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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
 Rebekah Giles (Chair)
LLB (Hons), Grad Dip (Leg Prac), Notary Public

Rebekah is a partner of the international law firm Kennedys, with specialist expertise in managing reputational risk, having acted in some of Australia’s most high profile, high value and commercially sensitive disputes.

Prior to  joining Kennedys, Rebekah previously held roles at a number of other leading firms including Minter Ellison and Holding Redlich. Skilled in corporate governance and committed to philanthropy, Rebekah has been a Governor of Centennial Parklands Foundation since 2013. She was appointed Chair of the Foundation the following year and has overseen unprecedented growth at the Foundation since that time. Rebekah is also a Director of the AFL’s newest club, the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

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

BComm (Honours) UNSW

Matthew has a background of over twenty years in the investment banking and private equity 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 is presently Chairman of Measure Australia and Sustainable Food Corporation, and Non-Executive Director of Silver Heritage and MediRent.  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 JanesDaniel Janes
BA (Hnrs), MA, FCA

Dan is a Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for Credit Suisse Emerging Companies Australia, having previously held senior positions at Barclays and ABN AMRO.  Dan was most recently 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 22 year 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.  These have involved many of Australia's landmark transactions, including over $110bn successful M&A transactions and over $60bn of capital markets transactions.  He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant 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 GurneyCaroline 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; the Advisory Council and the Dean's Circle, UNSW Medicine; and an ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.
Fiona de JongFiona 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 has worked closely with 33 summer and seven winter national sporting organisations and delivered 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 and former member of the AOC Executive, Australian Olympic Foundation, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Marketing Commission and various IOC and sports advisory boards. Fiona is also a current Trustee of Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust.

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

Felicity is the head of content partnerships for YouTube in Australia and New Zealand and also leads content partnerships for Google Play movies & TV in the Asia Pacific region, working closely with rights-holders, original content creators and technology platforms. In her role she has been responsible for a diverse array of projects including the Google Play movie store launch and securing key commercial arrangements for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.

Previously, Felicity headed up sponsorship and live events for FremantleMedia in New York working on top rating TV shows including American Idol and America's Got Talent. She is a qualified lawyer and started her career at Mallesons Stephen Jaques in Sydney.

Felicity is a mother of three and spends a lot of time in the park with her daughters, enjoying all it has to offer.
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.