Meet the Advisory Groups

Antony brings over two decades of experience within the financial services industry, holding senior banking roles in global firms. Beyond his professional roles, Antony holds advisory positions across several institutions and not for profit organisations including the Business Council of Australia’s economic committee.

Cherie is a Partner at PwC Australia and has worked across the offices in Brisbane, New York and Sydney. Cherie has over fifteen years of experience as a solicitor providing Australian state and territory tax services across various industry sectors such as energy, renewables, mining, financial services, logistics, infrastructure, real estate, retail, software, pharmaceutical and telecommunications. In 2020, Cherie was named an Outstanding LGBTI+ 50 leader by Google, Energy Australia and Deloitte, and is passionate about authentic leadership, mentorship and coaching.  

Genevieve has held a number of executive roles across Wesfarmers and Coles over the last decade, focused on transforming businesses. She has a transgender son, which has increased her desire to work with executives to better understand how we transform cultures to be intentionally inclusive, and is excited by the potential impact of working together with other Executives across Australia and PID on the Australian working landscape.

George is an experienced commercial leader with over 20 years’ experience operating and driving transformation within highly regulated environments. Throughout his career he has been at the leading edge of customer, data, technology, media and digital in consumer-oriented sectors, across Europe and ANZ. George has held senior executive roles across M&A, corporate development, strategy, marketing, and operations, in a range of prominent listed businesses, including Woolworths Ltd, David Jones, Bank of Ireland, and The Star Entertainment Group where he is the Group Chief Marketing Officer.

Glenn has 30 years of experience in Global Financial Markets. He has been Executive Sponsor of dbpride since 2017 and has been Executive Sponsor of the APAC region since 2022. He was appointed as CEO of Deutsche Bank in 2021 having joined the organisation in 2009 and, prior to taking on the CEO role, was the local Head of Equities.

Jo is an award-winning market leader with strong experience growing brands through strategic and innovative media thinking. With a career spanning over 20+ years, much of which has been spent client-side as a senior marketer at Foxtel, SBS, NBCU and the Seven Network.

Lil Gordon is a proud Ngemba woman from Brewarrina in Northern NSW with more than 30 years’ experience working in and alongside Aboriginal communities. Lil is the former Head of Aboriginal Affairs NSW, Department of Premier & Cabinet and her current endeavours include First Assistant Secretary – First Nations Partnerships with the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications & the Arts; and Consultant/Facilitator – First Nations Strategy and Outcomes.

Marina Go is an experienced Chair and Non-Executive Director on ASX listed companies, private companies and Not for Profit organisations, across a range of sectors including energy, infrastructure, technology, retail and sport. She is a member of UNSW’s Business Advisory Council, the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, and ANU’s Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership (CAAL) Advisory Board. Marina is a co-founder of Women’s Agenda and has been actively progressing equitable outcomes for women and culturally diverse Australians for more than three decades.

Melissa Favero partners with CEOs and executive leadership teams in Australia and overseas. She is a strategist with more than 25 years in corporate affairs, media relations, stakeholder and reputation management, and employee engagement. Melissa founded Favero Advisory in 2021 and offers strategy and communications consulting. She works with clients from financial services, indigenous health and the arts.

Commissioner Ray Johnson has more than 35 years’ experience in policing uniform and detective roles both nationally and internationally. He was appointed Chief Police Officer for the ACT in 2018.   He was the AFP executive champion for LBGTQ staff for a number of years and the AFP representative on the PID advisory committee from 2015 to 2020.  Commissioner Johnson joined the ACT Public Service and delivered a review of the 2019-20 bushfire season to the ACT government before taking on the role of Commissioner of ACT Corrective Services.

David is passionate about supporting the LGBTQIA+ community with inclusion across corporate Australia.  Since being one of the instigators behind the Commonwealth Bank’s pride network ‘Unity’ he has worked to foster collaboration across his industry of financial services and banking, convening the Pride in Finance network.  In 2018 David was recognised as one of Australia’s 50 Out’standing Leaders by Deloitte Consulting & Google.  David is also a non-executive director and current board chair for Out For Australia.

