Governance

Craig Chapman is Chair of the American Australian Association. He has been a member of the Association since 1984, on the Association’s Board of Directors since 2002 and on the Board’s Executive Committee since 2003.Born and raised in Connecticut, Craig’s first association with Australia was living with an Australian family in the Sydney suburb of Castle Cove and attending North Sydney Boys High School as an American Field Service exchange student in 1971. After completing law school at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1980, Craig started his career as a lawyer with Dawson Waldron, then one of Sydney, Australia’s top four law firms, where he worked for three years on a variety of corporate matters and met his wife, Susan Manton. Susan was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield. Craig’s 39-year marriage to Susan constitutes his longest lasting and personally most rewarding “American Australian Association”.They have two daughters, Jane and Louise, both of whom are dual citizens, and three grandchildren. Craig is also a partner in the New York office of Sidley Austin LLP. Sidley is a global law firm with more than 2,000 lawyers in 21 offices around the world, including an office in Sydney, Australia. Craig has worked at Sidley (starting at the predecessor firm Brown & Wood) since returning to the United States from Australia in 1983. Craig was head of Sidley’s Tokyo office from 1992 to 1995 and head of the Capital Markets practice in Sidley’s London office from 2006 to 2009. At Sidley, among other things, Craig is a leader of its Capital Markets practice. One of Craig’s primary areas of focus at Sidley is representing Australian issuers and underwriters of Australian issuers (including Australia’s major banking and other financial institutions and their New Zealand subsidiaries) on U.S. securities offerings and other transactions. He has worked closely with Sidley’s Sydney office since its opening in 2007.

   Melissa is currently a Non Executive Director of Swiss Re Americas, Flirtey Inc, the American-Australian Association, and a Governing Board member of St Al-bans School, Washington D.C.Prior to relocating to the US, Melissa held several Board roles in Australia from 2011-2015. She was a Non-Executive Director of Q Super, Swiss Re Australia, Mercer Investments, St Vincent’s Health & Aged Care, the IOOF Foundation and Athletics Australia. She has chaired Investment, Risk and Audit Committees on these boards. Melissa had also been a member of the Business Advi-sory Panel to the NSW Treasurer in 2012.Before moving into Board positions, Melissa enjoyed a long career in both international and domestic financial markets from 1992-2011. Commencing in interest rate derivatives trading at Bankers Trust in 1992, she then moved to Commodities trading at Deutsche Bank in 1997. In 2000 she was appointed a Managing Director, and in this capacity had roles as Head of Global Finance and Foreign Exchange A/NZ for Deutsche Bank Australia, Head of Commodities Asia-Pacific, and a member of the Global Executive team.Melissa holds a MCom (Finance and Economics) from University of NSW and a BAppSc from Sydney University. She is a Graduate of the Aus-tralian Institute of Company Directors, and a member of Chief Ex-ecutive Women.

   Samantha is the global head of consultant relations and head of North America institutional sales for Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM), and co-chair of the global diversity council for MSIM. She is based in New York, and joined Morgan Stanley in 2007 and has 17 years industry experience. Previously, she was based in London and was the co-head of MSIM’s international consultant relations team covering investment consultant clients in the U.K., Europe and Asia. Prior to that, she was the retail investment product manager in the wealth management division of Suncorp, Australia, and practiced as a banking and finance lawyer at Mallesons Stephen Jacques, Australia. Samantha received a B.Bus. with distinction in international business and a B.Law with honours from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, a Grad.Dip in applied finance from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, and a Grad.Dip in legal practice from the College of Law, Sydney. She is also a qualified solicitor.

   The American Australian Association President came to the job well prepared after serving as the 25th US Ambassador and President Obama’s personal representative to Australia. Prior to that, John served in multiple senior government positions, earning three unanimous Senate confirmations, including: the head of “HR” for the Federal government as Director of the Office of Personnel Management; the “COO” of the Department of Interior as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget; the head of 40% of Federal law enforcement as Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement at the Treasury Department; and Legislative Director for Rep. Steny Hoyer. John has also been a leader in the non-profit sector, serving as the Director of the Smithsonian National Zoo; The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Government Relations for the Smithsonian Institution. John has accomplished many firsts, most notably, the first openly LGBT US Ambassador to a G20 country and while at OPM, he was the highest ranking LGBT executive official in US history. He has stood atop both poles – north and south, visited all of the world’s continents, as well as all of the states of both the USA and Australia. His most favorite recognitions of the many received have been Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, a lion named “John” in his honor and a mountain in Antarctica called the “Berry Bastion.” He is married to his partner of over 20 years, Curtis Yee.

