OUR AMBASSADORS
Our Ambassadors assist the Lady Mayoress with fundraising and promotions for the Lord Mayor's Charitable Trust.
Catherine Anstey
Former Town Planner
After many years of making my home where the Army sent us, I am delighted to be back living in Brisbane for the last 10 years or so. I am married to Cris, who was in the army for nearly 30 years so life was pretty nomadic!
Brisbane is a truly great city and I am honoured and delighted to help out with the Trust.
I worked as a town planner for many years, including a stint with Brisbane City Council, as well as community services and crime prevention roles...
Raewyn Bailey
CEO
Mental Awareness Foundation
Raewyn Bailey is currently the CEO for Mental Awareness Foundation. She sits on the Transport for Brisbane Board, Board of Vspry, Australia India Business Council and represents Hyderabad in India for the Lord Mayor on a Sister Cities Committee.
Raewyn Bailey previously had 25 years running her own executive recruitment business. She has been involved with philanthropy for the last 20 years. As Chair of a committee she assisted in raising $5.4M to build a centre for Drug and Alcohol Abused Children, Chaired the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital Ball Committee for 5 years and was involved with Variety for 7 years.
Maria Becis
Owner
Becis Chartered Accountants
Maria Becis is currently the Business Development Director for Becis Chartered Accountants, Time Lords Timing Pty Ltd, Becis McCarthy Insurance Brokers and Run 2 Give Foundation. Since commencing my professional career, I have gained valuable experience from working with several publicly listed companies both as an employee and consultant. Since 2008, I have established an accounting and tax practice, insurance business and an event management company. My core technical skills are in the areas of commerce and business development.
Laura Chen
Queensland Director
SKYPAC
Laura has held senior roles in the banking and finance industry spanning over 25 years. Her last role was as National Manager of International Premier & Retail Banking Asia Pacific for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Previous to this, Laura has held positions in ANZ Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation in Australia and New Zealand, and Bank of China in Beijing.
Outside of banking, Laura is a current Ambassador of the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust, and an Executive Committee Member on the Australia China Business Council.
Melody Chen
Life Honorary President
World Arts & Multi-Culture Inc.
For the past 20 years, Melody Chen has devoted her efforts into her business and the multicultural community volunteer services.
Melody established World Arts & Multi-Culture Inc. (WAMCI) and acted as President of WAMCI for ten years (2003-2013). Since 2013, Melody has acted as the Life Honourable President of WAMCI.
Melody has organised various large scale orchestral concerts for major events like the Asia...
Nicole Conlon
Director
Fuschia Consulting
Nicole is a "people person", passionate about making a difference and helping people. Nicole runs Fuschia Consulting which specialises in planning events, marketing, business development and executive connections. Nicole is the Event Producer for the Brisbane Big City Barbecue, a corporate charity event with the LMCT as one of the beneficiaries. She has previously worked as the Business Development Manager at ClarkeKann Lawyers, Policy and research Manager at the Property Council of Australia, project and communication roles at the Environmental Protection Agency, and a property / environmental lawyer with Herbert Smith Freehills.
Samantha Conry
Senior Executive
Samantha Conry is a full-time mother to Alexandra, William and James, and married to Stephen. Her interests and duties align – including working with her children's schools, being involved with charitable fund raising causes, as well as Nursing Home Care support.
Samantha is a former Sales Executive for the Mayfair Crest Hotel and former State Manager of Flag Hotels. She is keen to make a meaningful contribution to the Lord Mayor's Charitable Trust, via practical support.
Andrew Craig
Entrepreneur
Chatti, Mr Mista,
Laser Clinics Australia
Andrew Craig is a Brisbane Entrepreneur that is involved in multiple industries such as Tech & Cloud Communications (Chatti), Beauty & Aesthetics (Laser Clinics Australia) and Hospitality (Mr Mista).
He passionately enjoys creating successful businesses that bring great people together to create amazing experiences. Proudly based in Brisbane and selling services to the world.
Brooke Falvey
Fashion Editor
The Sunday Mail
Brooke Falvey is a Fashion Editor, Columnist, Blogger and Marketing & Communications consultant hailing from sunny Brisbane, who defines her style as girly, playful and comfy.
Brooke started out her career as a journalist, then moved to London, where she did all sorts of wonderful bucket list things, like meeting Prince Harry and having tea with the Queen.
On moving back to Brisbane, Brooke started her travel and lifestyle blog ‘Blonde Ambition’ and a new bucket list.
Marion Feros
Administrative Director
Victor G Feros Town Planning Consultants
Marion Feros is a management specialist with a background in pharmacy, property and consultancy management. She is the Administrative Director and owner (together with her husband) of Victor G Feros Town Planning Consultants, established in 1976 with offices in Brisbane and Cairns.
Her qualifications are a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Univ of Qld) and a Master of Business Administration (Univ of Qld) specialising in financial management (Price Waterhouse Prize in Commerce 1995)...
Margaret Forrest
Barrister-At-Law
Margaret commenced practice as a barrister in 2017 and practices predominantly in commercial law and administrative law.
Prior to the Bar, Margaret was a solicitor in the Corporate and International Tax Division of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu; a solicitor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions; and an Associate to Judge Kiernan Dorney QC in the District Court of Queensland.
Margaret has also worked in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Margaret holds a Master of Philosophy (Criminology) from the University of Cambridge and degrees in Law and Arts (Mandarin Chinese) from the University of Queensland.
