Benevolent Society

Program directors

		Robbie Macpherson, MA Head, Social Leadership Australia Tel 02 9339 8093 Robbie has been working with Social Leadership Australia since 2000. He began his career in the corporate sector with a range of major insurance, communications and engineering companies, moving to the non-profit sector in 1995 where he managed youth mentoring programs in Sydney and regional NSW. This work brought him into contact with young people in the juvenile justice system and allowed him to see first hand the complex social issues affecting families, young people and communities. Since joining Social Leadership Australia, Robbie has designed and delivered a range of innovative leadership development programs in the government, corporate, community and youth sectors as well as working as an executive coach in the corporate sector.
		Liz Skelton, BA (Hons) Senior Manager, Programs Tel 02 9339 8042 Liz joined Social Leadership Australia in 2006 as Sydney Leadership Program Manager. Since then she has also facilitated social leadership development programs in the government, corporate and community sectors. Liz’s career began working with marginalised groups in Scotland which led to her developing and managing a leading peer-based drug information service for young people, now replicated in other parts of the UK and Europe as a model of good practice. As General Manager of Streetwize Communications over five years, Liz also consulted extensively with young people, Indigenous and marginalised groups to raise awareness of the issues these groups face. In Australia and internationally, Liz has developed and delivered a range of training programs, published research papers and presented at conferences on the complex social issues experienced by marginalised groups. Liz is also a Sydney Leadership 2002 graduate and this year she completed The Art & Practice of Leadership Development at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
		Geoff Aigner, MSD, MBA Senior Manager, Development Tel 02 9339 8020 Geoff joined Social Leadership Australia in 2007 after several years of pro bono work with the team. He has strategic responsibility for Social Leadership Australia’s development – seeking new ways of delivering on the Benevolent Society mission of creating caring and inclusive communities and a just society. In addition he teaches on a variety of Social Leadership Australia’s open enrolment programs, customised programs and issue-based work. In the last year he has worked with the Australian Human Rights Commission, National Australia Bank and others. In 2009 he also launched the Queensland Leadership Program. Geoff’s career began with a Norwegian shipping line based in Australia and Norway. He completed an MBA and developed an interest in leadership, moving to a role in the strategic change practice at Pricewaterhouse Coopers Consulting. Before joining Social Leadership Australia, Geoff was General Manager at the HR consulting services company, Lee Hecht Harrison. As adjunct faculty at the Australian Graduate School of Management, he teaches leadership and change in their MBA programs. In 2009 Geoff completed ‘The Art & Practice of Leadership Development’ at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
		Terri Soller, BSc, PDM, MM Sydney Leadership Program Manager Tel 02 9339 8096 Terri has diverse experience gained in the corporate, not-for-profit and community sectors in South Africa and Australia. She joins Social Leadership Australia from the Starlight Children’s Foundation where she was Learning and Development Manager. Terri has held a variety of management positions across the Human Resources and Learning and Development sphere, including consulting with Deloitte & Touche and teaching at universities and learning institutions in Australia and South Africa. Her focus has been on developing organisational capacity to manage social, economic and political transformation. Terri has worked with community organisations involved with social justice and human rights and the empowerment of disadvantaged youth. Working in South Africa during the post-apartheid era, Terri developed processes to promote open dialogue across racially and hierarchically diverse groups, with an emphasis on developing effective leadership and human resource approaches for the changing environment. Terri has a deep interest in leadership and learning and is honoured to be part of Social Leadership Australia.
		Ian Boardman, BEc Director, Queensland Leadership Tel 07 3835 5835 Ian has had a varied career across human services, working mainly with marginalised people either in direct service delivery, teaching or policy development. As one of the Directors of the first National Mental Health Strategy, and later in leading policy development around Indigenous Social Health, Ian’s team developed the first national youth suicide prevention programs, the formal program response to the ‘Stolen Generation’ Report and the first national Indigenous Mental Health Program. After moving to Queensland in 1999 to take up an academic position in Central Queensland, Ian worked variously as the Regional Director for the Queensland Anti Discrimination Commission, as Queensland’s inaugural Public Advocate reporting to the Queensland Parliament, and as a private consultant in human services. Ian’s academic credentials are in economics, community education, mental health nursing and quality management system auditing.
		Deborah Burt, BEc (Hons) Development Manager Tel 02 9339 5013 Deborah has spent the majority of her working life in large Australian and multi-national corporations working as a Human Resources professional in senior management roles. This included designing and delivering leadership programs that targeted personal and organisational transformation. She has also run her own consulting business and managed a HR database software company. In 2007 Deborah attended the Sydney Leadership program as a participant. For some time she had been exploring an alternate career path, and the program proved to be a catalyst for making decisions. Since 2008 Deborah has been working in the sustainability field on projects such as the development of a viable business model for community owned solar energy farms. This work is ongoing. Part of building a sustainable society is addressing social justice issues and Deborah sees her work with Social Leadership Australia as contributing to that goal. She is currently studying for a Masters in Environment Management.