Scott Walters, Chief Executive Officer of Opportunity International Australia, has significant experience in senior roles in the Financial and Not-For-Profit sectors and is described as an “engaging and collaborative leader”.

Scott has enjoyed a long and diverse career in the not-for-profit sector. In fields such as educational support for disadvantaged children, poverty relief, women’s health, early childhood intervention, and in Bible translation and distribution.

Scott has led and managed the strategic development and growth in fundraising for a number of charities. Prior to this Scott had spent over two decades in senior leadership roles in the financial services and wealth management industry, including in stockbroking, mortgage broking, financial planning, insurance, corporate superannuation, and online investing.

Scott recently commenced as Chief Executive Officer with Opportunity International Australia. Formerly he was Chief Fundraising Officer for Bible Society Australia where he was responsible for strategy, major donor fundraising, church partnerships, and bequests. Prior to this he was Head of Strategic Partnerships at The Smith Family, a children’s education charity.

Before moving into the not-for-profit sector Scott had been Head of Financial Planning for Mark Bouris’ Yellow Brick Road Wealth Management and also Financial Advice Leader Australia for Mercer Wealth Solutions. In that role he was awarded Rainmaker Marketer of the Year – Financial Planning. Before joining Mercer, Scott was Head of Financial Planning for Citigroup and has also led the financial planning business of Westpac/BT. Scott was also responsible, as CEO, for the successful launch of Merrill Lynch HSBC in December 2000, the online stockbroking and financial services joint venture. Scott enjoyed 14 years with Deutsche Bank in a variety of roles, including 7 years in their London office and 4 years as Head of Private Client Stockbroking in Australia.

Scott has served on the boards of The Benevolent Society, the Art Gallery of NSW, Goodstart Early Learning, the Value of Good Advice Committee of the Financial Services Council (formerly IFSA) and a publicly listed company. He has been active in a range of social issues and is an alumnus of the Sydney Leadership program, run under the auspices of The Benevolent Society. Scott also chairs the board of Joining the Dots Theatre Company.

Scott is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the Queensland University of Technology. Outside work, Scott has a love of surfing, music, golf, theatre, and anything manufactured by Apple. He is married to Nikki, has 3 boys aged 22, 20 and 18, and plays blues harmonica in a band. He is currently completing a Masters of Ancient History in Early Christianity and Jewish Studies at Macquarie University.

In 2009 Louise Baxter returned to the sector as Starlight's Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director. Louise’s focus on exceptional experiences and relationships has seen improved metrics across all areas of Starlight. Louise has been responsible for driving significant Starlight program and fundraising growth. Under her leadership Starlight has been listed in the top 10 in Australia’s Great Places to Work, has reached #1 as the most reputable Children’s charity and in 2020 was named by the Australian Financial Review as the #1 most innovative organisation in the Education, Government & NFP sectors.

Louise is passionate about the creation of organisational purpose and believe this is key to delivering maximum impact through people. She has been successful in developing high performing teams within a culture where change is embraced, and innovation is embedded.

Louise was acknowledged by CEO Magazine in 2016 as Australia’s NFP Executive of the Year and in 2019 Louise was listed in Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 which recognised the 25 most influential and inspirational people in Australia’s social sector as nominated by their peers. Louise is committed to using her influence to grow and strengthen the ‘Profit for Purpose’ sector.

Louise has Non-Executive Director roles with the Stanford Australia Foundation, The Community Council for Australia and Rippling, a new Joint Venture, which brings four charities together for the purpose of ethical fundraising.

Steve is passionate about helping people facing adversity to improve their opportunities in life.
That passion has led him to work with organisations which transform the lives of vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalised people.

In March 2021 he became the Interim Chief Executive Officer of SecondBite – the largest food rescue organisation in Australia. SecondBite’s mission is to End Waste, End Hunger. They do this by rescuing surplus food from retailers, manufacturers and farmers and redistributing it free of charge to local charities and not-for-profits that run food programs. The food is turned into meals and hampers for Australians doing it tough.

Prior to SecondBite, after leaving the law as a partner at Allens in early 2014, he held leadership roles in several not-for-profits supporting young people and their families, including as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Thrive by Five, the early childhood initiative of the Minderoo Foundation established by Andrew and Nicola Forrest; Chief Executive Officer of Doxa Youth Foundation, supporting young people from 8 to 24 years of age to overcome disadvantage; Head of Australian Operations at Save the Children, as part of an organisation-wide restructure with responsibility for approximately $28 million turnover and over 500 staff; and his first role in the sector as Chief Operating Officer of national charity Whitelion, working with youth at risk.

Clary is a strategy, commercial growth and business model innovation professional currently working in top-tier strategy consulting firm BCG, having previously been a freelance keynote speaker and strategy facilitator. He will share his story of how a trip to India set him on a path to founding the 40K Foundation to support education for some of India’s poorest children.

