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Introducing the Members of Our Board

Chairperson - Deborah Rolfe AM

Deborah was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in the Australian Capital Territory and as a solicitor in New South Wales in 1986. 

Since then, she has been employed as a barrister and solicitor in the private and public sectors in Canberra and is a partner at Maliganis Edwards Johnson, Barristers & Solicitors, having commenced with them in 1996. 

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Deborah specialises in personal injury litigation, which encompasses workers compensation, public liability incidents, motor vehicle accidents and medical negligence. She is a member of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, ACT Women Lawyers' Association and Ambassador for the Early Morning Centre (addressing issues of homelessness and supporting the vulnerable in our community).

Deborah is married to a local businessman, is the proud mother of 3 young men and balances her work and family commitments with participation in local and national charity and community events. 

Dion Bisa

Dion has spent the last 8 years working in her family’s business, East Hotel.  In that time she has developed her skills and knowledge in her roles as Conferencing and Events manager, Human Resources, Food and Beverage design and operations, Assistant GM and Brand Director.  One of her key roles as an owner, manager, operator of East Hotel is relationship building with interstate and international guests and the local Canberra community.

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Prior to her life at East, Dion worked in Sydney for 15 years as a practicing psychologist.  She worked in areas of Alcohol and Other Drugs, women’s mental health, worker’s compensation claims for psychological injury, clinical supervision and counselling of psychology students and her own private practice.

Now managing a team of 100+, Dion continues to use her skills as counsellor and psychologist to ensure the stability and mental health of her staff and to upskill her management team in best psychological practice in nurturing and guiding their teams to their highest potential. 

Dion is passionate about her work at East Hotel and its standing in the community as a place that is family focused, warm and open.

Deputy Chair - Bronwyn Fagan

Bronwyn Fagan is Principal Advisor at Proximity Legal. She has worked as a lawyer, manager and policy advisor across a broad range of industries in state and federal government as well as the private sector. 

Bronwyn is also an accredited multi-disciplinary mediator and member of Capital Football's disciplinary panel, Athletics Australia's Olympic Appeals Tribunal and Appeals and Reviews Panel. 

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In her previous role she was Director of Legal Services at ASADA, where she played a key role in the implementation of the 2015 amendments to the WADA Code into the Australian anti-doping framework. She has published various articles, mainly on the topic of anti-doping, and has served various Ministerial working groups and advisory panels.

Bronwyn sits on the board of the Canberra Raiders NRL Club and is a member of the Overseas Aid Gift Deduction Scheme Public Fund Committee for obstetric charity Send Hope Not Flowers. She is also an Audit Committee member for DFAT portfolio agency the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

She loves attending local sporting events with her two young daughters, and has represented Australia in both the sports of skeleton and bobsleigh. 

Kerri Hartland

Kerri is the Director General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). She has more than 30 years of experience in the public sector, including as the Secretary of the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business and before that Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Much of her career has been in positions assisting vulnerable people – including 5 years as Deputy Secretary in the then Department of Human Services.

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She has worked at senior levels across 10 departments including Prime Minister and Cabinet, Finance, Immigration, Industry and Agriculture, and for more than five years was the Deputy Director General in ASIO.

In 2020 Kerri was a coordinator for BizRebuild, a Business Council of Australia initiative to assist small businesses in the aftermath of the bushfire and then spent 2 years as the Chair and Principal Advisor at Proximity, a Canberra based professional services firm.

Kerri chaired the National Youth Science Forum and for 8 years was a member of the Board of the Canberra Girls Grammar School. She has chaired a number of Audit and Risk Committees for the Australian Public Service - including for the Office of Special Investigator and the Australian Federal Police.

As a breast cancer survivor, she has championed fund raising for cancer research and was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and MS Angels.

Kerri is married to Brian and they have two grown up daughters.

Dr Tony Lafferty

Senior Paediatric Specialist of Canberra Hospital, Dr Tony Lafferty, is a Paediatric Endocrinologist and former Clinical Director of Paediatrics. Tony graduated from the University of Otago Medical School in New Zealand, then moved to Melbourne to train in Paediatrics. He then trained in Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Royal Children's Hospital. After spending 2 years at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the NIH in Maryland, US, he returned to Melbourne in 2000 as a visiting NIH Fellow and Senior Lecturer at Monash University.

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In 2001, he accepted a position at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth where he worked for 4 years before moving to Canberra in 2005. Since arriving in Canberra, Tony helped to establish a Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes service and has continued his clinical and research interests in obesity, children's diabetes and growth disorders, and all aspects of paediatric endocrinology.

Tony is passionate about working together with fellow staff to make the Paediatric Service and the Canberra Hospital a place that we can be proud of, where people from Canberra and surrounds receive the best possible patient centred treatment and care. 