   Shannon Marshall is a Vice President and Investment Specialist for JP Morgan. She is responsible for developing and managing relationships with affluent clients and their families, addressing their investment, banking and planning needs. She world closely with her clients and their external advisors to provide thoughtful investment and wealth management solutions within the context of each other’s overall objectives, including retirement, estate planning and philanthropic needs. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Ms. Marshall worked as a Private Wealth Advisor at Bernstein Global Wealth Management Group based in New York City, providing financial planning, investment and wealth management solutions. Originally from Australia, Ms. Marshall previously worked extensively in the international wine industry.

Kate is a General Partner at ALIAVIA Ventures, based out of Los Angeles where she resides. ALIAVIA is an early stage Venture Capital fund investing in U.S. and Australian based female founders building world-changing enterprise and consumer tech companies.

Kate has had a distinguished career in the technology and digital industries, with over two decades experience across major digital brands, including Spotify where she was Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand and prior was Head of YouTube Australia and New Zealand, as well as the first in-region employee for Google as the Head of Sales and Operations Australia and New Zealand.

Kate has held a number of Non-Executive board roles including Tourism Australia, Tourism Tasmania and currently at ASX listed e-sports company Mogul. She is also a former Council Member of Make-A-Wish Australia. Kate is an active angel investor, having invested in several companies in Australia and the US. She holds a Bachelor of Business from Monash University.

   Sara McKerihan was recently appointed Vice Chair of Markets and Securities Services for Australia and New Zealand, relocating from New York to Sydney. She will focus on growing the bank’s strategic relationships with key Australian/New Zealand market clients.

Ms McKerihan was previously in the Global Client and Relationship Management Group, based in New York. Citi Markets Global Relationship Managers work with Citi senior management and Markets coverage teams to ensure that Citi is delivering our best in class services to our most important Platinum clients and that Citi is fully maximizing on potential business opportunities.

Ms McKerihan joined Salomon Brothers as a salesperson with particular responsibility for Central Banks in non-US dollar markets. In 1989, she played a key role in forming the specialized European Government Group, which now covers all the major European markets. In 1999 she was appointed Head of Fixed Income Sales for Asia Pacific, and relocated to Hong Kong, where she was responsible for managing a sales team covering all countries throughout the region. She was also made a member of the Asia Pacific Management Committee. In 2002, she relocated to New York to cover Global Hedge Funds within Fixed Income and in 2007 transitioned to the newly formed Global Relationship Management team.

Ms McKerihan has a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce from Newcastle University and graduated from the Development Program for Managers from the University of New South Wales. She also serves on the boards of 100 Women in Finance, the American Australian Association and the American Friends of the National Gallery of Australia.

   As General Manager of the IBM Partner Ecosystem, David LaRose leads the organization's worldwide channel business. He engages with more than 160,000 Ecosystem Partners around emerging opportunities in the channel through cloud, analytics, mobile, security, AI and modern infrastructure.

David is responsible for the revenue generated globally through IBM Business Partners, including value-added distributors, resellers, system integrators, independent software vendors, cloud service providers and managed service providers.

Prior to this position David was Managing Director, IBM Australia and New Zealand where he was responsible for the vision and overall IBM performance of the business and returned it to growth. He is a global executive with extensive leadership experience working in Japan, China, India and Europe spanning sales and general management in the highly competitive ICT industry.

Throughout his career at IBM he has held a series of progressive leadership roles in sales, channel management, and brand management across global regions spanning 170 countries. Along with increasing P&L responsibility, he has led thousands of cross-functional employees across sales, finance, marketing, communications, HR, and support functions.

