School Advisory Board

The La Trobe Business School Advisory Board provides support and assistance in developing and implementing the School’s strategic and operational plans.

The Board plays a key role in the School's education, research and engagement activities. It assists and helps develop strategic relationships with business, government and the community.

The Advisory Board is comprised of industry leaders working in various senior roles from a range of sectors who assist the School to fulfil its mission and vision.

Professor Suzanne O'Keefe

Professor Suzanne O'Keefe is Dean of the La Trobe Business School.

Suzanne is a Professor of Economics and recipient of the 2024 Vice Chancellor’s Leadership Excellence Award. Professor O'Keefe has held various leadership positions such as Deputy Dean, and Associate Head, Learning and Teaching in the La Trobe Business School. She is a highly accomplished academic and leader in learning and teaching who has played a key role in designing strategy to foster curriculum innovation, continuous improvement and review. She has been responsible for many innovations in curriculum and has been acknowledged for her skills in cross campus and blended delivery. Professor O'Keefe’s research interests span contexts such as education, local government and water policy. These research contexts have in common the existence of complex institutional and management structures. Her work has focused on the creation and deployment of knowledge, the communication and dissemination of best practice and the use and impact of various incentives.

Luke Wilson

Chair, La Trobe Business School Advisory Board; Principal, LCW Advisory; Board Chairperson, Dairy Food Safety Victoria; Board Member, Game Management Authority; Board Member, Wodonga TAFE; Regional Advisory Board Member, La Trobe University Albury-Wodonga Campus, Research & Industry Advisory Group Member, La Trobe Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and Food.

Luke Wilson operates a policy and regulatory consultancy business from Wodonga and is also a member of the Regional Advisory Board for La Trobe University’s Albury-Wodonga campus. Luke was Victoria’s inaugural Cross Border Commissioner, from 2018-2023, and had previously led state departmental agriculture, resources and energy portfolios including biosecurity, fisheries, game, animal welfare and mining regulators, as well as the regulatory practice, policy, research and service areas. In each of these roles, Luke has led policy development on many of the key issues facing Victoria's agriculture industries and rural communities.

Luke previously worked as an energy and transport access regulator in South Australia, in economic consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, in policy analysis with the Commonwealth and as an operational forester in Myrtleford as well as Alabama (United States) and Nova Scotia (Canada).

Craig Scroggie

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, NEXTDC.

Craig Scroggie is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of NEXTDC, Australia’s leading Data-Centre-as-a-Service provider. Prior to becoming CEO in June 2012, Mr Scroggie served on the Board of Directors since IPO (2010) as a Non-Executive Director, including as Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Mr Scroggie has more than 25 years’ experience in the ICT industry, having held senior positions with Symantec, Veritas Software, Computer Associates, EMC Corporation and Fujitsu. Prior to joining NEXTDC, Mr Scroggie was Symantec’s Vice President and Managing Director for the Pacific Region.

Mr Scroggie is a graduate of the University of Southern Queensland and holds an Advanced Certificate in Information Technology, a Graduate Certificate in Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management, a Master of Business Administration; and is a graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In 2013 Mr Scroggie was awarded the University of Southern Queensland Faculty of Business & Law Alumnus of the Year and in 2015 was inducted into the ARN ICT Industry Awards Hall of Fame.

Anne Marie Baldwin

Executive General Manager, Talent, Culture and Capability, NBN.

Anne Marie Baldwin is NBN’s Executive General Manager of Talent, Culture and Capability with employees and partners spread across Australia Anne Marie is responsible for leading NBN’s people strategy relating to capability, talent, culture and diversity and inclusion, to drive future growth by continuously meeting changing customer and community needs. Anne Marie is a purpose and values driven executive that is dedicated to working with NBN’s people in creating the workforce where they can thrive professionally and personally, while delivering value for customers, community, and business.

Prior to her current role, Anne Marie held senior HR, safety and transformation roles across logistics, postal, retail and health industries. She approaches HR with a commercial mindset and is experienced in leading, directing and managing multiple programs across large organisations, delivering outcomes to customers and team members alike. Anne Marie is passionate about developing teams and individual team members to be highly successful and effective. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy) from La Trobe University and a Master of Business from the Swinburne University.

Gerard Mullins

Founder and Managing Director, Mullins Advisory Pty Ltd.

