Damien commenced his career as a property valuer over 30 years ago and has significant experience in the property industry across a range of sectors including planning, development, infrastructure and construction. He has a strong understanding of the tiers of policy, regulation and market forces defining settlement patterns and the housing delivery and affordability framework in Victoria including metropolitan, peri urban, regional and rural areas.
As the founder of Birchgrove, a Bendigo based business which has grown residential communities for over 20 years, Damien has a strong grounding in new urbanist principals. Utlilising a long standing connection with housing outcomes, he currently serves as the Board Chair of Haven; Home, Safe a key registered housing provider in Victoria. Haven manages over 2,000 homes and provides homelessness and support services to over 7,500 people annually.
Damien is a life member of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (Vic) and has previously served with UDIA in a range of elected roles including as President and also as Vice President of the UDIA National Council. He also has a long history of serving in a number of both government and community based board and committee roles.
Laurinda Gardner is a board director, organisational reform and change management consultant and career coach. Laurinda has over 25 years’ senior executive experience and was formerly a Deputy Secretary with the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance and a Director at the City of Melbourne. She has led large operational teams in diverse areas including strategic and business planning, HR, IT, communications, town planning, stakeholder engagement, finance and risk.
Laurinda has performed the role of trusted adviser to several CEOs, was an Administrator at the City of Greater Geelong and is currently on the Board of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, and a member of several remuneration and audit and risk committees.
Penny holds urban planning, public policy and board director qualifications. She has over 30 years’ experience and expertise in government administration, strategic planning and program delivery at senior executive levels in state and local government in Victoria and New South Wales. In the last few decades she has held the positions of Chief Executive Officer of the Lord Howe Island Board; General Manager, North Sydney Council and Chief Executive Officer, Latrobe City Council; General Manager City Services, Whitehorse City Council; Director, Office of Youth Affairs and Group Manager, Building Better Cities with the Victorian Government.
Penny has local planning panel experience being the Chair and independent expert on local and regional planning panels in metropolitan and regional NSW. Penny has extensive Board experience and is currently a Board member of Local Government Procurement Pty Ltd. She is also an independent member of the Northern Sydney Local Health District Board Audit and Risk Committee.
Conny is a non-executive director in the community sector. She has over 30 years’ experience as a field practitioner and in organisational management, with expertise in social justice policy, advocacy and leadership.
Conny currently serves on the boards of the Gardiner Dairy Foundation, the Human Services Skills Organisation, Good Shepherd ANZ and chairs La Trobe University’s Institute of Human Security and Social Change. Previous governance roles include Oxfam Australia, Melbourne University’s Atlantic Fellowship for Social Equity, Monash University’s Sustainable Development Institute, the Australian Council for International Development and several boards in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Her recent leadership roles include Executive Director of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Interim CEO with Anglicare North Queensland and World Vision New Zealand, Regional Leader for the Middle East and Eastern Europe with World Vision International and Deputy CEO of World Vision Australia.
Conny holds a Masters degree in Social Science and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2019 by La Trobe University for her work in the community sector. She is also a graduate of the AICD Director’s Course.
Jane Monk is an urban planner, or more aptly an urbanist, with over 40 years’ experience serving government and the Victorian community. She is known as a thought leader, a change agent and scrupulous expert advisor.
Commencing in local government, Jane later contributed to the preparation of the then landmark, Planning and Environment Act 1987. She went on to become a VCAT senior member and later Chair of the Bracks/Brumby Government’s Priority Development Panel
In the last two decades Jane has held executive roles as the Planning Department’s Director State Planning Services, then later as Director Inner City and Director, Innovation and Reform with the Metropolitan Planning Authority and Victorian Planning Authority respectively. She retired from the VPA in 2017.
Jane is currently a member of the Victorian Design Review Panel and a Director of the board of Nightingale Housing, a not-for-profit, affordable housing provider.
Jane is a fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia, and a fellow of the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association (VPELA). She is a past Vice President (planning) of VPELA and is a recipient of VPELAs Paul Jerome Award for outstanding public service and the Richard J Evans Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to planning in Victoria.