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Executive Board

George Pappas
Chairman since 2004

George has over 30 years commercial experience in strategy consulting work for the largest companies in the United States, Japan, Asia and Australia.

As current Chairman of Committee for Melbourne, George has led the Committee’s effort to support new and innovative industry development, including greater access to expansion capital for high growth businesses.

He co-founded Pappas Carter Evans and Koop (PCEK) in 1979 and later became Managing Partner at Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG’s) Australasian offices.  George was also a former member of BCG’s worldwide Executive Committee and Chairman of the selection committee for Senior Vice-Presidents.

He has also served as Under Secretary in the Department of Premier and Cabinet for the State of Victoria, as Member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Monash Faculty of Business and Economics and Vice-Chairman of the Monash University Medical Foundation.

Apart from his role at the Committee, George is also Chancellor of Victoria University, Vice Chairman of the BioMelbourne Network, a Director of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, Commodore of the Point Leo Boat Club, Chairman of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Monash Faculty of Medicine, Chairman of the Defence Strategic Reform Advisory Board and Senior Advisor of BCG.




Kate Brennan
Executive Board Member since 2006

Kate has been recognised for her contributions to Melbourne’s art life, particular during her time with Melbourne City Council.  She is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust, former Vice-President of the Australian Arts and Entertainment Industry Association, former Deputy Chair of the Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres and former Chairperson of the Capital City Forum.

In her current role Chief Executive Officer of Fed Square Pty Ltd, Kate has had extensive involvement as project member and client in a range of capital infrastructure projects and was also involved in the design and activity concepts for Melbourne’s Federation Square.

She is also a current Board member of Melbourne Convention and Visitor Bureau, and member of the Australia International Cultural Council.




Phil Harkness
Executive Board Member since 2007

Throughout his professional career, Phil has provided strategic and operational advice to a wide range of industries including financial institutions, utilities, manufacturing, retailing, mining, chemicals, consumer goods and government.

He has previously managed Bunge (Aust) Pty Ltd Stockfeed Mill in Ballarat before working in Distribution and Industrial Relations during his time at Philip Morris Pty Ltd.

Phil has also served as a Strategy and Organisation consultant for PCEK, and as Director of Australian Consulting Partners, where he provided strategy and operations advice to major companies for nine years.  He went on to become head at Arthur Andersen’s consulting practice and was later appointed to the position of Vice President and Director, Melbourne Office for A.T. Kearney, a position which he still holds today.

Phil is also current Director of Rubicon Systems Australia – a supplier of channel gates and control systems to the global irrigation industry.

Professor Ed Byrne AO
Executive Board Member since 2009

Professor Byrne began his career as Neurology Registrar in Adelaide during the 1970s and later went on to become the Muscular Dystrophy Research Fellow at Queen Square in London and Director of Neurology at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne.

He has served as Founding Director of the Melbourne Neuromuscular Research Institute, Founding Director of the Centre for Neuroscience and Professor of Experimental Neurology at the University of Melbourne. When Professor Byrne was Director of the Centre for Neuroscience, he played a major role in driving the establishment of Neurosciences Victoria and Neurosciences Australia.  

He was also former Secretary General and Chair of the program committee of the 9th International Neuromuscular Congress, Governor of BHP Billiton Charitable Trustees and board member of Baker Heart Research Institute, Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Science, McFarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, Monash Institute of Medical Research and Southern Health.

Professor Byrne was Dean of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University then Executive Dean of Biomedicine, University College London and Head of the Royal Free University College Medical School and Vice Provost at University College London.

He is currently Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University, board member of BUPA Pty and Cochlear Pty Ltd, and member of Neuromuscular Steering Group of the World Federation of Neurology.




Tom Fricke
Executive Board Member since 2006

Tom has been a practising consulting engineer for over 40 years.  His career with leading Australia, and now international, professional services consultancy GHD (formerly Gutteridge Haskins & Davey) has involved him in infrastructure projects throughout Australia and also in South East Asia.

His roles at GHD have included Director IT, Director People, Victorian State Manager, GHD Board Member and, currently, Executive Manager in the Melbourne Office.

Tom has been GHD's Committee for Melbourne corporate representative since January 2002 and a Committee for Melbourne Executive Board Member since June 2006.

In recent years, he has had significant involvement in the Committee's taskforces on Higher Education and Climate Change, and from 2009 to date he has been Co-Chair of the Committee's "Melbourne Beyond 5 Million" Taskforce. 

Tom is also a Director of Engineering Education Australia Pty Ltd and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Philip Moors
Executive Board Member since 2004

In recent years, Dr Moors has implemented major new programs and capital developments in visitor services, cultural activities and tourism, plant biodiversity and urban ecology research, education, and fundraising and revenue generation.

He has also led the creation of the Australian Garden at Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, a new botanic garden celebrating the diversity and beauty of Australia’s plant-life.

