior to delisting and was a director of Working Links the largest welfare to work provider to the U.K government. He has also been a director of Goodstart, Australia’s largest provider of early learning services to over 60,000 children and various Christian community organisations. He has been a member of a range of government committees and advisory panels.

Tharani Jegatheeswaran 

Ms Tharani Jegatheeswaran is a Partner at Deloitte Australia, where she leads the firm’s Social Impact Practice, a dedicated practice that works with leaders from across the eco-system to influence social impact at scale (the S of ESG). Drawing on 20 years’ of strategy and transformation experience, combined with a deep passion for social change, Tharani has partnered with many of Australia’s leading social sector organisations, businesses and government agencies on their transformation journeys to deliver social impact at scale.

Tharani is also the National Relationships Leader at Deloitte Australia. In this role, she is responsible for strengthening Deloitte’s relationships with NEDs, C-suite, and emerging leaders across the Australian market. 

Outside her Executive role, Tharani is a Non-Executive Director on a number of Boards, including Settlement Services International (SSI- Australia’s largest refugee and migrant resettlement agency) and previously, the Deloitte Foundation. She is passionate speaker and champion for greater diversity in leadership and sustainable social impact at scale.

Lesley Podesta 

Ms Lesley Podesta is founder of Red Mitten which provides professional services to social impact organisations. She is Chair of the Young & Resilient Research Centre Advisory Board, University of Western Sydney; Board Member Queen Elizabeth Centre; and Board Member of the World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights. She is the former CEO of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation and former Head of Global Partnerships, The Fred Hollows Foundation.

She is also a former senior public servant for the Australian government specialising in communicable disease, population health and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.

Sandra Rouse 

Sandra Rouse has over 15 years’ experience in senior finance roles with a career spanning multiple industries and continents. For the past thirteen years Sandra has been at TEG, (Australasia’s largest ticketing, live entertainment and digital group) in the role of Chief Financial Officer. TEG has a presence in over 15 countries, most notably via Ticketek a globally recognized ticketing brand.

Prior to this role, Sandra has operated at a senior level across several top tier consumer businesses such as Burger King (Finance Director UK), Diageo (Financial Controller Africa, Global Strategy Partner) and Yum! Brands. During these roles Sandra also spent ten years working overseas including significant time focused on projects in emerging economies such as Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Russia and Vietnam as well as the more developed markets of Europe, UK, US and Australia.

Sandra is a mum to three young children, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UNSW and is a Fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants (FCPA).

Antonia Ruffell 

Antonia Ruffell is CEO of StartGiving, a not-for-profit inspiring a culture of giving in the tech innovation sector. With over two decades of experience in philanthropy, she is one of Australia’s leading experts on charitable giving and ancillary funds.

Antonia was formerly CEO of Australian Philanthropic Services and has held leadership roles across the not-for-profit and corporate sectors. She is an independent director for several private foundations.

Past roles include serving on the board of The Social Outfit, an ethical fashion company that provides employment to refugees, and senior positions with Perpetual Ltd, Mission Australia, the Royal Agricultural Society Foundation, ING Australia and The Prince’s Trust (now The King’s Trust) in the UK.

Throughout her career Antonia has supported hundreds of philanthropists to be more impactful with their giving. She is passionate about social change and an advocate for the unique role that philanthropy can play.