Board of Directors


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Nick Xerakias

Chair

Nick is a Partner at Public Affairs firm GRACosway. He has broad ranging political experience, particularly in strategy and policy advice. Earlier in his career, Nick worked at senior levels for the Federal Opposition and Government across a number of portfolios including Employment, Family and Community Services, Health, Resources and Energy portfolios, and has experience in both federal and state political campaign management.

Nick is based in Victoria and is a bereaved father.

Nick was formerly a Board Member of Sands Australia and joined the Red Nose Board in November 2020 when the organisations merged.

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Andrew Kennedy

Treasurer

Andrew is a civil engineer with over 25 years experience and currently works in a senior management position with CPB Contractors, a large Australian construction company and part of the ASX listed CIMIC group. In the past, Andrew has served as a director of SIDS and Kids (Victoria), the National SIDS Council of Australia and the Civil Contractors Federation (Tasmania).

Andrew’s first involvement with SIDS and Kids was through the bereavement support he and his family received following the death of his first daughter, Saoirse during delivery in 2004. Andrew is passionate about the potential for reducing the incidence of perinatal death just as the SIDS campaign brought about a dramatic reduction of SIDS deaths in the 1980s and 90s. Andrew and his family live in Melbourne.

Andrew is the Treasurer and chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.

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Ian Burgess

Board Member

Ian is an experienced director and CEO, with a varied career in both not-for-profit and commercial organisations. Ian is currently CEO of the Medical Technology Association of Australia, the national association representing companies in the medical device industry.

Ian has a strong background in governance, having held senior executive positions with the Governance Institute of Australia, and has been a director on the boards of health businesses, an EFT payments gateway, a transport business and an educational institute in the finance sector.

Ian’s previous CEO roles have included the Australian Dental Association (NSW), the Australian Orthopaedic Association and a private equity backed health business.

Marian Ngo

Marian Ngo

Board Member

Marian is a corporate and commercial law partner at global law firm, K&L Gates. She specialises in complex commercial contracting, corporate advisory and transactional advice across a broad variety of industry sectors, including transport, logistics, sports, entertainment and consumer products and services. Marian is experienced advising not for profit organisations on corporate governance, commercial contracting, regulatory matters and more.

Before her legal career, Marian worked in highly regulated and multi-faceted organisations, including Australia Post and Tatts Group Limited. As an Enterprise Risk Manager at Australia Post, she was responsible for group-wide regulatory compliance reporting and developing incident management frameworks for Australia Post and its subsidiaries.

Marian is a bereaved parent to angel babies Emmy and Annie, and rainbow baby Leni. She is a firsthand beneficiary of the bereavement support services offered by Red Nose, and truly appreciates the space Red Nose holds for grieving families.

Andrea Pearman

Andrea Pearman

Board Member

Currently CEO of Netball Victoria and Melbourne Vixens, Andrea has held executive leadership roles in some of Australia’s leading organisations, including CEO of Inclusive Australia, Australia Post, NAB, Fosters and Telstra, for over 20 years. She has experience in brand and reputation management, stakeholder relations, marketing, corporate social responsibility, and community investment practices, across a broad spectrum of industries and sectors such as the government, corporate and not-for-profit sectors.

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Sérgio Brodsky

Board Member

Sérgio Brodsky is a leading brand and foresight strategist, founder of Surge Advisory. He is also the inaugural Chair at The Marketing Academy Australia, alumni, and an Agenda Collaborator at the World Economic Forum. Sérgio began his career as an IP lawyer in his native Brazil and transitioned as a strategic consultant for a high-tech military company in Israel before pivoting towards the marketing communications industry in the UK and Australia, to then finally land on the discipline of Strategic Foresight.

Sérgio is a widely recognised thought-leader having been published and featured on high-profile stages worldwide. He is a co-author of The Routledge Companion to Marketing Research, where he wrote the Foresight in Marketing and Marketing Research chapter, and the creator of the radically innovative Urban Brand-Utility model, reframing brand communications from conspicuous consumption into a regenerative force in the economy of cities.

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Professor Paul Colditz

Board Member

Professor Paul Colditz is the foundation Professor of Perinatal Medicine at the University of Queensland and Director of the Perinatal Research Centre. He is a practicing clinician in neonatology as well as holding a Masters in Biomedical Engineering from the University of NSW and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford, UK.

Paul leads a multidisciplinary research team from diverse backgrounds including medicine, science, nursing, psychology, physiotherapy, other allied health, signal processing and biomedical engineering to focus on improving health outcomes for mothers and babies through clinical and translational research. He is a member of the Qld Health’s Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council and a panel member of the Qld Child Death Case Review Panel (DeptCommunities, Child Safety and Disability Services).

Paul is a Board member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Chair, College Research Committee. He is President-elect of the Paediatrics and Child Health Division, RACP.

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Lyndy Bowden

Board Member

Lyndy is a Lactation Consultant working closely with the Aboriginal community of Tasmania, and holds several other roles including with PSANZ (Perinatal Society of Australia & New Zealand) Consumer Advisory Panel and the PSANZ Perinatal Palliative Care Special Interest Group.

Lyndy joined the Red Nose Board in November 2020 following the merger of Red Nose and Sands.

Based in Hobart, Lyndy has a long history with Sands and the bereaved parent community. After her son Thomas’ death in 1997, Lyndy became involved as a peer supporter and held a number of governance roles within Sands Tasmania. In 2014 she was appointed Chair of Sands Australia until its national unification in 2018.