Our People

Jude Munro AO was one of the founding members of the Gay Lib movement in Melbourne in the early 1970s and was awarded the Order of Australia in 2010 for distinguished service to local government, as well as the keys to the City of Brisbane in recognition of her many achievements during her 10 years as the Chief Executive of Australia’s fastest growing city. She led the Council with its  $2.6 billion annual budget, 9,000 employees and delivered infrastructure projects, bus and ferry services, regulatory and other municipal services for 1.2 million people, including the $2.7 billion Clem7 tunnel, chairing the steering committee for the feasibility stage of Airport Link, the Green Bridge, and Go Between bridge. She served three Lord Mayors. She has also served as Chief Executive of a number of other cities, including Moreland and St Kilda in Victoria, and the City of Adelaide.

Since that time she has been board chair of Australia’s fourth largest water utility, a director of a national aviation business, and a director of one of Australia’s largest not-for-profits with a $1.3billion budget, and has recently been appointed as Board Chair of the Victorian Planning Authority.

Jude is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Institute of Management, and holds BA (Hons) and Grad Dip (Public Policy) qualifications from the University of Melbourne, and a Grad Dip (Business Administration) from Swinburne University.

Jude believes she can be helpful to the board because of the skills she has developed, her passion for the big picture, commercial outcomes, good governance and lateral ideas.

“Coming out is crucial to our acceptance of ourselves and our own self confidence as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans and intersex people. Being out there, including as a Pride Centre, is the opposite of us being hidden. A Pride Centre underpins society’s acceptance of its own diversity. It lies at the heart of a cohesive society.”

Stephen is the Executive Director at KPMG Australia. Stephen has a proven track record in the leadership and development of great teams and talent globally, with specific expertise the areas of strategy, organisational design, systems science, change, leadership, talent, learning and development, communication, and remuneration. He has had significant public speaking experience and has participated widely in debate on organisational, people and performance issues.

Born and raised in London, Steve was educated in the UK and holds a BSc(Hons) in Management Science, and an MSc in Organisational Psychology. Steve’s early career was in sales with Rank Xerox in London, followed by a ‘portfolio career’ including academic research, MBA lecturing and running a boutique consultancy focused on large-scale organisational change. For 5 years during this period he was based in Dubai, working all over Asia and the Middle East.

In 1997 Steve was recruited by The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) to lead the regional performance management, talent and organisational development agendas across Asia. He returned to London with HSBC in 2001, taking on a number of group-wide roles, most notably as Global Head of People Strategy, Talent and Resourcing.  During this time Steve had a truly global role, working extensively in the US, Canada, South America and in Europe. Steve relocated to Australia in 2007 and assumed the position of Executive Director, HR with Telstra.

With his specific interest in inclusion and diversity, he established and has led NAB’s LGBTI employee network, Pride@NAB, and is also on the Boards of the Diversity Council Australia (DCA), The Pinnacle Foundation and The Melbourne Midsumma Festival. Steve lives in Melbourne with his husband, Lawrence, and three dogs.

Stuart heads the Program Execution function at the Future Fund, which supports complex and long term projects designed to maximise outcomes including in investment strategy, data management and analytics.

Previously an Employment Law Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Australia for 17 years, Stuart conducted litigation in all courts and tribunals. He took a leading role for national and international clients in the Australian practice, and advised private and Government clients across all Australian jurisdictions. His practice was focused on the People and Culture aspects of organisations and business transactions, and included consulting related to HR policies and legal advice.  He has devised strategies and conducted training in the areas of compliance and risk minimisation in relation to all areas of employment and HR, the internet, web browsing and IT use, company listing requirements, franchising, privacy, work and family, surveillance, equal opportunity, sexual harassment, outsourcing and workplace privacy. Stuart has also acted as an employment and labour market advisor to two Australian state ministers for Industry and Employment.

Stuart has been a leader in the LGBTI community for 25 years, including as a Director of Midsumma Festival Inc. for 5 years, a pro bono legal advisor to many LGBTI organisations, a volunteer to the Victorian AIDS Council for 10 years, an on-air presenter with Joy94.9 and Bent-TV, a Director of the profit-making Asia-Pacific Outgames Melbourne 2009, and a founder-member of Melbourne Frontrunners and WhiteOut.   In the wider community, he was a Director of Bowls Victoria Inc, and is a current and 3 x past world champion in Masters Athletics.

in 2019, Stuart was awarded an OAM for his services to the LGBTIQ community and sporting organisations.

“A secure, permanent, familiar place housing all of my favourite organisations. A place to meet, explore, support, challenge and celebrate with old and new friends. Owned by us. Loved by us. Us. Defiant. Without self-censoring. With empowerment and undeniably worthwhile citizenship. No longer cap-in-hand to anyone.”

Scott is Public Sector Industry Lead for RIVOR advisory.  He is a Chartered Accountant and Fellow of CPA Australia specialising in the delivery of  risk management and governance advisory services to clients  across the Not for Profit and Public Sectors.  He previously led Grant Thornton Australia’s Public-Sector practice and industry focus.  In addition to his role with the Victorian Pride Centre, he volunteers as a Director and Company Secretary for the Good Samaritan Inn.  Scott is also a Director and chairs the Finance and Resource Management Committee for Wellways Australia.  He is a strong supporter of diversity in the workplace and advocate of LGBTIQ issues.

Georgie has significant and broad-ranging policy, change management and service delivery experience, with a focus on complex and sensitive social issues, in the community, public and private sectors in Australia and the UK. She has been accountable for annual budgets of up to $650 million and works effectively with diverse stakeholders from high profile Boards to community members.