David has extensive experience in resolving complex business issues, identifying growth opportunities and a passion for driving the business performance with a strong focus on culture and workforce engagement. He also serves on the Board of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA). Its purpose is to serve the Information Technology Industry with the Federal and State Governments of Australia.

Sarah Beshar is a senior executive, legal counsel and corporate advisor. In 2017, Ms Beshar was appointed a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of Invesco Ltd, a global asset manager with over US$1.5 Trillion assets under management across multiple asset classes in 150 countries. Currently, she serves as Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and is on the Audit and Compensation Committees.In 2015, Ms. Beshar completed a thirty year career as a partner and member of management at Davis Polk & Wardwell, a global legal and professional services firm. Ms. Beshar was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Western Australia. She received an Honors BCL Degree from Magdalen College at Oxford University as the inaugural Sir Robert Menzies Scholar. She earned a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Jurisprudence, both with First Class Distinction from the University of Western Australia.Ms. Beshar has served as a Trustee of both the University of Western Australia in America and Magdalen College, Oxford University in America. She is a member of the Corporate Board of the Lincoln Center and Board of Trustees of Episcopal Charities, as well as a Conservation Fellow at the Whitney Museum. Ms. Beshar is a Director of the USAsia Center in Perth and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the American Australian Association. Ms. Beshar lives in New York.

   As Chief Executive Officer, since 2014, Denis Hickey oversees all aspects of the Lendlease businesses in the Americas.

Mr. Hickey joined Lendlease in 2012, and prior to his current role was Managing Director of Lendlease’s Australian development business, where he was responsible for all development activities including retail, communities, commercial, retirement, apartments and the company’s major urban renewal projects.

He brings more than 20 years’ experience to Lendlease, working across all aspects of real estate development and investment management. Prior to joining the Group, Mr. Hickey was chief executive officer at ING Real Estate – Australia and held senior executive positions at Stockland and Jennings Group Limited.

As a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Mr. Hickey has held positions on the Board of the Property Council of Australia (PCA) and has served as President of the PCA NSW Division.

Mr. Hickey received a Bachelor of Business degree from Monash University; he has also completed an AMP at Harvard University. He and his wife, Lisa, and their children currently live in Manhattan.

   Charles Grant was named Senior Advisor to Lexington Partners in 2019. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Grant was a Partner of Lexington primarily engaged in the origination and evaluation of secondary purchases of private equity and alternative investments. Mr. Grant, a Chartered Accountant, graduated from the University of New South Wales and is a fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.  He is chairman of the Australian Independent Schools (USA) Foundation and the UNSW & Study Abroad - Friends and US Alumni Inc.

   Samantha is the global head of consultant relations and head of North America institutional sales for Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM), and co-chair of the global diversity council for MSIM. She is based in New York, and joined Morgan Stanley in 2007 and has 17 years industry experience. Previously, she was based in London and was the co-head of MSIM’s international consultant relations team covering investment consultant clients in the U.K., Europe and Asia. Prior to that, she was the retail investment product manager in the wealth management division of Suncorp, Australia, and practiced as a banking and finance lawyer at Mallesons Stephen Jacques, Australia. Samantha received a B.Bus. with distinction in international business and a B.Law with honours from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, a Grad.Dip in applied finance from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, and a Grad.Dip in legal practice from the College of Law, Sydney. She is also a qualified solicitor.

   Tracey is President Global Digital Real Estate, News Corp and is responsible for driving strategy, growth and potential expansion across News Corp’s digital Real Estate assets. The current assets include Realtor.com, 62% ownership of REA Group (Australia & Asia digital Real Estate) and investment in Elara (Indian digital Real Estate) businesses. She was acting CEO of Realtor.com for 7 months and has since appointed the new CEO who reports to her. Ms. Fellows is a non-executive director on the Board of REA Group, which is an ASX listed company. She is also a member of the Elara Board, which is an unlisted company.

   David T. Perry is corporate vice president and chief global business officer of Northrop Grumman Corporation, a leader in global security.

Perry is responsible for the company’s international business and acquisition efforts. Chief executives leading corporate operations outside the United States report to Perry. He is also a member of the company’s Corporate Policy Council.

