Our people

Our volunteer Campaign Council is dedicated to Change It. For Good. Together with Monash University leadership and professional staff, they are committed to advancing the mission of the Change It. For Good campaign.

Meet the members who are raising the profile of philanthropy through their own transformational giving and leadership.

Council members

Dr Simon McKeon AO, Founding Campaign Chair

Simon McKeon is Chancellor of Monash University, and was former Executive Chairman (Melbourne Office) of Macquarie Group, where he continues to be retained as a consultant.

Dr McKeon’s counsel is sought from the public, private and charity sector on wide-ranging subjects from sailing to medical research. He is a highly respected figure in Victoria’s philanthropic community, and as Founding Campaign Chair, his vision is to inspire a growing community to create transformational change.

Professor Margaret Gardner AO

As President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, Professor Margaret Gardner’s elevation of philanthropy and alumni engagement has inspired hundreds of people to make gifts of scale and impact to the University. During her tenure, more people have made a gift to Monash than ever before, and the University has received more gifts of $1m+ during the Campaign to date than in the rest of its 60-year history combined.

Professor Gardner’s championing of equity scholarships has led to extraordinary growth of enrolments among students from disadvantaged backgrounds, greatly contributing to the University’s broader goal of becoming Victoria’s largest driver of social mobility.

Peter Coleman

Peter Coleman is CEO and Managing Director of Woodside. An alumnus of Monash University with a Bachelor of Engineering and a Diploma in Civil Engineering, Mr Coleman has more than 30 years’ experience in the global oil and gas business, including 27 years with the ExxonMobil group, culminating as Vice President Development Company.

In 2016, Woodside Energy, led by Mr Coleman, granted $10 million to Monash University to establish the Woodside Innovation Centre, setting a new benchmark for transformational corporate philanthropy. The Centre aims to tackle major challenges in the energy sector through undertaking research and training in the fields of new materials engineering, additive manufacturing and data analytics, and has been widely heralded as a peak exemplar of academic-industry collaboration through philanthropy.

Richard Dammery

Richard Dammery is Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary of the Woolworths Group Ltd.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a Bachelor of Laws from Monash University, an MBA from the University of Melbourne, a PhD from University of Cambridge, and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Karl Redenbach

Karl Redenbach is Chief Executive Officer of LiveTiles, the cloud based software company he co-founded with fellow Monash alumnus Peter Nguyen-Brown. Mr Redenbach, who holds both a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University, is based in NYC with frequent travel to his native Victoria, including to manage the launch of LiveTiles’ new Asia-Pacific headquarters and global innovation centre in Geelong.

Mr Redenbach is investing in the professional growth of the next generation. He supports scholarships and the Global Discovery Program, which was established to give Monash students an immersive experience in New York and London to prepare them for tomorrow’s global workplace.

James Hawkins

James Hawkins has over 17 years of investment banking and corporate advisory experience in Melbourne and New York. Prior to joining Flagstaff Partners in November 2011, he was a Vice President with Macquarie Capital. Mr Hawkins holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) from Monash University.

He supports the Monash Blues Football Club and Faculty of Law.

Professor Mary Vallentine AO

Mary Vallentine is one of Australia’s most distinguished arts administrators, with more than 40 years’ experience in orchestral, theatre, festival and venue management. She has dedicated her career to advancing Australian art, and also donates to various arts institutions across Australia.

Professor Vallentine currently works as a not-for-profit consultant with various major arts institutions in Australia. She is a Vice-Chancellor Professorial Fellow and a donor to Monash University.

Dr Lara Grollo

Lara Grollo is a lifelong scientist and a philanthropist who merges her academic passion with her charitable pursuits. She currently develops and lecture courses in Biosciences at Australian Catholic University.

A member of the prominent Grollo family, she is a director of the Grollo Ruzzene Foundation; a charitable foundation set up by her parents Rino and Diana Ruzzene Grollo, and was a board member of the Monash University Medical Foundation.

The Grollo family are long-time supporters of Monash University, providing invaluable contributions to medical research and the Monash Prato Centre in Italy.

David Li

David Li is an entrepreneur and company director, with more than thirty years of experience in international project and financial management, and was formerly a professional classical musician.

Prior to his business career, David was a violinist at Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and performed with prominent orchestras in China and Australia.

Currently involved in the arts as a philanthropist, Mr Li has made contributions to all the major Melbourne arts institutions. He is keenly committed to fostering cultural exchange and inter-cultural communication.

Wai-Kwong Seck

Wai-Kwong Seck is chief executive officer, Asia Pacific at State Street Bank and Trust Company. He is also a member of the company’s most senior strategy and policy-making team.

Mr Seck was a Colombo Plan Scholar, graduating from Monash University with a Bachelor of Economics with first-class honours. He currently serves as a Vice-Chancellor’s Professorial Fellow and a member of Monash’s Global Leaders’ Network in Hong Kong.

