Barry Irvin AM

Barry Irvin is recognised globally for his extensive experience in the dairy industry and has been Chairman of Bega Cheese Limited since 2000. Barry’s leadership has seen Bega grow from a small regionally based dairy company to now the third largest dairy company in Australia, supplying a large range of dairy and grocery products in Australia and around the world.

Barry’s depth of knowledge of the industry includes a significant understanding of the issues affecting Australian dairy farmers, the key investments required to meet changing consumer needs and the management of long term customer relationships.

Barry was awarded the NAB Agribusiness Leader of the Year and the Rabobank Leadership Award. Barry is very aware of the importance of social responsibility and has been Chairman of Giant Steps since 2002. In 2008, Barry was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for contributions to children with disability and the Australian dairy industry.

Geoff Stein

Geoff is a partner of Brown Wright Stein Lawyers in Sydney, specialising in commercial and tax law.

Geoff has been a lawyer in Sydney for over 20 years. He is one of only a few New South Wales Law Society Accredited Specialists in taxation law and he works extensively with a number of leading accounting firms to assist their clients and gains great satisfaction knowing he is also helping them build their practices.

Geoff advises clients on tax, commercial, trust, estate planning, wealth management and ancillary legal issues. He has developed an in-depth understanding of the legal challenges faced by business owners. This means he is able to take a whole of business approach that goes beyond the obvious legal process, to provide clients with advice that benefits their entire business.

Geoff believes that in supporting business owners it’s vital to understand the interaction between a client’s business interests, their aspirations and their family wealth management – and this is his first priority.

Geoff’s daughter transitioned from the Giant Steps K to 6 program to mainstream education in 2007.

Rachel Launders

Rachel is General Counsel and Company Secretary at Nine Entertainment Co, an ASX-listed media company.

Rachel was formerly a partner of Gilbert + Tobin, one of the law firms which assists Giant Steps, where she specialised in corporate and commercial transactions and advisory work, acting for a wide range of clients, including a number of not-for-profit bodies. Rachel has been a board member of Giant Steps since 2001 and Company Secretary since 2003.

Daniel Fink

Daniel Fink is a Founding Director of Calypsi, a technology company dedicated to improving workplace efficiency and productivity through business strategy and managed services.

Daniel also works in his family office, focused on property and finance. With a background in technology and project management, Daniel originally founded a business in Switzerland providing outsourced services to the finance sector.

Jessica Stimson

Jessica Stimson has over 20 years of experience in the strategic marketing and events space.

She now balances family life in Melbourne with consulting to various brands, not-for-profits and organisations on how best to communicate and connect with their markets.

Since her son was diagnosed with Autism in 2009, Jessica has focused a lot of her energy toward supporting various disability causes, hoping that, over time, the opportunities and options these kids and growing teens have in our community will be a vast improvement on where they are today.

Jessica’s son was part of the original cohort of students that started at Giant Steps Melbourne in 2016.

Brett Kelly

Brett is a Chartered Accountant who has worked in the accounting profession for over 38 years.

Brett worked in a global Chartered Accounting firm for over 10 years where he was involved in Audit and Business Advisory, working with a wide range of organisations including government, non-profit, unlisted and listed companies.

For the past 28 years Brett has worked for Bega Cheese Ltd where he is the Company Secretary. Brett is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Brett likes to support community groups in his spare time which include Landcare and the local football club. He has been involved with Giant Steps since 2003 where he provides financial advice.

Amanda Coombs

Amanda currently works at Commonwealth Bank, leading the Commonwealth Private Bank for Victoria and Tasmania.

Amanda has lived in London, Sydney and her home town, Melbourne, working primarily as a leader of teams in Financial Markets.  Now based in Melbourne, Amanda enjoys leading teams, guiding families around philanthropic strategies and advising start-up companies as an Angel Investor.

Amanda holds a BA from Monash University, Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance, an MBA from Melbourne Business School and a Diploma in Financial Planning.  She completed the Company Director’s Course at the AICD during 2017.

Amanda is a Founding Patron of the Red Cross Society of Women Leaders, coming to the organisation as a passionate advocate for Australian women in need.  She also has a keen interest in assisting people with disabilities to access high quality education, work and maintain a strong sense of purpose in their day to day lives.

Amanda lives in Melbourne and has two sons.  Amanda enjoys her association with Scale Angel Investors, is a Director of Giant Steps Melbourne and Pancake Parlour.

Jonathan Wenig

Jonathan Wenig is a Partner of Australian commercial law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler.

Jonathan specialises in commercial and corporate law. His practice includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate work, technology and financing.

He is a trusted advisor to numerous active and innovative public companies, bringing his intellect and experience to bear not only in their corporate matters and acquisition activities, but across their legal affairs and strategic challenges and opportunities. He has experience across a range of industry sectors, including internet, manufacturing, agriculture, retail, health and banking.

Jonathan was invited to join the Board of Giant Steps Melbourne in 2016. He is also on the Board of Allplay Sports, a venture established between the Australian Football League and Deakin University’s Child Study Centre to promote the inclusion of children with special needs in sport.