At Northrop Grumman, Perry has held a number of assignments of increasing responsibility, most recently as vice president and general manager of the naval and marine systems division of the Mission Systems sector. Other roles include the vice president of Marine Systems in 2005. Perry joined Northrop Grumman in 1999 as a marketing manager responsible for submarine programs. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, he served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer.

Perry earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and a master’s degree in engineering administration from The George Washington University. He also completed the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program. Perry currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.

   Stephen is Executive Vice President, The Americas, New Zealand, Pacific Islands & Japan at QANTAS. He has held a variety of senior roles for Qantas during his 23 years with the airline. Stephen joined Qantas Airways Ltd in October 1994 as Regional General Manager- South Australia following 14 years with Ansett Australia.

In 1996, Stephen was appointed to the position of Regional General Manager- Victoria looking after the airlines commercial interests and in 2001 was appointed to the position of Regional General Manager- South East Asia based in Singapore. This role held responsibility for both Qantas and British Airways commercial interests as part of the combined joint service agreement.

Stephen then in 2004, commenced the position of Regional General Manager- UK, Ireland, Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in London. During this period, Stephen was responsible for the Commercial and Airport Operations of the airline throughout the region.

Stephen returned to Sydney in 2009 and held a range of senior executive roles with responsibility for global sales, international airport operations and Qantas’ network of regional offices. Most recently, in 2016, Stephen relocated to Los Angeles to take up his current role as Senior Executive Vice President, The Americas, New Zealand, Pacific Islands & Japan where he overseas international sales, airport operations and all teams based in those regions.

   Tania Yuki is Founder and CEO of Shareablee. Tania began her career as a media and internet attorney, specializing in digital rights management, IP and film financing. After moving to the US, Tania went on to run online video content as Head of Acquisitions and Branding and led product management for comScore's Video Metrix, the world's leading online video ratings service.

Shareablee was founded in February 2013 when Tania saw a new frontier emerging across social media. She was convinced that social data would fundamentally change how companies communicate and do business and dedicated herself to understanding what makes social content succeed. Since then Shareablee has evolved from 3 people in Tania’s living room to a dynamic company of 60+ employees that boasts the world’s largest system of brand performance data across social platforms and industry-standard metrics that help clients navigate and win on social media. Shareablee collects & transforms the social data into actionable business intelligence.

Craig Chapman is Chair of the American Australian Association. He has been a member of the Association since 1984, on the Association’s Board of Directors since 2002 and on the Board’s Executive Committee since 2003.Born and raised in Connecticut, Craig’s first association with Australia was living with an Australian family in the Sydney suburb of Castle Cove and attending North Sydney Boys High School as an American Field Service exchange student in 1971. After completing law school at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1980, Craig started his career as a lawyer with Dawson Waldron, then one of Sydney, Australia’s top four law firms, where he worked for three years on a variety of corporate matters and met his wife, Susan Manton. Susan was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield. Craig’s 39-year marriage to Susan constitutes his longest lasting and personally most rewarding “American Australian Association”.They have two daughters, Jane and Louise, both of whom are dual citizens, and three grandchildren. Craig is also a partner in the New York office of Sidley Austin LLP. Sidley is a global law firm with more than 2,000 lawyers in 21 offices around the world, including an office in Sydney, Australia. Craig has worked at Sidley (starting at the predecessor firm Brown & Wood) since returning to the United States from Australia in 1983. Craig was head of Sidley’s Tokyo office from 1992 to 1995 and head of the Capital Markets practice in Sidley’s London office from 2006 to 2009. At Sidley, among other things, Craig is a leader of its Capital Markets practice. One of Craig’s primary areas of focus at Sidley is representing Australian issuers and underwriters of Australian issuers (including Australia’s major banking and other financial institutions and their New Zealand subsidiaries) on U.S. securities offerings and other transactions. He has worked closely with Sidley’s Sydney office since its opening in 2007.

   Melissa is currently a Non Executive Director of Swiss Re Americas, Flirtey Inc, the American-Australian Association, and a Governing Board member of St Al-bans School, Washington D.C.