Danielle Harris
Director
Blaq Marketing
Is a name synonymous with the fashion industry both domestically and internationally. A “Summary of Experience” is insufficient to detail the breadth of her considerable knowledge or her contributions to the Fashion industry. A quick scan of Danielle’s working history clearly shows an early maturity and solid business acumen. It is a testament to these talents that she rose quickly to the role of National Fashion Buyer for David Jones Australia, a role usually reserved for those many years her senior. Danielle’s subsequent career has seen her further expand her experience in the areas of Product Development, Marketing and Events. All of which has culminated in...
Kim Knox
Director CBRE
General Manager Riparian Plaza
Born in Cairns and travelling extensively as a child, attending eleven schools as her father was an army officer (Order of Australia Medal recipient), Kim is a proud mother and grandmother.
Kim is the General Manager of Riparian Plaza, a 53-level premium grade mixed use building in Brisbane’s CBD design by the renowned Harry Seidler.
Kim has received a number of prestigious awards in recognition of her management...
Nicole McLachlan
Ambassador
Nicole has had a long career in both the public and private sectors working as a PA for Federal Government Ministers and Chairmen of several publicly listed companies.
After having her two children, now 14 and 20, Nicole took her writing skills into Corporate Communications and Crisis Management where she developed a strong interest in stakeholder communications, particularly in an online environment. Nicole contributes to several online publications and writes a popular blog.
Suellen Morgan
Retired Teacher
Suellen has been a member of Zonta City Heart since 2017, and has actively raised funds for the Heart Foundation and Salvation Army.
Suellen’s husband Paul ‘Porky’ Morgan founded Morgans Stockbroking and was one of the original owners and founders of the Brisbane Broncos. With that, Suellen has always been engaged in activities and functions associated with business and sport, as well as many community projects.
Diane Neve
Director
Neve & Associates
I am very proud to have been an Ambassador for the Lord Mayors Charitable Trust for many years.
While I have lived in other cities, Brisbane has always been my home. A born & bred Brisbanite I say. I love this city & those who live here. We really are some of the luckiest people in the world.
Because I have been so incredibly lucky in my life, my greatest passion is supporting those who support the disadvantaged, disenfranchised or vulnerable in our community...
Denise Schellbach
Supporter & Ambassador
QIMR
Denise Schellbach has more than 40 years' experience fundraising for charities and is on various boards and committees.
Denise is an Ambassador and supporter for more than 20 years for QIMR-Berghofer (Queensland Institute of Medical Research), has been a committee member of the Kindercraft Kindergarten City Hall, and The Abused Child Trust, St John’s Cathedral Council and Completion Fund, Epilepsy Queensland, Royal Brisbane & Womens’ Hospital Foundation...
Karl Sha
President
Australian Oriental Immigrants Association
Having been worked in international education industry and provided services to immigrants and students for more than a decade, Karl is currently the president of Australian Oriental Immigrants Association, aiming to improve the overall cultural communication and understanding in Australia with emphasis on diversity and inclusiveness. Karl is dedicated to help new immigrants and international students to seamlessly integrate into Australian society and local communities in order to better serve our society. Karl is also the member..
OTHER AMBASSADORS
Jie Cheng
Josie McKenzie
Ellie Roberts
Melinda Toomey
Grace Yu
Vicky Yu
Paul Shih
Director
Knowledge Bank Institute of Australia
Paul started to serve the Brisbane Taiwanese community since the age of 16 and always believed it is more blessed to give than to receive.
He grew to become a well recognised community leader in the Chinese communities and is now the President for the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Oceania.
Paul has organised many major events including the Queensland Taiwan Festival for four years.
Pinky Singh
President
Punjabi Welfare Association of Australia
Pinky comes from a small business background and is an educator by profession. Pinky has previously run an event company and also a Registered Training Organisation.
Pinky was a nominee in the 2019 Telstra Business Women’s Awards as well as many other community awards.
Pinky is a remarkable volunteer in the community and is involved in many networking groups...
Lisa Smith
Marketing Manager
YFG Shopping Centres
Lisa Smith is an experienced marketing professional and people person, who is passionate about her community and loves living and working in the beautiful city of Brisbane. Lisa is happily married with two school aged children.
After beginning her working life in retail and customer service, Lisa found her way into her perfect job as a Shopping Centre Marketing Manager. Lisa has enjoyed over 25 years in Shopping Centre Management, working for Retail First and YFG Shopping Centres for the past 20 years.
Nathan Strudwick
Property
Elders Real Estate
Having grown-up in Logan and graduating as school captain of John Paul College, Nathan has a real passion for the local area. Real-estate is in Nathan’s blood. He bought his first investment property at the age of 18 and has since grown a portfolio focusing on residential investments in Logan.
His family founded the successful chain of sports retail stores ‘Struddys Sports’ on the south-side over 35 years ago. This sporting background...
Erzsi Suranyi
Parent, Investor & GM
ERZSiSURANYi.com
I am passionate about working with individuals, teams and organizations’ to take action in attaining their goals and aspirations and realising their performance potentials.
In recent years I have successfully built a family business operating within the Property Services industry. Employing over 50 staff across Australia, NZ and Canada, I have worked with such disciplines as engineering, construction, software development and administration; and across...
Ron Yap
Marketing Entrepreneur
EPIQ Media
Ron Yap is a marketing entrepreneur and he came from a multi-national corporate background having worked over 22 years across diverse industries in information technology, retail, hospitality, events, and marketing. He founded Primetime Marketing in 2013 and EPIQ Luxury Concierge recently. Today he passionately help clients to leverage marketing both digital and traditional to give voice to what they are offering, telling their brand story, and bringing product and/or services to the local and international market...