Dr Moors previous roles include Assistant Director (Research) of the New Zealand Wildlife Service and Department of Conservation, and Director of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, now Birds Australia.

Currently, he is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Botanic Gardens and serves as Chairman, Board of Management, Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology.  He is also a member of Life Sciences Antarctic Research Advisory Committee, Australian Antarctic Division, a member of Maud Gibson Trust, and Inaugural President, Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand.

Dr Moors received the Centenary Medal in 2003 for services to the community through conservation and the environment.




Tony Wood
Executive Board Member since 2004

Tony has over 30 years experience in the fertiliser, chemical, transport and energy industries.

He was Executive General Manager, Corporate Communications and Government Relations for Origin Energy from 2002 until 2011 and prior to that General Manager, Retail, for Boral Energy which became Origin Energy after a de-merger from Boral in February 2000.

He was seconded to the Garnaut Climate Change Review from March 2008 until the Final Report was delivered on 30 September, 2008.

Tony has co-chaired the Committee’s Climate Change Taskforce, producing a report earlier this year on the impacts and opportunities of climate change for Melbourne.

Tony is currently Director of Clean Energy Program for the Clinton Climate Initiative in Australia.




Roger Poole
Executive Board Member since 2000

Roger has significant international experience in the design and master planning of buildings in Europe, Asia and America.

He has led design teams for a number of major buildings in Melbourne, notably the Melburnian, Crown, Freshwater Place, the Alfred Centre and the Melbourne Children’s Court.

Beyond architecture, Roger is active in civic affairs and a long-term contributor to Committee initiatives such as taskforces leading to the establishment of the Docklands Authority, now VicUrban; and co-chair of the Transport taskforce.

He is currently a Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a member of the Planning Institute of Australia.

Roger received the US Office of Education Doctoral Fellowship to MIT (Boston) in 1966-1969, the AIA Urban Design Fellowship to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and AIA Silver Medal in 1966, and the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship for Study in Japan in 1965.

He was awarded a Bachelor of Architecture (Honours) at the University of Washington, and his PhD programme in City Planning and Urban Design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Roger is currently the Executive Chairman of Bates Smart - one of Australia’s most effective architectural and urban designers.




Annette Kimmitt
Executive Board Member since 2010

With more than 26 years professional and commercial experience, Annette has spent the past five years leading businesses within Ernst and Young including the Financial Accounting Advisory Services Group and the Melbourne-based Assurance practice.

Annette is a Victorian Councillor and immediate past Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Australia). She sits on the Board of the United Nations Principles of Social Investment Secretariat and is a member of the Grattan Institute’s Audit Committee, a Fellow and Executive in Residence of the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Accounting and Industry Partnerships, and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Annette is currently Ernst and Young’s Melbourne Office Managing Partner leading a team of more than 120 Partners and 1,500 staff. She is responsible for the firm’s involvement in the broader Melbourne community and the firm’s go-to-market and client service strategies.




Peter Lock
Executive Board Member since 2010

Peter has over 25 years experience in the financial services industry spanning insurance, institutional banking, business development, business banking and corporate banking.

His career has included service within the public and private sector, including senior appointments with a number of major financial institutions.

He has held general management positions in both St.George Bank and the Commonwealth Bank.

He is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, an Executive Board Member of the Committee of Melbourne and a member of the Blue Ribbon Day Community Council.

Peter is a graduate of the Future Focus Group and is currently the Chairman of the FFG Alumni Association Advisory Group.

Peter is the currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Bank of Melbourne.  In this role, Peter also has the responsibility for the Bank’s Corporate, Commercial and Property business.

Jürgen W. Schneider
Executive Board Member since 2011

Jürgen Schneider currently holds the role of Regional General Manager for Siemens Ltd in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania which he has held for the past seven years. Jürgen is also Corporate Account Manager for BHP Billiton.

In his current role, Jürgen is strategically involved in the business development across the Siemens Business Sectors of Infrastructure and Cities, Industry, Energy and Healthcare. He has a special focus on developing the “Siemens’ Answers for Defence” portfolio of marine, security, energy, system integration and through life support in Australia and New Zealand.

Jürgen has previously managed a number of divisions within Siemens, holding the positions of Vice President of Industrial Solutions, Industrial Automation, Power Generation, Power Transmission and Distribution, and Transport Solutions. Jürgen has also performed strategic business development roles in the aluminium, oil and gas, metals and mining industries.

Jürgen has extensive multinational business and government relations experience in South Korea, Japan, Canada, the USA, Brazil, Singapore, India, the UK, France, Belgium and the Scandinavian countries. In his international management role, Jürgen established Siemens in New Zealand as a partner to Siemens in Australia and Siemens AG (Germany/Erlangen).

Within Siemens AG, Jürgen also managed the Industrial Automation business division responsible for servicing the needs of a quarter of the German and European industrial markets.