Gerard Mullins is an experienced business leader who has had executive roles with Pacific Dunlop, Australian Defence Industries, and Illinois Tool Works. He founded ASTA Solutions Pty Ltd and grew that business over 15 years, leading to a successful sale in 2014. Gerard has over 25 years’ corporate business management experience within the manufacturing, information technology, and building and construction industries. This experience is augmented by various qualifications in business leadership and administration, building and construction, technology management, risk management and governance, company directorship and management best practice.

Gerard holds directorships in the not-for-profit sector and is on the boards of multiple private unlisted companies. He is a graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and a Chartered Manager (Chartered Management Institute).

Caroline Patton

Founder and CEO, Accuteque Global Pty Ltd.

Caroline Patton is Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Accuteque and The AVR Lab. As a mother of three and with the support of her husband, Caroline has built the Accuteque business over 18 years with a focus on helping reshape other businesses, enabling them to be more sustainable. She is passionate about delivering quality outcomes and providing people with a positive experience when it comes to change and transformational programs.

Caroline has consulted at senior levels in multinational companies and is a specialist in business strategy, organisational design, operating rhythms, IT solution sourcing and delivery. She is a highly competent, successful and professional leader with experience across a range of industries including management consulting, professional services, membership organisations, finance, banking, insurance, superannuation, airline, petroleum, retail, logistics, utilities and telecommunications.

Jim Serafim

Head of Property Finance, Bank of Melbourne.

Jim Serafim is a senior executive with more than 36 years’ experience across the financial services industry, including property finance, business and personal banking, credit and lending. Jim has held a variety of senior leadership roles, including the position of Head of Property Finance at Bank of Melbourne which he has maintained since 2002. A strategic thinker with demonstrated capabilities to transform the businesses he is involved with via effectively developing and executing plans to achieve commercial goals. He is a leader who collaboratively shares ideas, knowledge, and experience when it comes to delivering best in class commercial outcomes. Described as a trusted professional who ensures exceptional business performance, he is both well regarded and respected in the Melbourne property market. With his breadth of experience and consistently strong results, Jim is a commercial changemaker with a demonstrated ability to impact the future success of any brand or organisation he becomes involved with.

Andrew Buay

Vice President, Group Corporate Sustainability, Optus & Singtel.

Andrew Buay leads sustainability for Optus and the Singtel Group across social impact, climate, and the environment, ESG governance and stewardship. He is a coach in the company’s leadership and talent program and mentor to start-up founders in the Singtel Group Future Makers social innovation program, supporting the development of technologies to address societal issues. He is a committee member of the Singapore National Council of Social Services 4ST Strategic Committee to drive transformation of the Singapore social services sector, and co-chair of the Singapore Business Network on Disability.

Prior to these, Andrew held diverse senior positions across the SingTel Group in Singapore, Australia, and the Philippines. These included Group Consumer CIO, MD Optus Technology and Products, MD Optus Wholesale and Satellite, COO at Globe Telecom Philippines, CEO of Singtel Multimedia Group and VP of Singtel Consumer Marketing. Andrew also founded SingTel Ventures in 1997, a S$150m technology investment fund.

Nicole Rooke

Head of Planning and Execution, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd.

Nicole has over 15 years’ experience in Financial Services and is currently the Head of Planning and Execution for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Nicole’s background is in Finance, Investor Relations, Strategy and Planning. Nicole is a passionate supporter of purpose led strategies. Her work involves sharing the Bank’s globally recognised shared value strategy with various stakeholders internally and externally and challenging the BEN Group on strategy development, delivery, and execution. Based in Bendigo and raised in regional Victoria, Nicole has first-hand experience in the positive impacts that purpose led strategies can have on communities, corporates, and individuals.

Idris Shamsi

Chief Information Officer (Technology), RACV.

Idris is a Technology Executive with over 25 years of international experience spanning multiple industries, including legal, media, FMCG, energy and financial services. In that time, he has led a number of transformational initiatives across all facets of IT and has built the capabilities required to sustain them. Idris is passionate about developing great teams and combining them with great technology to solve complex problems to deliver exceptional experiences.

Jeannie Sim

Chief Information Security Officer, The Department of Justice and Community Safety, Victoria.

Jeannie Sim is the Chief Information Security Officer of the Department of Justice and Community Safety, Victoria. She is the Executive Director in charge of Data Security, Privacy and Information Management.