Peter Munday OAM

Peter Munday, a 2018 ACT Local Hero Award Nominee, has over the last decade raised millions of dollars for local charities through his business resources and personal connections. Through raffling cars donated by his business, organising and running events such as the Volkswagen Drive for the Community, and by encouraging his customers to support his worthy causes, Peter has supported numerous charities across Canberra including the Canberra Hospital Foundation, the Starlight Children Foundation, Snowy Hydro South Care Helicopter, Menslink and Lifeline.

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Peter is particularly passionate about supporting adolescents who are unwell and needing to be in hospital, or suffering from mental health issues. A donation from one of the car raffles refurbished 'The Cottage', a day facility for young people with severe mental health issues, making a significant difference to the lives of the people who attend the facility.  

As a strong supporter of young men who are experiencing tough times, Peter leads the fundraising efforts for Menslink. He works hard advocating for, and mentoring young men from all walks of life, some of which have been found in desperate and life threatening circumstances. 

Peter leads an extremely busy professional life however is relentless in his philanthropic endeavours and hopes that others in the community, particularly in the corporate world, will follow suit and contribute to help others that are not so fortunate. 

Peter believes "the power of people brings people together". And that's exactly what he does. 

Susan Proctor

Susan is an experienced director and has served on numerous private and public boards, committees and councils including as a non-executive director of Canberra Grammar School, the Land Development Agency and member of the audit committee, ACTTAB, a former Territory Owned Corporation and chair of the audit committee, Molonglo Financial Services Limited (Bendigo Bank franchise) and the Property Council (ACT) Division Council.  Susan currently sits on Australian Institute of Company Directors (ACT Division) and is a fellow of the AICD. 

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Alongside her non-executive director career Susan has practised as a commercial lawyer specialising in property and development, both as partner and managing partner. She has over 20 years experience in providing commercial and strategic advice, driving innovation and advising on property development. Susan is a NSW Law Society accredited specialist in property law. 

Professor Robin Stuart-Harris

Professor Stuart-Harris was born and educated in the UK. He went to Medical School in London in 1969 and graduated in 1974. In 1979 Professor Stuart-Harris went into higher medical training in Medical Oncology and completed Medical Oncology training in 1983. In 1984, he migrated to Sydney to a temporary position of Consultant Medical Oncologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Ludwig Institute.

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In November 1985 he returned to London, but migrated to Australia on a permanent basis in 1987 after accepting a position as a Medical Oncologist at Westmead Hospital. Whilst he was at Westmead Hospital, Professor Stuart-Harris also started outreach Medical Oncology clinics in both Bowral and Goulburn.

In 1993, he moved to St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney where he worked in both Medical Oncology and Palliative Care. Professor Stuart-Harris was the Director of Medical Services at the Sacred Heart Hospice.

In February 1998, Professor Stuart-Harris moved to Canberra to be a Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Canberra Hospital. He also had an honorary academic appointment at the ANU and was part of the Faculty of the new Medical School of the ANU.

In 2004 he was appointed Director of Cancer Services in the ACT and also Southern Local Health District, NSW, but also continued to work as a Medical Oncologist in Canberra, subspecialising in the management of breast cancer.

"I believe that my two most important achievements in the position of Director of Cancer Services were the establishment of the Cancer Centre on the Canberra Hospital campus and the appointment of a full time Professor of Cancer Research at the John Curtin School of Medical research ANU."

In 2014 Professor Stuart-Harris relinquished his position as Director of Cancer Services with the appointment of a full time Executive Director and returned to full time clinical work.

In addition to his clinical appointments, he was Secretary of the Medical Oncology Group, the special society for Medical Oncology in Australia from 1988-1994 and then Chairman of the Medical Oncology Group from 1995-1996.

"Throughout my career I was involved in medical research and the teaching of medical students. I published extensively, especially on the subject of breast cancer. I retired from clinical practice in June 30, 2019."

Outside of his career, Professor Stuart-Harris was a member of the National Advisory Council of the ABC from 1991-1994 and then the Convenor of the National Advisory Council of the ABC from 1994-1999.

Since retirement, Professor Stuart-Harris and his wife have remained in Canberra, though frequent visitors to Sydney as their three children and three grandchildren all reside in Sydney.

Emeritus Professor Robin Stuart-Harris December, 2021.

Matthew Whittaker

Matthew is a Director in the Ernst & Young Canberra Tax Practice with over 10 years’ experience in providing tax compliance and advisory services to Government, not-for-profit organisations and the private sector.

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Matthew graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Law (Hons) and is a member of Chartered Accountants New Zealand and Australia.

In his time at EY Matthew has developed a skillset in providing taxation advice and services to NFP entities and has become a national subject matter expert in this area for the firm. Matthew has used this experience to help establish and support the ongoing operations of numerous charities in both Canberra and across Australia.

In 2015 Matthew joined the social enterprise taskforce for the Canberra Business Chamber and in 2019 he was appointed Chair. In 2020, Matthew was appointed to the Policy Taskforce of the Canberra Business Chamber.

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