Drew is a Partner in the Herbert Smith Freehills Employment, Industrial Relations & Safety team, based in Sydney. He works with employers in relation to diversity, inclusion and equity matters, industrial relations and general employment matters across Australia.  Drew partners with clients seeking to support innovation and to future proof their businesses. His wealth of varied experience working with local, national and global employers allows him to bring innovative ideas to the table.

Ian is the Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) at Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications and technology company operating across 20 countries. He works with leaders to ensure equitable practices and outcomes, increase diverse representation, and create an environment where everyone is valued and respected. Previously, he served as the ANZ Regional Head of DEI at Macquarie Group.

Jody has over thirty years of HR experience in both the private and public sectors, having a continued focus on delivering enterprise-wide cultural change by building organisational capability through the lens of safety, inclusion, and diversity. She worked for large, integrated organisations in the media and airline industries, before joining the Commonwealth Public Service. She has spent the majority of her public sector career with the Department of Defence and is now the Chief People Officer for the Commonwealth Treasury. She is passionate about building inclusive, high performing teams where each individual is able to enhance their capabilities and flourish in the workplace. 

Managing Director of Strategic Shift Consulting Melissa Tandy is a strategist with a reputation for solving business critical problems in Diversity and Inclusion, Risk Management and Cultural Change. Melissa is known for her collaborative approach and her passion for empowering people she works with to be their best.  A proud LGBTIQ+ ally, Melissa is often sought for her guidance on diversity and inclusion in the workplace and communities. She has been awarded and recognised for her work in this area.

Robbie has been a passionate advocate for diversity & inclusion for over 20 years, holding numerous board positions within LGBTQ+ community charities such as Wear it Purple & Rainbow Families. He is the exec sponsor for the Deloitte Stand Out network for 8 years and sits on the national DEI council.   As a proud member of the community, he continues to ensure that we keep the conversations alive within corporate Australia and beyond.  

Janani D’Silva is a tech consultant turned HR professional, with over 20 years industry experience. Janani was recognised as Australia’s Ally of the Year in 2022 and one of the top graduate recruiters in Australia in 2021. Janani now leads her organisation as the Head of Culture, Engagement and Early Careers, and joins the PID Advisory Board to provide insights from her experience in tech, process, social media, and careers.

Shomaice is a people and culture executive with 15 years’ experience focused on delivering people and industrial strategies and driving diversity, equity, and inclusion by partnering with organisations to solve complex problems. An experienced employment lawyer collaborating with businesses to develop operationally sustainable solutions and tactical responses to workplace issues. Shomaice is an adaptive leader with a proven track record of working across various public and private sector industries and navigating challenging environments.

Andrew has almost two decades of experience as a senior executive in the legal, financial services as a senior associate with Corrs Chambers Westgarth and Chief Security Officer for the Westpac Banking Corporation. He has significant commercial experience in business process redesign, change management, risk management , software development and business development. He is currently the Commercial Director for Hivery, a data analytics start up. Andrew has had a long involvement with sports administration and is founder of the Sydney Convicts Rugby Club, co-founder of the Pride in Sport Index and was President of the Bingham Cup Sydney 2014 and Chairman of International Gay Rugby.

Dana has over 15 years’ experience across all levels of the sporting sector from community to national and government. She brings considerable experience in the areas of governance, strategy, business improvement, innovation, workforce and stakeholder management. Most recently she has been driving the new direction of the Women Leaders in Sport program for Sport Australia to not only continue to provide opportunities for women, but to help organisations create more diverse and inclusive environments.

Ken Shipp is responsible for complete management of SBS Sport operations including the multi-platform content strategy, major rights negotiations, editorial and creative direction, programming, acquisitions and business development. Ken is a strategic leader with more than 30 years’ experience in media in roles spanning television production and management across the public, commercial and subscription broadcast sectors in Australia. Since 1997, he has been instrumental in building SBS’s reputation as a premium sports broadcaster, particularly in football and cycling, through SBS’s unique multi-platform offering. Major sporting events under Ken’s leadership include seven FIFA World Cups and multiple women’s World Cups, the UEFA Champions League, more than 20 Tour de France events, the Ashes in 2005 and 2009, the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, the 2004 Paralympics, and eight IAAF Athletics World Championships since 2001. Ken’s work in sports broadcasting has been recognised with three Logie Awards for the broadcasts of the FIFA World Cups in Germany (2006), Brazil (2014) and Russia (2018), and with the inaugural Cycling Australia Media Award in 2011. Ken is a passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion, reflecting his belief in the power of media to change lives.