She has over 25 years of experience as an IT executive in both public and private sectors in Australia and abroad. Her experience spans across nine sectors including airlines, mining, banking and finance, superannuation, telecommunications, renewable energy, public transport, entertainment and health.

Hacia Atherton

CEO & Founding Director, Empowered Women In Trades; Director, Atherton; Deputy Chairwoman, CPA Australia Emerging Leaders Network.

Hacia Atherton, is a dynamic leader and advocate for women's empowerment in male-dominated industries, blending strategic corporate leadership with impactful social entrepreneurship. She brings a blend of financial expertise, strategic acumen, and a profound understanding of positive organisational psychology. At the helm of Empowered Women In Trades (EWIT), Hacia drives a vision for equitable workforce participation to elevate women's representation in skilled trades to 30% by 2030. EWIT, under her leadership, bridges women, educational institutions, and industry, facilitating pathways into trades careers while ensuring workplaces are female-friendly.

Concurrently, in her strategic role at Atherton, a global pioneer in sterilisation and infection control, she navigates through governance and operational challenges, ensuring continuous improvement and nurturing company culture.

Her role as Deputy Chairwoman at CPA Australia's Emerging Leaders Network underscores her commitment to nurturing young professionals in the finance sector. With a Master's in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Melbourne, Hacia is on a journey to intertwine wellbeing science with practical applications in professional and personal realms.

Alexis Ewing

Executive Director Infrastructure Services, Cenitex.

Alexis Ewing is a visionary leader with an impressive track record of driving technological advancement and delivering exceptional results. With extensive experience in technology leadership, she drives the strategic direction and evolution of services in critical domains such as cloud, security, and networks. Prior to joining Cenitex, Alexis held significant leadership positions at Accenture as Director Technology Delivery for 2 years and at Telstra as Head of Cloud Delivery and other senior roles for 15 years. Her IT career spans multiple decades and industries including telecommunications, banking and finance, energy, insurance, retail and airlines. Throughout her career, Alexis has cultivated a reputation for building robust capabilities and fostering a strong team culture.

Alexis holds a Bachelor of Science degree, a Graduate Diploma in Management Systems, and a Master of Information Systems.

Beyond her professional achievements, Alexis actively promotes diversity and inclusivity within the technology sector, particularly encouraging women to pursue careers in the industry. Her dedication to creating an inclusive environment further amplifies her influence and impact in the field of IT.

Dr David Walker

Dr David Walker is the Deputy Dean and the Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching, in the La Trobe Business School, where he leads the strategy to uplift academic programs and the student experience. He is passionate about teaching and learning and has received several awards including the Executive Dean’s Teaching Award in 2014, and Pro Vice-Chancellor’s Award’s in 2015 and 2019. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has led research in teaching the economics curriculum in secondary schools in Victoria and in higher education. Dr Walker has had many leaderships roles in the La Trobe Business School including Director of Learning and Teaching and Academic Program Director (Partnerships). His research interests are in forest, agricultural and resource economics and in the economics of climate change.

Associate Professor Sophia Duan

Associate Professor Sophia Duan is the Associate Dean, Research and Industry Engagement in the La Trobe Business School. She provides strategic leadership in research, research training, and industry engagement to support research excellence among staff and research centres within the School. Associate Professor Duan is an accomplished researcher in business information systems, collaborating with government, industry and community organisations to conduct practice-driven academic research that informs real-world applications in technology adoption, digital transformation, digital work and human-AI interactions. She was named one of Australia’s Top 25 Analytics Leaders by IAPA in 2022 and serves on the executive committee of the Global Responsible AI Community and as the Victorian Vice Chapter Lead of AI4Diversity.

Dr Helen Yang

Dr Helen Yang is the Associate Dean for Academic Partnerships in the La Trobe Business School. A Senior Fellow of Advance Higher Education (UK) and the International Education Association of Australia, and a fully qualified CPA, Dr Yang brings extensive experience across Asia-Pacific countries, holding leadership roles such as Transnational Program Coordinator, Discipline Head at Victoria University, and Accounting Program Director at La Trobe University. Her interdisciplinary research bridges theory and practice, focusing on corporate sustainability, financial reporting in emerging economies and international education. Helen’s work is published in leading international journals. Helen has also been successful in securing prestigious grants, including the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching grants, CPA Australia’s Global Research Perspectives Grant, and the Global Impact Grant from Advance Higher Education.