Dr Denise McComish

School Advisory Board Chair | Company Director

Denise is an experienced director with financial, corporate, ESG and board experience across multiple sectors. She's currently a Non-Executive Director of Web Travel Group, Alkane Resources, WA electricity generator and retailer, Synergy, and Beyond Blue; and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Toll Group.

She previously held Non-Executive Director roles at Gold Road Resources, Mineral Resources and Macmahon Holdings. She was a member of the Australian Takeovers Panel until 2025. Denise was a partner with KPMG, specialising in audit and advisory services, and served as National Board Member and National Mining Leader. Denise is a Fellow, Chartered Accountants ANZ; a member and former WA Councillor of AICD; and a member and former director of Chief Executive Women.

Denise served as Pro-Chancellor at Edith Cowan University from 2011–2016 and an ECU Council member for nine years to 2016. She is Chair of the Advisory Board for the School of Business and Law (2016-present). In 2018, Denise was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business from Edith Cowan University.

Mark Connelly

School Advisory Board Deputy Chair | Company Director

Mark Connelly is an internationally experienced financial and commercial executive, with extensive resource industry experience in Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director roles. He has experience with several multinational companies across many jurisdictions including Australia, North America, South America, Africa, and Europe.

Mark is a Corporate Executive with a track record for deal making and was principally responsible for the merger of Papillon Resources and B2 Gold Corp in October 2014 (transaction value USD$570M), as well as the key person responsible for Adamus Resources Limited and Endeavour Mining Merger in September 2011 (transaction value of USD$597M). Mark is currently Chair of several ASX Publicly listed companies in the resources sector.

Michael Hain

Director – Hain Lawyers

Michael is an experienced lawyer with a demonstrated history of over 25 years in value-adding and delivering solutions including in real estate transactions, large scale project delivery, funds transactions, tenure and access. Michael is a director of Hain Lawyers. His experience has been gained as a partner and director in international and national firms and traverses a diverse range of client and project types including in land development and use, renewable energy, commercial, agricultural, industrial and resources projects. Michael is backed with a strong and sound commercial and legal grounding and believes in providing value and strategic insight by adopting an astute, commercially balanced and solutions-based approach. Michael is known for his clear and straightforward communication and ability to deliver successful outcomes.

He has previously held roles as Perth office lead for an International Law firm’s Global Ethical Supply Chain & Modern Slavery Group, focusing on assisting its stakeholders with global legal responses to modern slavery. Michael regularly provides his pro bono assistance to Dress for Success Perth and is a Governor in the Council of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in WA (AmCham).

Paula Rogers

Independent Chair, QE II Precinct Leadership Group

Paula is a widely respected leader in the WA business community and was the CEO for Committee for Perth for 3 years where she advocated for the best future for the Perth region.  She brings decades of experience in membership engagement, stakeholder management and economic strategy from across the globe, with prior market dealings in the UK and Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Australasia.

Paula has been a publisher, event CEO, marketing and communications manager for aged care and a global law firm and State Director of a national economic development membership organisation. Paula has held various board director roles, and consulted to government, the public sector, universities, and a number of clients in the private sector on communication, marketing, events and stakeholder management.

John McMath

Corporate Advisor, Non-executive Director

John McMath is a qualified lawyer and has over 25 years of experience as a senior executive in the resources, infrastructure, energy and utilities industries. He worked at QR Freight, Yilgarn Infrastructure, Woodside and Loy Yang Power and has been involved in several Australian and international projects.

Mr McMath has also been extensively involved in lobbying and negotiating with government, regulatory agencies and stakeholder groups. He facilitates workshops for the Australian Institute of Company Directors on board, committee and governance matters.

Mark Nold

Board Member, School Advisory Board, School of Business and Law, ECU

Mark is a Partner at IBM whose purpose is to help build a better WA. Mark is IBM’s WA lead for Energy & Utilities. He leads a team of STEM professionals that delivers operational systems for Western Power, Water Corporation, Horizon Power and three of the recent WA LNG plants for Chevron and INPEX.

