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.
		Angela Williams BBUS, BSC Director, Queensland Leadership Tel 07 3170 4617 Angela is a recent arrival to Social Leadership Australia. Prior to joining Angela spent 20 years as a Human Resources generalist working with a diverse range of organisations across many industries. For ﬁve of those years, Angela operated her own HR Consultancy in Melbourne, providing services to companies within the small-to-medium enterprise market as well as delivering diversity programs to national multi-site organisations. Angela has held leadership positions with complex projects working on strategic change for organisations experiencing growth as well as those restructuring as a result of downsizing. Angela’s attendance at an experiential leadership development conference some years ago was one of the pivotal points in her career and has eventually led her to join Social Leadership Australia. On a personal level Angela found this style of learning provided greater effectiveness in her role and as a coach and mentor to senior managers and her own team. Angela has a Bachelor of Business (Human Resources and Marketing) and a Bachelor of Science (Psychology).
		Kyrstie Dunn Partnerships Manager Tel 02 9339 5013