Prior to relocating to the US, Melissa held several Board roles in Australia from 2011-2015. She was a Non-Executive Director of Q Super, Swiss Re Australia, Mercer Investments, St Vincent’s Health & Aged Care, the IOOF Foundation and Athletics Australia. She has chaired Investment, Risk and Audit Committees on these boards. Melissa had also been a member of the Business Advi-sory Panel to the NSW Treasurer in 2012.

Before moving into Board positions, Melissa enjoyed a long career in both international and domestic financial markets from 1992-2011. Commencing in interest rate derivatives trading at Bankers Trust in 1992, she then moved to Commodities trading at Deutsche Bank in 1997. In 2000 she was appointed a Managing Director, and in this capacity had roles as Head of Global Finance and Foreign Exchange A/NZ for Deutsche Bank Australia, Head of Commodities Asia-Pacific, and a member of the Global Executive team.

Melissa holds a MCom (Finance and Economics) from University of NSW and a BAppSc from Sydney University. She is a Graduate of the Aus-tralian Institute of Company Directors, and a member of Chief Ex-ecutive Women.

The Honourable John Olsen AO is Chairman of the American Australian Association Ltd and Chairman of the Perth US Asia Centre at The University of Western Australia and board member of the United States Studies Centre at The University of Sydney. He has previously served as Chairman of the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority. He is also currently Chairman of the Adelaide Football Club.

Mr Olsen spent almost 7 years in the United States, as Consul General in New York (2006-2009), and as Consul General in Los Angeles (2002-2006). Prior to his diplomatic postings, he was Premier of South Australia (1996-2001), capping a long and distinguished career in the political arena, including a period as Senator for South Australia (1990-1992).

Mr Olsen pioneered G’day USA in 2004, a week-long programme showcasing the best of Australia. The programme expanded to New York in 2007 and has become the largest single annual foreign country promotion in the United States.

He was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2007 for his outstanding contributions to the South Australian Parliament. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants.

Jane Allen was appointed to the American Australian Association Limited Board in November 2016.

Jane is a co-founder and Partner of Maritana Partners, a specialist advisory firm that focuses on governance, leadership and performance related matters. Jane has spent over 20 years as an advisor, including over 15 years with a global search firm where she was Managing Partner in Australasia and also held a leadership role in Asia for many years. She has been recognised as an experienced advisor to Australia’s largest companies and Boards for many years.

Jane is a member of Chief Executive Women, a network of Australia's top women leaders. Jane has been a Director of the Garvan Medical Research Institute’s Foundation Board since 2007, one of Australia’s most highly respected medical research bodies. Jane is also a Director of the United States Studies Centre. She is both an American and Australian citizen, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College.

The American Australian Association President comes to the job well prepared after serving as the 25th US Ambassador and President Obama’s personal representative to Australia. Prior to that, John served in multiple senior government positions, earning three unanimous Senate confirmations, including: the head of “HR” for the Federal government as Director of the Office of Personnel Management; the “COO” of the Department of Interior as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget; the head of 40% of Federal law enforcement as Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement at the Treasury Department; and Legislative Director for Rep. Steny Hoyer. John has also been a leader in the non-profit sector, serving as the Director of the Smithsonian National Zoo; The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Government Relations for the Smithsonian Institution. John has accomplished many firsts, most notably, the first openly LGBT US Ambassador to a G20 country and while at OPM, he was the highest ranking LGBT executive official in US history. He has stood atop both poles – north and south, visited all of the world’s continents, as well as all of the states of both the USA and Australia. His most favorite recognitions of the many received have been Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, a lion named “John” in his honor and a mountain in Antarctica called the “Berry Bastion.” He is married to his partner of over 20 years, Curtis Yee.

Andrew Dudgeon AM was appointed to the American Australian Association Limited Board in November 2016.

Andrew is a Partner at global management consulting company McKinsey & Company. He is a leader in the Defence, Aerospace, Transportation and Infrastructure Practices. He has held Chief Executive Officer roles at three global aerospace and transportation companies, one in the United States and two in Australia.