He supports scholarships for disadvantaged students and is committed to strengthening philanthropy in the region.

Patrons

Dr Alan Finkel AO and Dr Elizabeth Finkel AM

The number eight seems auspicious for Dr Alan Finkel who is Australia’s eighth Chief Scientist, was Monash University’s eighth Chancellor and was the eighth President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. Awarded his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Monash University, Dr Finkel has built an extensive career as an entrepreneur, engineer, neuroscientist and educator, and is now a leading philanthropist alongside his wife Elizabeth.

Dr Elizabeth Finkel is an award-winning journalist and one of the founders of Cosmos Magazine. She has written several highly-acclaimed books and her work has appeared in publications across the world. In 2011 she was named the National Press Club’s Higher Education Journalist of the Year.

The Alan and Elizabeth Finkel Foundation has made inspired and transformational gifts to Monash over many years – from the arts to medical engineering, pharmaceutical breakthroughs to human rights research – testament to the University’s diverse capacity to influence change, for good.

Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AO

Marc Besen has been a retailer and property developer for more than 50 years, and the driving force behind the Sussan Group, Highpoint Shopping Centre, and the TarraWarra Estate Winery and Museum of Art in the Yarra Valley.

Together with his wife Eva, the couple established the Besen Family Foundation to build on their tradition of philanthropy. At the core of the foundation is the involvement of family members and the desire to encourage a spirit and culture of giving which can be developed and handed on to future generations.

In 2014, Marc and Eva Besen contributed $1m to the Bionic Eye Project, a research game changer in treating vision impairment.

Dr John Gandel AC and Dr Pauline Gandel

John Gandel AC is an Australian businessman, property developer and retail pioneer who has wide-ranging interests in commercial real estate and shopping centres across Melbourne. He and his wife Pauline are active philanthropists recognised for their commitment to health, education, the arts, Jewish identity and community causes.

The Gandel family has a close connection with Monash – three generations hold Monash degrees, including John's and Pauline’s honorary doctorates conferred in 2014. The family currently support Monash scholarships for Indigenous and disadvantaged students through their foundation, Gandel Philanthropy, one of Australia’s largest independent philanthropic fund

Lesley Gillespie OAM and Roger Gillespie OAM

Lesley and Roger Gillespie are founders of the Gillespie Family Foundation and joint CEOs of Bakers Delight. Their Bakers Delight business, which started with one store in 1980, is a Victorian institution with an international presence, comprised of more than 700 bakeries across Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The couple is now firmly committed to leveraging their success for the good of the wider community.

In 2014, the Gillespie Family Foundation pledged $1.25m to the World Mosquito Program to permanently eliminate mosquito-borne diseases, particularly dengue fever and Zika virus, later bringing their commitment up to $2m. The program, which has eradicated transmission of dengue in areas of Far North Queensland, reaches two million people across 12 countries and aims to expand its operations to 20 countries by 2020.

Lady Primrose Potter AC

Lady Primrose Potter is synonymous with Australian philanthropy. Currently the Life Governor of the Ian Potter Foundation, her work as one of Australia’s most prominent philanthropists and arts administrators has had a profound impact on our society.

The Ian Potter Foundation was founded by Lady Potter’s late husband Sir Ian Potter, a visionary in business and philanthropy. Monash University has received continuous support from the foundation for the arts, medical research and environmental initiatives.

Most notably, the Ian Potter Foundation is the major benefactor for the redevelopment of the Alexander Theatre and establishment of a major cultural precinct on Monash’s Clayton Campus.

Jeanne Pratt AC

Jeanne Pratt is a distinguished Australian who has made her mark in business, philanthropy, the arts, and public service. She migrated to Australia from Poland in 1939 with her Jewish refugee parents. Following a career in journalism, she became a director of the packaging, paper and recycling company, Visy Industries, after her marriage to Richard Pratt.

Mrs Pratt has devoted much of her life to active community service through her support of a variety of philanthropic and arts activities. She and her late husband established Pratt Philanthropies in Melbourne in 1978, which has since become one of the largest philanthropic bodies in Australian history.

The Pratt Foundation supports a prestigious musical theatre artists in residence program at Monash University, among many other transformative initiatives.

Peter Scanlon AO and Angie Scanlon

Peter and Angie Scanlon are major supporters of endeavours that celebrate diversity and strengthen our communities. Peter and Angie recognise that the defining characteristic of Australia’s economic growth and the richness of its community depends on the successful settlement in Australia of people from all over the world.

The Scanlon Foundation has partnered with Monash to deliver a series of detailed surveys on social cohesion and population issues. The first set of its kind in Australia, the surveys contain a decade of insights into public opinion on social cohesion, trust, immigration, asylum seekers, and ethnic, cultural and religious diversity.

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