Mark is passionate about building teams, future leaders and STEM jobs in WA. One of his missions is to use data to help make us safer, improve our work and spend our capital better.

Jan Norberger

Board Member, School Advisory Board, School of Business and Law, ECU

Jan started his career serving six years in the Royal Australian Air Force, where he received an Officer Commanding Commendation for outstanding professionalism and service beyond the call of duty. He has held numerous senior management positions within both large and small businesses in WA and abroad (East Timor). These included State Commercial Manager for Toll Priority, Group General Manager of Richards Mining Services and Group General Manager of DHL East Timor and Timor Aviation Services.

In 2012, Jan was awarded a WA Business News 40Under40 award. In 2013, he was elected to the Western Australian state parliament as the Member for Joondalup, later being promoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Planning and Disability Services. Within parliament, Jan also served 4 years on the Economics and Industry Standing Committee.

Katie McKenzie

Group Manager, AEMO

Katie is a senior energy leader with over 15 years’ experience shaping energy, decarbonisation and infrastructure policy, planning and investment. She is currently the Group Manager – WA System Design and Transformation at AEMO, where she leads development of long-term energy outlooks and transition planning for WA’s main power system, and a Director of the Superpower Institute, a think tank focused on helping Australia seize the economic opportunities of green exports.  Prior to joining AEMO, Katie held senior advisory roles to government, including as Principal Policy Adviser to two successive WA Energy Ministers, and with EY and Climate-KIC supporting decarbonisation pathways and infrastructure investment. Katie has also served as a member of the WA Government’s Energy Transformation Taskforce and Renewable Hydrogen Council, President of the Australian Institute of Energy, and Vice-President of the United Nations Associate of WA.

Mark McCrory

General Manager, Channel 7 Telethon Trust

An Executive Leader with more than 25 years’ experience across not-for-profit, government and media sectors, Mark is currently General Manager WA’s most loved charity institution, the Channel 7 Telethon Trust and is an Executive Director of Celebrate WA.

Mark is working with a range of stakeholders across government, the business and corporate world, not-for-profit sector and the wider community to improve the lives of young families in WA through fundraising and delivery of global-leading medical research and life-changing child health services and programs.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Mass Communications, and also has Company Director and Public Sector Management qualifications.

Avril Fahey

Director for Aged Care & Health Engagement, Australian Dept. Health & Aged Care | Chair of the WACA Board.

Avril is an experienced leader with over 25 years’ experience in the aged, community and hospital sector having initially started her career as an Occupational Therapist. In parallel to her professional life, Avril also played cricket for the Australian Women’s Cricket team including a successful World Cup campaign in India in 1997. Avril continues to be involved in high performance sport, working with Cricket Australia as a

National Selector and is a member of the Western Australian Cricket Association Board.

Albert Jacob

Lawyer, Thomson Geer

Albert works as a lawyer for national firm Thomson Geer, where he specialises in environment and planning law and provides regulatory advice to both industry and government. With 20 years experience in high profile leadership roles, Albert possesses a broad perspective and knowledge of Western Australia’s economy and regulatory environment.

Albert has served his community as a Western Australian Member of the Legislative Assembly, Western Australian Cabinet Minister and as Mayor of the City of Joondalup, one of the largest local governments in Western Australia. Albert’s roles in public office and in legal services have enabled him to build extensive network across diverse sectors of the WA community including in resources and property industries, the public sector, politics, and the media.

Professor Sofronis Clerides

Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Cyprus

Professor Bevan Catley

Professor of Work and Organisation Massey University, Auckland

Bevan is a Professor in the School of Management & Marketing (Palmerston North) at Massey University, NZ. In his time at Massey, Bevan has served 6 years as the Associate Head of the School of Management and is one of the co-founders of the Healthy Work Group – a multidisciplinary team of researchers interested in psychosocial factors in workplace health and safety.