In November we had the pleasure of welcoming Susan Metcalf as our guest speaker.
As a CEO, business leader, and Board member Susan Metcalf has deep commercial and not-for-profit experience. This is grounded in extensive general management and marketing experience developed across some of Australia’s most valuable for-profit and social-purpose brands including McDonalds, Disney, The Smith Family and Social Ventures Australia. As a Board member she has advised organisations including TAFE NSW, UPA (an aged care provider) and Scouts Australia NSW.
Susan is a Vincent Fairfax Fellow in Ethical Leadership, and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Macquarie University Graduate School of Management, and a Diploma Law (SAB) from Sydney University.
Susan brings commercial experience and social perspective together in a ‘head and heart’ approach to excellence in business and in life.

In October we were delighted to welcome Holly Masters, Chief Executive Officer of the McGrath Foundation, as our guest speaker.
Holly joined the McGrath Foundation in October 2017, after working in the UK and across the Asia Pacific region. She has a wealth of experience across FMCG, retail, beauty, media and telecommunications sectors, building and developing brands globally. Most recently, Holly worked for Estée Lauder Companies where she held a variety of roles over 12 years including, Vice President General Manager of Clinique Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong. Holly has led brands such as Jo Malone London, La Mer and Molton Brown across Australia and co-founded mission21, a marketing and communications agency in London.
Today Holly manages a team of passionate, skilled professionals at the McGrath Foundation. She is responsible for leading the McGrath Foundation into a new phase of growth in order to deliver on the Mission of ensuring every individual experiencing breast cancer has access to the support of a McGrath Breast Care Nurse, for free wherever they live in Australia.

Our guest speaker for August’s Head & Heart Workshop was John Bush.
John is an Associate in the Programs team at the Paul Ramsay Foundation, where he manages a set of grants and impact investments and leads strategy development related to the Learning Lives portfolio.
Previously, John was Associate Director, Education at Social Ventures Australia. John was Director of Learning and Development at High Resolves. He began his career as a high school English teacher and school leader in Tennessee and Sydney.
John is on the Advisory Board of the Gonski Institute for Education at UNSW, the Education Advisory Board for Maths Pathway, and is the Co-Chair of the Philanthropy Australia Education Funders’ Network. He holds a Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a Bachelor of Science (Highest Honors) from Vanderbilt University.

Our guest speaker for June’s Head & Heart Workshop was Kylea Tink.
A passionate believer that profit, purpose, and positive social outcomes must co-exist for any business to thrive, Kylea Tink is an experienced and inspiring leader who has built and run successful businesses both as a CEO and a Board Director.
For the past 30 years, Kylea has worked across, and within, the Government, Commercial and Not-for-Profit sectors, to drive sustainable, positive change for communities around the world. Her capacity to quickly come to grips with business and stakeholder challenges has seen her not only champion the development of several iconic community campaigns but has ultimately resulted in the achievement of a number of sustainable positive social changes. With a proven track record for building and inspiring high performing teams, Kylea’s ultimate motivation is simple: “To leave the world a better place than I found it!”

Our guest speaker for May was Melissa King. Melissa was the first female Chief Executive of one of Australia’s most iconic and beloved organisations, Surf Life Saving Australia. She was instrumental in navigating the organisation through a time of change and growth.
Prior to her role with Surf Life Saving Australia Melissa worked across corporate, government and not for profit sectors in marketing, communications, sponsorship, business development and fundraising with organisations including Sydney Opera House, Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet – APEC Australia 2007 Taskforce and the Governance Institute.
Melissa’s interest in the Sustainable Development Goals and purpose driven approach led her to the United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) where she is a Non-Executive Director and is focused on providing support to increase the profile, awareness and positioning of UNAA and in turn the work of the United Nations. Currently Melissa works with not for profits and governments providing advice, and mentors emerging leaders here and overseas.
Resilience, curiosity, humour, and a glass half full approach have held her in good stead as she has navigated the challenges and opportunities of her career to date, even more so as we as humans and communities manage the current environment.

The guest speaker for February’s Head & Heart was Belinda Morrissey. Belinda is the CEO of the English Family Foundation, a private foundation whose vision is to support transformational change in our world through the growth and development of social entrepreneurs and social businesses. Belinda works closely with social enterprises to develop and support their sustainable business models for delivering social outcomes, and she has a particular focus on progressing the role of philanthropy in developing the sector towards obtaining the “right capital at the right time.
She has spent the past decade in the philanthropic and for purpose sectors including roles within Australia Philanthropic Services and leading Sydney Community Foundation. Prior to this Belinda had an extensive career in investment management, she holds a BA in economics along with post graduates in philanthropy, applied investment and in financial accounting. Belinda holds several not for profit board positions – she is on the Board of ActionAid Australia and on the Advisory Boards of the Social Impact Hub and White Box Enterprises Ltd.

The guest speaker for September’s Head & Heart was Geoff Stalley. Geoff’s expertise spans 25 years of corporate innovation and growth, business strategy and execution, merger integration and major transformational change. Geoff is also the Chair of Uplifting Australia, an organisation committed to strengthening the emotional wellbeing and resilience of children and families.
We enjoyed Geoff’s insights on why he contributes to the for purpose sector and his experiences in balancing this contribution with his corporate commitments.

