Executive Members
Simon McKeon, Chairman
Simon McKeon is Executive Chairman of Macquarie Group's Melbourne office and specialises in mergers and acquisitions. He has degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of Melbourne and prior to joining Macquarie, Simon practised as a solicitor with Blake Dawson Waldron in Sydney. He is Chairman of MS Research Australia and is also President of the Australian Takeovers Panel. He is on the Board of VisionFund which is responsible for World Vision International's micro economic development activities and Red Dust Role Models which engages with remote indigenous communities. Simon is married to Amanda Jane and they have four boys.
"‘No man is an island’ and the same applies to nations, even island nations such as Australia. We are part of a global economy - connected to both the first and developing worlds.
Australian businesses, in general, have a reasonably good understanding of the first world but many have a way to go before they begin to appreciate the commercial opportunities arising out of the developing world. I'm interested to encourage them on this journey because of the enormous and positive impact they can then have on the poorest of the poor, particularly in our own region."
Dr Dan Evans, Deputy Chairman
Dan has had two professional careers covering the mining and professional services sectors. After 26 years with WMC Resources where his final role was Vice President Exploration – Africa/Eurasia, Dan has spent the last 10 years in management consulting. He was a strategy partner in Accenture focused on the global mineral resources industry. Currently, Dan is the Principal of Executive Compass, a management consultancy he founded in 1991 and Non-Executive Chairman of RMDSTEM. Dan holds Bachelor, Masters and PhD degrees in geology from various USA and Canadian universities and an MBA from Melbourne Business School. He is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Vice President of the Australian African Business Council (Vic) and a member of Scope’s Risk & Audit Committee. Dan is married to Linda and they have three daughters and five grandchildren.
Mark Ingram, Chief Executive Officer
Mark Ingram served as the New Zealand Consul General to Victoria and Trade Commissioner for Biotechnology from 2003 – 2007. During this period, Mark brokered the establishment of the Australia New Zealand Biotech Alliance, founded the New Zealand Victoria Business Group, and led the first official visit of the Victorian State Premier to New Zealand in over 50 years. Prior to his diplomatic posting, Mark had worked for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise as an Export Consultant from 2001-2002. Mark also spent 7 years working in international trade with Anthony Marquet Ltd (1999 – 2001) as Trading Manager and with the large Japanese trading house Kanematsu Corporation (1994 – 1998) as Metals Division Assistant Manager. Mark is currently a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Advisory Committee for Human Security at La Trobe University. Mark is married to Niki and they have a young son.
Masud Isa, GM Project Development
Masud Isa joined B4MD in 2009. He was formerly the Managing Director of Grameen Kalyan (a venture capital financing company) for 2 years and Managing Director of Grameen Telecom for 3 years, the pioneer of village phone operation in Bangladesh. He also served as the Managing Director of Grameen Knitwear Limited (an export oriented composite knitwear manufacturing company) for 5 years. Masud was on the Board of Directors in several companies of Grameen Group in the areas of telecommunication, textile, agriculture, fisheries, education, health care, asset management and ISP. He also worked as micro-credit consultant for AusAID, UNHCR and Grameen Trust and participated as Resource Speaker in training programs, workshops and seminars at home and abroad.
Board Members
Peter Botten
Peter joined Oil Search in 1992, just after oil and gas production started from Kutubu and Hides. Since that time Oil Search has grown to become a regionally significant Operator, owning over 70% of the oil and 50% of the gas business in PNG, operating all producing oil and gas fields in the country and being responsible for around 13% of the country’s GDP. The Company’s market capitalisation has also grown from just over A$200m to where it is now around A$7bn over this period. Oil Search is a major interest holder in the PNG LNG Project which recently entered Final Investment Decision (FID)
Peter has been a leader in the PNG petroleum industry for over 12 years. He is presently President of the Chamber of Mines and Petroleum and is a Council Member of the Australia PNG Business Council. He was recently made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Honours List for services to the community and mining and petroleum industries in Papua New Guinea.
Tim Costello
Since February 2004, Rev. Tim Costello has been the Chief Executive of World Vision, Australia’s largest overseas aid organisation. Tim studied law and education at Monash University, followed by theology at the International Baptist Seminary Rueschlikon, Switzerland, and a Master’s in Theology at the Melbourne College of Divinity. In 2005 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for "service to the community through contributions to social justice, health and welfare issues, international development assistance, and to the Baptist Church". Tim and his wife, Merridie, have three adult children, Claire, Elliot and Martin.
Bill Hurditch
Dr Bill Hurditch is a principal and director of The Fifth Estate, a Sydney-based corporate advocacy firm which specialises in strategic development and issues management for businesses, particularly in the natural resources and environmental services sectors. The firm acts in an advisory role for a number of major Australian companies. Bill holds a First-Class Honours degree and a PhD in Science (Ecology) from the University of New England. In 1990 and 1991, he was a visiting scientist at Oxford University. Bill was executive director of the NSW Chamber of Mines from 1993 to 1995, and executive director of the NSW Forest Products Association for the 10 years prior to that. Bill lives in Sydney with his wife Susan and they have three children.
Barry Pipella
Barry Pipella holds the position as Vice President for sectors and sales, IBM Global Technology Services (GTS) ANZ. He is responsible for the growth of infrastructure, application outsourcing and technical services in the region. Since joining IBM in 1996, Barry has held several sales and general management roles. His roles have included the management of teams to identify, qualify, develop and close large strategic outsourcing opportunities; and to support other services lines where outsourcing was a component of the solution.
Karen Wood
Karen Wood is Group Executive and Chief People Officer of BHP Billiton. She is a member of BHP Billiton's Group Management Committee and Chair of its Global Ethics Panel.
Karen joined BHP Billiton in 2001 as Company Secretary of BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton plc following the merger of BHP Limited and Billiton plc. She was appointed Chief Governance Officer in 2006 and Group Executive and Chief People Officer in 2007.
She holds degrees in Education and Law. Prior to her appointment to BHP Billiton she was General Counsel of Bonlac Foods Limited.
She is a member of the Takeovers Panel and the Law Council of Australia.