Bevan’s primary research focus is on workplace bullying and workplace violence and he has published extensively on these topics. Beyond Massey, Bevan has served on the boards of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management and the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment along with several community organisations.

Dr Henrich Brunke

Director, Int Relations and Development, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Henrich Brunke is an accomplished expert in international education and has been working in that field for nearly two decades. Raised in Northern Germany, Henrich began his career with an agricultural apprenticeship before earning a degree in International Agricultural Economics from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. His passion for global engagement was sparked by a formative year in Iowa, USA, as part of the German Bundestag-American Congress exchange program and he has since spent extended period of times living and working abroad.

Henrich’s career spans prestigious research roles at the University of California, Davis, USA and the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, where, among other things, he managed an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree consortium across seven countries. Transitioning to international education, he served as Institutional Erasmus Coordinator and Head of International Relations at the University of Namur, Belgium. Currently, he is the Director of International Relations for the Faculty of Economics at the University of Antwerpen, Belgium. Henrich’s work embodies a commitment to fostering global collaboration and advancing education worldwide.

Dr Brett Davies

Partner,  Legal Consolidated Barristers and Solicitors

Dr Brett Davies is a legal practitioner who is committed to bridging the gap between the classroom and the courtroom. Across Australia, he serves as an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow, while donating his time to the Institute of Legal Training’s (IOLT) Practical Legal Training course to help graduates navigate their first steps into the legal profession.

Brett’s governance experience is extensive, spanning roles on University Senates, the WA Library Board, and the Legal Practice Board, alongside chairing several national Law Council committees.

As a proud ECU Alumnus, Brett joins the Advisory Board to give back to the Business and Law schools that helped shape his career. He brings to the table the grit of a practising lawyer, the scrutiny of a regulator, and the endurance of a man who has survived enough committee meetings to qualify for a medal.

Professor Maryam Omari

Executive Dean, School of Business and Law ECU

Professor Maryam Omari is the Executive Dean of the School of Business and Law and has over 20 years of experience in academia. Maryam has held a number of academic leadership positions including: Program Director MBA and Graduate Studies, Associate Dean International, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Human Resource Management Course Coordinator. She has been involved in significant curriculum change at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels to modernise and reposition courses such as the MBA, Bachelor of Business, and HRM programs. Maryam has a PhD, Masters in Business (HRM), Graduate Diploma in Business (Management) and a Bachelor of Science.

Scott Henderson

Vice-President Corporate Services, ECU

Scott Henderson joined ECU in February 2012 as Vice-President Corporate Services. His key accountabilities include value-for-money and efficiency strategies, finance, information technology, facilities planning and management, campus services, governance services, student recruitment and corporate marketing, events and communications.

Prior to joining ECU, Scott was the CEO of Netball WA and West Coast Fever. His other previous roles have included being CEO of Harvey Beef and CEO of Skywest Airlines. In the late 1990s he was State Manager for United Airlines in Victoria, before being appointed Manager International Strategic Planning for United Airlines in Chicago.

Arron Jackson

Industry Relationships Manager, School of Business and Law ECU

Arron Jackson joined Edith Cowan University in 2008 as a lecturer in Marketing, Professional Communications, Emotional Intelligence and Employability Skills. Before this Arron had a successful career in Sales, Marketing & Client management, working with a diverse range of domestic and international teams.

He has represented Edith Cowan University at several international conferences and institutes. Speaking on many issues, including marketing; interpersonal skills in the workplace; education and training; and work integrated learning.

Jo Lucas

Executive Officer, School Advisory Board
WIL Relationships Advisor, School of Business and Law ECU

Jo is the Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Relationships Advisor at the School of Business and Law.  She joined ECU in 2015 and has worked in various roles within the School of Business and Law, mainly in the Work Integrated Learning area.

She has an extensive working history in team leadership, senior logistical, and project coordination roles.  She has worked across industry areas such as Aviation & Travel, Life Sciences (Human Genome Project), Relocation Services, and Mining companies in the UK, Nordic Counties, and Australia.