GOVERNORS

Centennial Parklands Foundation has a Board of Governors in place to oversee the strategic and investment decisions of the entity.

The current Governors of Centennial Parklands Foundation are:

 Rebekah Giles (Chair)

LLB (Hons), Grad Dip (Leg Prac), Notary Public, MAICD

Rebekah is an experienced company director serving on a range of government and private enterprise boards. She is also the principal director of reputational risk law firm Company Giles. Rebekah has more than a decade of experience in philanthropy principally in the areas of environment, education and health.   In September 2017 she was honoured with an Award for Excellence from the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology, Sydney.  Rebekah is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Rebekah was born and raised in Sydney where she continues to live with her two young children.

Matthew Hunter

BComm (Honours) UNSW

Matthew has a background of over twenty five years in the investment banking, private equity and investment advisory industries.  Matthew founded Rivendell Capital, a private investment and advisory business, in 2015, and prior to that was a Managing Director at The Carlyle Group, a global leader in the alternative asset management industry.

Matthew has extensive experience in governance roles, and is presently Chairman of Measure Australia, and Non-Executive Director of Medi Rent, National Group, Bothar Group and Terracom.  He has also previously served as a Non‐Executive Director of Healthscope and Coates Hire.

Matthew lives locally and has three sons and a daughter. He is passionate about outdoor living and the country, and is a regular visitor to Centennial Parklands, either running or enjoying a picnic with family members.

Daniel Janes

BA (Hnrs), MA, FCA

Dan is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Banking for Bank of America in Australia and New Zealand.   

He joined from Credit Suisse, where, for 5 years, he was Co-Head of Investment Banking Coverage and Head of Corporate Finance.  Prior to this Dan was Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Banking at Barclays in Australia, where he established the bank's corporate finance and M&A teams.
 
During his investment banking career in London, New York and Sydney, Dan has advised and led, on behalf of clients, a wide range of high profile transactions. Dan graduated from Newcastle-upon-Tyne University in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and holds a Masters in International Financial Analysis.  He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. 

Dan has a long standing commitment to the preservation and development of urban parklands and lives locally with his wife and two daughters.

Caroline Gurney

BA (Hon) Politics, Governments & Economics

Caroline Gurney is a Managing Director, Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications, Australasia and Deputy Chief Communication Officer, Asia Pacific at UBS.  She is a member of the UBS Management Committee and a Director of the UBS Australia Foundation.  Prior to joining UBS in 2002, Caroline was Vice President, Director of Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific for Citibank N.A. Caroline has worked in Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Australia.
 
Caroline is a member of the Ascham School Council; a director of Our Watch; a director of Future Generation Australia and an ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and a member of Chief Executive Women.

Fiona de Jong

LLB (Hons), BIT, AMP (Harvard)

Fiona is a former triathlete and lawyer with 12 years in Olympic sport administration. As former CEO and Director of Sport at the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), Fiona worked closely with over 40 national sporting organisations to deliver 10 Australian Olympic Team campaigns – three summer, three winter and four youth Olympic Teams - in nine countries, making Olympic dreams a reality for over 1600 Australian athletes.

Prior to sport, Fiona was an IT lawyer with law firm Blake Dawson Waldron (now Ashursts) and implemented eCommerce projects with leading funds manager Colonial First State. Fiona holds degrees in Law (Hons), Information Technology and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. She is a board member of Surfing Australia, Australian Sports Diplomacy Advisory Council, member National Sports Tribunal and various sports advisory councils. She is a former Member of International Olympic Committee (IOC) Marketing Commission, IOC Taskforce on Safeguarding Athletes, AOC Executive, Australian Olympic Foundation and Olympic Winter Institute of Australia.

As a recreational athlete, Fiona enjoys running and cycling in the Parklands and lives locally with her husband and young son.

Suzie Blinmen

BComm/Mktg (with merit)/LLB (UNSW)

Suzie Blinman is a member of MCN’s executive team, joining in September 2011 as Chief Commercial & Corporate Development Officer.

Suzie has extensive experience across media, telco, online and private equity, as well as over 13 years in strategic management consulting. Her prior roles included Director at Crescendo Partners, a specialist consulting firm for media and telecommunications. Suzie was also a Principal in the Strategy Practice at A.T. Kearney. She began her career as a lawyer at Minter Ellison.

Suzie has two children, Milla and Jack, and is an outdoor beach girl at heart.