He previously held senior command appointments within the Australian Army rising to the Rank of Brigadier. During his Military career he commanded operations of both Australian and Allied Forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan and flew a wide range of aircraft and helicopters.

Andrew was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for outstanding service to Australian Defence aviation. A keen sportsman, snow skier and active follower of both cricket and rugby union, Andrew is married to Hayley and has one teenage son, James.

Ian Saines was appointed to the American Australian Association Limited Board in July 2010.

Until November 2019, Mr Saines held the position of Chief Executive - Funds Management at Challenger Limited. In this role he oversaw rapid growth at Australia’s fastest-growing, active funds management company.

Before joining Challenger Mr Saines was Group Executive - Institutional Banking and Markets at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) until December 2013, having joined the bank in 2004. Ian was a member of the Bank's Executive Committee and responsible for managing the Bank's relationships with major corporate, institutional and government clients.

Prior to joining CBA, Ian was a Management Committee member of Zurich Capital Markets Asia, the investment banking arm of the Zurich Financial Services Group. Mr Saines previously held various leadership positions at Bankers Trust Australia Limited and ultimately led the investment bank's Global Metals and Mining Industry Group. He also worked at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Mr Saines is currently a Non-Executive Director of NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp), Non-Executive Director of Air Lease Corporation, a NYSE listed commercial aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, and Deputy Chair of the United States Studies Centre, a Sydney University-based research centre, dedicated to the rigorous analysis of American foreign policy, economics, politics and culture.

He was formerly a board member of Father Chris Riley's Youth off the Streets, a not for profit organisation providing support to chronically homeless and abused youth in our society. He was also a director of Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) from 2008 until 2013. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD).  Mr Saines has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with first class honours from the University of New South Wales.

Ben Scott was appointed to the American Australian Association Limited Board in July 2020.

Ben served as a American Australian Association Inc. Board Member in the USA from 2015-2019 during which Ben chaired the AAA Development Committee and was a founding Co-Chair of the AAA Business Council.

Ben is a Founding Partner of Barrenjoey Capital Partners, Sydney where is he is a Senior Relationship Manager, Markets overseeing Global Hedge Fund and Asset Owners relationships. Ben spent 17 years with Morgan Stanley as a Managing Director including 15 years in New York. In his role as Senior Relationship Manager, Ben oversaw a diverse portfolio of Morgan Stanley’s largest institutional clients. Prior to this Ben sat on the Global Prime Brokerage Executive Committee, the primary unit responsible for Morgan Stanley’s hedge fund business’.

Ben joined Morgan Stanley in 2003 in Hong Kong, where he was responsible for Asian derivatives and structured product sales and marketing. Ben commenced his career in finance at Bankers Trust in Sydney, following which, he established and co-ran the Hong Kong operations of Zurich Capital Markets.

Ben earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland and a Bachelor of Laws from Queensland University of Technology. In addition he was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for Rugby and was selected for the Australian Barbarians Rugby team.

Born and raised on a sheep and wheat farm in Western Queensland, Ben now lives in Sydney with his wife and two sons.

Geoffrey Thomas AO was appointed to the American Australian Association Limited Board in December 2014.

Geoffrey commenced his career in the Financial Services Sector in the early 1980’s and developed one of Australia’s most successful Finance Brokerage Brands. He is the former Executive Chairman of Capitalcorp Financial Services, a Finance Brokerage Group, which had 42 offices around Australia. In 2004, Geoffrey sold the business to a listed Public Company, and since then, has mainly been involved in Investment activities in Australia and abroad.

Geoffrey was commissioned by the Newman Government in 2012 to review the QLD Trade Department. The review was adopted by QLD Government and Trade & Investment Queensland (TIQ). A statutory body was formed in 2013 with Geoffrey becoming the Deputy Chairman.

Geoffrey held the position as the Deputy Chairman of (TIQ) Board from October 2013 to October 2016.He was also QLDs Special Commissioner to North America from 2001-2015. He currently holds multiple directorships and board positions. Geoffrey has business interests globally with particular interest in hospitality, finance and real estate.

In 2018 Geoffrey was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University.