Chief Executive Officer of beyondblue since May 2014, Georgie has guided the organisation from successfully raising awareness about depression and anxiety along a pathway to creating positive action towards alleviating the effects of these conditions. She leads a team providing services, support and advice to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health, and working to reduce stigma and discrimination and prevent suicide.

Previously, Georgie was Deputy CEO at the National Mental Health Commission and was responsible for Commonwealth policy, and investment in mental health, suicide prevention, tobacco control, substance misuse, cancer and chronic disease at the Department of Health between 2006 and 2012. She has also had responsibility for the design and implementation of major system reforms in mental health and organ and tissue donation, and came to Australia in 1999 to be the inaugural Executive Director for the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation in Sydney – Australia’s first and largest independent HIV/AIDS charity.

Georgie is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and holds Bachelor of Arts (hons) and Master of Arts degrees from Cambridge University, and a Master of History of Arts from the University of London.

Peter McEwan holds formal qualifications in Town and Regional Planning.  His career spans all areas of statutory and strategic planning in a number of agencies, including Housing and Education, but mostly in variously named Victorian Planning Departments. In 1990 he joined the City of Melbourne as chief of staff to the Lord Mayor.  He went on to manage Victoria’s involvement in the Commonwealth-State Better Cities Program.

In late 1999, Peter was responsible for preparation of the State Planning Agenda, the Bracks Government’s program of planning reform.  As Executive Director – Planning Systems and Policy, Peter was responsible for Victoria’s planning system.

Peter is a Sessional chair and member of Planning Panels Victoria and a community nominee on the tribunal of the Architects Registration Board.

In 2007 he volunteered his skills as a town planner in the Post Tsunami Reconstruction project in Sri Lanka. He was actively involved with the St Kilda Triangle site, including a stint as community representative on the City of Port Phillip Steering Committee for the project.

He has a long association with gay community groups in Melbourne.  As a Gay Libber in the early 1970s he was an organiser of the Gay Lib fortnightly dances, a founding member of the Gay Lib Counselling service and one of the early presenters on the 3CR gay radio program.  As a proud 78er, Peter looks forward to the 40th anniversary Mardi Gras in 2018.

Peter was a member of the organising collective for the 5th National Homosexual Conference held in Melbourne in 1979.  This continued with the formation of the Gay Community News Collective, then OutRage and Bluestone Publications. As a member of the Victorian AIDS Council, Peter was deputy convenor of the AIDS Housing Action Group (AHAG), which facilitated access to housing services with government and community providers.

“I try to do my bit”

Megan Smith is a telecommunications professional with more than 18 years of experience acquired with Optus and NBN. She is a Senior Technical Specialist at NBN Australia specialising in passive fibre optic telecommunication networks and associated access technologies.

She has performed functions in Telecommunications Engineering across all facets of transmission networks, capacity planning, fiber optic networks, HFC networks and FTTN/B/P/dp networks, including subject matter expertise, fault resolution, network planning, design, architecture validation, document creation, engineering support and technology training.

Megan is also a passionate advocate and leader in her community. She has previously been Chair of the ANZPATH Community Advisory Committee and a broadcaster at JOY94.9 in Melbourne.  She also chairs the LGBTIQ network at NBN Australia, Pride@nbn.

Hang has over 20 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector leading complex national and international programs.

Prior to joining Whitelion as CEO in August 2018, Hang was the Director for Strategy, Planning and Development at EACH, a national organisation that provides a diverse range of health and community services. Before this, she held various leadership roles at Australian Red Cross most recently as Head of Strategic Operations for Services and International Programs.

Hang currently serves as non-executive director on two boards: Vice President and Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee, Australian Council of Social Services; and director for the Victorian Pride Centre.

Her qualifications include executive education at Harvard Business School; an Executive MBA; Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors; and degrees in Social Work and Arts.

Having come to Australia as a part of the Vietnamese refugee ‘boat people’ in the late 1970s and being a member of the LGBTIQ+ community, Hang has first-hand experience of dislocation and exclusion which drives her deep commitment to creating a more just, inclusive and equitable society.

Kris is an Operations Manager with Cushman & Wakefield with experience in future occupancy and strategic planning.  He has worked on contracts with NAB and currently works with MLC Life Insurance on their separation from NAB.  He is experienced in relocating staff to new offices, working on office fit outs to suit flexible co-working spaces, and managing a team of Concierge staff and Facilities Managers.

Kris studied Architecture and Business Management at the University of Minnesota in the USA as well as a semester in Copenhagen, Denmark.  He worked at an architecture firm in Mexico City and completed his Masters Degree in Architecture at the University of Melbourne in 2013 and has now found a great place to settle here.  He has also had experience in volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Botswana and Cambodia, and has worked with other volunteer organisations in South Africa and Mexico.

Kris also is the Lead for the LGBTI Employee Network at Cushman & Wakefield and is honoured to have this opportunity of the Board of Directors for the Victorian Pride Centre and is looking forward to giving back to the LGBTI community within Australia.

Vanessa Murphy is a corporate and commercial lawyer, and the company secretary of VPC.  Her experience extends across a number of areas in Hall & Wilcox’s corporate and commercial practice, transcending both transactional and advisory work for a range of clients. Specifically, Vanessa’s practice involves mergers & acquisitions and equity capital markets transactions, with a particular focus on corporate governance. Vanessa has acted for a diverse range of clients across various industries including publicly listed entities, private organisations and AFS licensees.  Vanessa has also had leadership positions at an organisation supporting the education of youth in prison.