Widely recognised within the sporting industry as one of the worlds first public transgender athletes [in athletics disciplines], Ricki brings a breadth of knowledge and life experience to this group. Ricki is the founder of Love Fitness. Two of her big passions are running and helping other people become their own champion through performance running, fitness and personal development. For over 35 years, Ricki has managed fitness centres and trained fitness leaders.

In her years of running and training Ricki has won State championships, and even been picked for State teams. She’s stood on the podium at fun runs, and won plenty of medals. However, the real rewards were perhaps less tangible on those days, like the work which went into achieving those things and the way that work moulded her character. The amazing self-esteem which evolved as every day she tore down negative self-belief and fostered a champion’s mindset. It was also the foundation for a life of amazing health and wellbeing.

Sarah is an experienced executive, sports management and stakeholder relations professional, and is currently the Head of Women’s Football, Women’s World Cup Legacy and Inclusion at Football Australia. Leading on sports strategy, game development and high-performance program implementation, LGBTQ inclusion is at the core of Sarah’s work. A former professional athlete, who has developed strong leadership skills through years of operating in high performing team environments, Sarah brings a critical skillset to the Pride in Sport Advisory Group. Sarah is skilled in stakeholder management, community engagement, and delivering outcomes in a fast-paced industry, with an in-depth knowledge of sports governance and administration, inclusion policies and program delivery.

Emma Staples is the Head of Community, Government and Infrastructure at Cricket Victoria and is an accomplished senior leader with extensive experience in sport, policy and health promotion spanning 20 years in Government and Non-Profit sectors. A gender equality advocate, Emma’s work involves driving cultural change across business and the broader cricket community to embrace diversity. Previously she has worked as a Senior Advisor in community sport and recreation for the Victorian Minister for Sport and Recreation and as a Health Promotion Project Manager using sport for social change in India, Fiji and remote Australian Indigenous communities. In 2018 Emma was awarded with the Pride in Sport Ally of the Year and led Cricket Victoria to become the leading sport for disability participation and LGBTQ inclusion, including four published research papers.

Richard is the CEO of Water Polo Australia, a Pride in Sport Foundation Member. Prior to this Richard was the General Manager – Performance and Competitions with Netball Queensland and the Queensland Firebirds for four years, where among other roles, he led an initiative to provide more opportunities for boys to play Netball. The bulk of Richard’s 25 years working across all levels of Australian sport has been spent predominantly in cricket as a high performance manager and coach, culminating in him working with both the Australian Men’s Team and then moving on to become Head Coach of the Australian Women’s team from 2008 to 2012. Through his journey Richard has constantly sought to create highly inclusive environments as a coach and leader and is very keen to continue this through his work with Pride in Sport and in his role with Water Polo Australia. Richard is driven by creating inclusive, accessible sporting environments that empower all participants to pursue their dreams.

Kerry has over 10 years of experience in creating welcoming, safe and inclusive sporting environments for people from diverse communities. Kerry is currently the Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Tennis Australia who are working hard to increase inclusive capacity through a range of initiatives targeting people with disability, multicultural communities, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders and people who identify as LGBTQ. Tennis Australia has recently been recognised as the highest ranking sporting organisation at the Pride in Sport Awards for their work in LGBTQ inclusion and as the inclusive sport of the year at the Inclusion & Diversity in Sport Awards.

Sophie has worked in the University sports sector over a decade, currently at Macquarie University as the Manager –Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (previously Manager- Sport Development and Partnerships) and previously at Queensland University of Technology as their Sport Manager. Her focus is the strategic development and delivery of programs, events, and policies that drive positive organisational and cultural change in the University environment. Sophie is a respected change agent with a reputation for delivering high quality programs and initiatives that support organisational goals and create opportunities for meaningful engagement with students. Sophie is passionate about LGBTQ inclusion in sport and hopes to be a custodian for LGBTQ sport inclusion across the University sector to ensure future generations can experience the community and sense of belonging that sport provides.