We were excited to welcome Megan Flynn to Head and Heart in June. Megan is a corporate strategy and development executive, experienced with the management of business risks and stakeholder relations with respect to environmental markets and policy. Megan was most recently Group Manager, Environment & Carbon Strategy for Qantas Group, responsible for the development of long term environmental and sustainability leadership at Qantas. She is currently Interim Chair with the Carbon Market Institute, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Earthwatch Institute, and a member of the Sustainability Victoria Board, and the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute Advisory Board.

David Thomas’ career began at KPMG and then Deloitte, where he spent over ten years before moving into the advertising and media sector, then retail banking as a CFO and CEO. Along the way, David added to his skillset and qualifications by attaining an Executive Master of Business Administration with a marketing specialty. He has also been actively involved with Lifeline Northern Beaches, firstly as a Board member and now as CEO.
Through his diverse and extensive experience, David has gained a unique perspective on finance – in particular, how it compounds overall business performance. He firmly believes that all professional people can benefit from understanding the fundamentals of finance, even (or especially) if they aren’t in a finance role. With this in mind, David established Figure Eight Finance, a niche accounting practice, as a platform from which to deliver strategic solutions, including short courses, coaching and CFO-on-call services.
With his passion for communication, education, motivation and mentoring, David takes a very personal approach to his work with both Lifeline and Figure Eight. For him, it’s all about helping business people become more capable and confident in their abilities – and in turn, achieving better outcomes in business and life.

In May we welcomed Shamal Dass, Head of Philanthropic Services at JBWere, as our guest speaker. Shamal provides specialist strategic advice to both for-purpose organisations and private clients in areas such as structuring, governance, capacity building, sustainability and organisational strategy.

Prior to joining JBWere, Shamal worked within the financial services and trustee industries gaining significant experience in advising high net worth individuals on their philanthropic structures, managing trusts and foundations (including PAFs), and constructing charitable foundation investment portfolios. Shamal serves on a volunteer basis as:

• a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Earthwatch Australia and Two Good Foundation;
• Chair of the Governance Group of The Constellation Project (a cross-sector collaboration aimed at eradicating homelessness);
• A member of many committees including the Advisory Committee of the Centre for Social Impact and Investment Committee of the JBWere Charitable Endowment Fund.

Shamal’s research and writing focuses on the development of frameworks that enable all participants in the social outcomes ecosystem (for-purpose organisations, philanthropists and corporates) to deliver greater impact.

David Ritter is the CEO at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, campaigning for a green and peaceful future for all.
He returned to Australia to take up the role as CEO in 2012 after five years working in a senior campaigns position with Greenpeace in London where he worked on the global issues of destructive fishing, deforestation and climate change.
Prior to joining Greenpeace, he worked as an academic and a lawyer in both commercial and native title practices.
He is a published commentator on politics, law, history and current affairs and an honorary fellow of the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Australia, a research affiliate of the Sydney Environment Institute and an Adjunct Professor in the Sydney Democracy Network, both at Sydney University.
We were delighted to welcome David as our guest speaker in February 2019.

Shirley is the CEO of the GO Foundation and the Deputy Chair of YMCA NSW.
An experienced CEO and Non-Executive Director with experience in banking, finance, asset management and NFP sectors, Shirley has proven expertise in managing complex situations, aligning interests of multiple stakeholder groups and delivering sustainable solutions. She has shown a commitment throughout her career to designing and delivering places and services that enable people and communities to thrive and prosper.
Shirley believes fiercely in the power of diversity and inclusion and is an advocate for increasing diversity amongst corporate and not-for-profit boards, and senior management. She is also a strong advocate for a Reconciliation and the strength that all Australians can all draw from Indigenous Australia and its heritage and culture, the oldest living culture in the world.

Clive Ringler is the Deputy Chairman of Children’s Ground and a Board Member of First Australians Capital. Having grown up in the Kimberley region of WA he has a keen focus on youth and Indigenous issues. To this extent he has representation on a school bursary committee and is involved in indigenous affairs as a youth mentor. He is also active in Youth Off the Streets, with their “Walk the Streets” Program and the Food Van.
Clive is also a Portfolio Manager and Financial Adviser with Morgan Stanley. He has over 25 years experience in the financial markets and covers both global and Australian investments across all asset classes including fixed interest and currencies. Clive started his finance career with the CBA in Corporate Finance before moving onto the National Bank where he worked in both Corporate Lending and Debt Capital Markets.
Clive holds a degree in Economics from the University of New England, Armidale and a Masters of Commerce from the University of NSW. He is also an ASX Accredited Derivatives Adviser.
We were delighted to welcome Clive as our Guest Presenter at the Head and Heart Workshop.

Dominic has extensive executive experience across Government, Events and entertainment, IT services and sporting organisations. He will also draw on his experience from a 20 year career as an Army Officer which included representational and operational roles. He is passionate about growing the legacy of PCYC NSW to deliver expanded empowering experiences to youth and the community