Our Patrons and Board

Guy Chalkley has recently been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Endeavour Energy. Previously Guy worked at Western Power as the Operations Commercial Manager, Head of Business Planning and Reporting before joining the Executive Team as the Chief Financial Officer in 2015 and later taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer in July 2016. Guy brings a wealth of international, financial and operational experience across a diverse range of sectors operating and residing in a number of continents including Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Australia.

Guy serves on a number of boards in addition to recently taking on the Chairman role at Leadership WA:

- Energy Network Australia (Board Member)
- Energy Network Australia (Chair of Finance Audit and Risk Management Committee)
- Perth Racing (Board Director)
- Reactive Technologies (Advisory Board Member)

Guy is a Leadership WA 2013 Signature Program Alumni, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Gail has held senior positions across Government including at Worksafe and the former Department of State Development. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and member of Chief Executive Women of Australia, CEOs for Gender Equity, Murdoch Vice Chancellor’s External Advisory Committee, Western Australian Planning Commission, Pastoral Lands Board and Infrastructure WA.  

Todd Hutchison is an international bestselling author, global business consultant and behavioural and project management specialist. He is listed on the Who’s Who of Business in Australia, and holds a world championship (grade 2) in music as a former WA Police Pipe Band member.

Todd is the global CEO of management consultancy firm Peopleistic, an executive of commercial law firm Balfour Meagher, and works in digital forensics (multimedia) as a police-licensed investigator with Forensics Australia, mainly on homicide cases. He also resides as the Chairman of the International Institute of Legal Project Management.

He is an adjunct Associate Professor position, with adjunct positions at Edith Cowan University and Curtin University. He has qualifications in company directorship, business, contract management, legal project management, project management, training, information technology, professional coaching and engineering, including an MBA from Deakin University, and a Master of Commerce from Curtin University. He is now progressing a PhD in business, and a Bachelor of Laws.

As an internationally qualified and experienced company director, he has served on boards in Australia, United Kingdom and the United States, including large global organisations like the Project Management Institute.

Todd is a Fellow of Leadership Western Australia (LWA) after graduating in 2005, and also holds fellowships with the Australian Institute of Management (AIM), Project Management Institute (PMI), the Australian Institute of Project Management and the Governance Institute of Australia (GIA).

Justine has over 25 years experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in Australia, the UK and Europe, doing everything from running a pub to running a prison.

Having been in Australia for 17 years, Justine has worked to support and promote the needs and rights of some of the most marginalised and vulnerable people in our community.

Justine’s skills and qualifications focus on strategic planning, project management, risk management, evidence-based research and policy development, stakeholder engagement, governance and community development.

For six years, Justine has been the CEO of Rise, which offers services for people with mental health issues, a disability, the aged, youth at risk, those dealing with family and domestic violence, and the carers for all those people. Rise is a significant provider of community housing.

Justine is a Distinguished Fellow of Leadership WA, one of the premier leadership programs in WA and the winner of the WA Telstra Businesswomen’s Award (Community and Government).

Chris joined Hays in 2002 and has held several key leadership positions in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia and in November 2013, was appointed as State Director of Western Australia and the National Director for Hays Resources & Mining. This role involves the total operational responsibility for all of Hays specialist areas ranging from short term trades recruitment to government and multi-national executive appointments. In particular, Chris is passionate about working with and supporting small business and is currently leading a strategic team which focuses on the SME market in Australia and New Zealand for Hays.

With a degree in Applied Science with a major in Psychology, Chris has travelled extensively before settling into his career at Hays and starting a family, which now consists of his wife and two beautiful girls. Since completing Leadership WA’s Signature Leadership Program in 2015, Chris has taken on additional responsibilities as an inaugural Board member of Leeming Primary School and a Non-Executive Director of a small not-for-profit promoting disability awareness in schools, known as Kissabilities.

Mike Rowe is the Director General of the Department of Communities.  Mike moved into the new role following his position as Director General of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, and three years as the Director General of the former Department of Water. Prior to this, he was Executive Director of Policy at the Department of Regional Development.

Having worked in a variety of leadership, policy, advisory and delivery roles since 1993, Mike is an experienced member of the Western Australian Government’s senior executive service. His experience spans a number of natural resources management portfolios such as agriculture, environment and water, as well as central agencies including the Public Sector Commission and the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

Mike studied environmental science and holds postgraduate qualifications in social research and program evaluation and public sector management

Sam has held senior positions since the late 1990s and has experience across a wide range of industries. He has a law degree from the University of Western Australia and, after spending a decade practicing law in top tier law firms specialising in corporate law, energy and resources, administrative law, compliance and governance, he moved in-house.

Sam is currently Executive Manager Asset Operations at Western Power. This is the chief operations officer role at Western Power and is accountable for the operational staff across 27 regional and metropolitan offices and depots that are responsible for the planning, scheduling and delivery of work to expand and maintain the electricity network.

Prior to this role Sam was the General Counsel and Executive Manager of the Governance & Assurance Business Unit at Western Power, which included being the Company Secretary for the corporation.

Sam has extensive experience advising corporations and Boards, and brings a diverse range . of teclylical and management experience in strategic leadership, stakeholder management, legal and financial regulation and governance, culture and change management, and safety and compliance.

Sam is also a non-executive director of the Fiona Wood Foundation and is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, an associate member of the Australian Institute of Management and a Signature Program Alumni 2011. 

Darren is an Aboriginal person (Yamatji) with over 28 years’ experience as a Senior Level Professional (Civil Engineer). He has led and managed companies and multi-disciplinary teams to achieve results in dynamic and complex work environments, including infrastructure, government, contracting and resource sectors.

Darren has worked as General Manager role with Ngarda Civil & Mining; Team Lead role on the Chevron $US 34B Wheatstone Project; Chief of Staff - Office of the Minister for Regional Development, Agriculture and Food (Western Australian Government); and Regional Manager Gascoyne with Main Roads Western Australia.

He is experienced in Board governance, financial management and operation. He has been Managing Director and Director of 4 Aboriginal businesses since April 2018. Since February 2020, he has been a Board Member and Trustee of the Sister Kate’s Children 1934 to 1953 Aboriginal Corporation.

He has a comprehensive knowledge of Western Australia, its regions, and various industries and developments. 

As CEO of the WACA since 2012, Christina has redefined the way the WACA approaches its business, introducing a strong strategic focus, commitment to community engagement, restructuring to ensure resourcing aligns with the Association’s strategic objectives, and managing change to ensure a successful future for the organisation including moving commercial cricket from the WACA Ground to Optus Stadium. 

Her focus has also included increasing philanthropic endeavours and partnership development, both within the sports industry and in other complementary businesses, to expand the WACA’s reach.

Christina previously held the position of Chair of Selectors for the Australian Women's Cricket Team and has mentored young sports women aiming to move into elite sport. Her compassion and understanding has driven a supportive culture and work environment, with a focus on wellbeing and encouraging staff to reach their potential both personally and professionally. 

Named the country’s most capped female Test player, Christina is the only woman in Australia to hold the position of CEO of a first-class cricket association.