SGA - Board & Custodians

SGA executive structure consists of a Board of directors who set the direction of the organisation and ensures good governance is adhered to. An additional group, the Custodians, act as an advisory group strengthening the position of the organisation.

Damien Adams (SGA Custodian)

Damien is currently Business Development Manager of Cricket Australia. Prior to this position he was Business Development Manager of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne for 6 years and Chief Executive Officer of SkillSeekers Inc. for 7 years. Damien has a Bachelor of Applied Science, Horticulture (Burnley Horticultural College), Graduate Diploma Hospitality and Tourism Management (Victoria University of Technology) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) (Deakin University / APESMA). Damien is a member of the Australian Institute of Management (AIMM) and the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA).

The Hon. John Cain (SGA Custodian)

Solicitor and Premier of Victoria from 1982 - 1990. After leaving parliament John lectures in politics at the University of Melbourne.

Jane Edmanson (SGA Board member)

Jane is a horticulturalist and former nursery owner. Her television commitments include Gardening Australia on the ABC. Each weekend, both Saturday and Sunday Jane presents "The Big Backyard" on radio. 3AW and throughout the week gardening vignettes can be heard on Magic 693. Jane writes for many magazines and takes Garden Tours to Europe - Chelsea Flower Show each year. In any spare time she has Jane writes gardening books.

Catherine Gibson Roy (SGA Board member)

Catherine Gibson Roy is a Partner in Construction Queen, a building design and project management firm that works in environmentally sustainable building design. With a business and planning background, Catherine spends a lot of time pondering the ability of the human race to find a way to live sustainably in an urban environment.

Mike Hill (SGA Custodian)

Mike has sixteen years of close involvement with local governments including: eight years as a Councillor with the former City of Brunswick of which he was Mayor in 1988; nine years as Chief Executive of the Victorian Local Governance Association of which he was a foundation member (its only life member); three years as a Councillor with Moreland City Council of which he was the first Mayor in 1996; and ongoing support, commentary and consultancy work with the sector. Mike's background to this involvement has included work in: community education; youth unemployment; community health; environment protection and restoration; waste minimisation; immigration support and cultural diversity; and general community activism. As well as promoting local government, good governance, community building and democracy issues, Mike has a longstanding involvement in the sustainability movement. He is currently: Chair of the Moreland Energy Foundation; Board member of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Victoria; Board member of Environs Australia; and Board member of the Natural Resources and Conservation League. Mike is the immediate past Chair of EcoRecycle Victoria. He is co-director of WestWyck, a company developing a co-housing project along environmental principles on a former school site in West Brunswick. He is also a Member of the Advisory Board of the Swinburne Institute of Social Research.

Peter Howey (SGA Chair of the Custodians)

Bachelor of Commerce (University of Melbourne) - major in accounting and commercial law. Peter worked for 6 years with BHP in various accounting roles. He has worked at Bulleen Art & Garden for 18 years working in accounting, project management and supervision and retail service and development.

Dr. Greg Moore (SGA Vice President and Board member)

Principal and Head of Burnley Campus, University of Melbourne since 1988. Formerly a senior lecturer and lecturer in plant science and arboriculture at Burnley since 1977. Member and Chair of the National Trust of Victoria Register of Significant Trees. Board member of Greening Australia Victoria since 1991.

Morris Raymond Nutbean (SGA Treasurer and Board member) B.Bus. F.C.A.

Morris is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants; registered Company Auditor; registered Tax Agent and Member of Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants. Morris has over 25 years experience in the accounting profession. His specialisations include Management Accounting for manufacturing industries, corporate services, including valuations and litigation support, business restructuring and planning, and advising on the sale, purchase or merging of business entities. He is a member of and acts for a syndicate of investors which acquires underperforming small businesses with a view to restructuring these businesses and assisting them in the transition from small to medium business entities. He serves as a Board Member and a member of advisory committees of a number of client companies.

Susan Oliver (SGA Custodian)

Susan is a futurist, strategist and company director. She is an executive director of wwITe P/L, a company that advises on global scale ebusiness strategies and engineering; and of Futures Alliance involved in organisational innovation, scenario planning and strategy. She is a non-executive director of Transurban CityLink, Medical Benefits Fund,- both major Australian corporations, Programmed Maintenance Services and The Smith Family, and is chairman of ScreenSound Australia, the national screen and sound archive. Susan is an advisor to the Australian Foresight Institute at Swinburne University and teaches the advanced professional practice unit in that course. Susan has held senior management positions in the public and private sectors. She was Managing Director of the Australian Commission for the Future and was a founder and founding Director of The Big Issue in Australia.

Bruce Plain (SGA President and Board member)

Managing Director of Bulleen Art & Garden for 21 Years. Bulleen Art & Garden is a community focused business. Bruce has been involved in community and not for profit organisations over long period of time. Consequently he is interested in what makes them work effectively for the community and the environment. Bruce is currently on the steering committees of the Friends of the Yarra Valley Parks and Bolin Bolin. He is interested in organisational and management systems and how they can be used to make small organisations compete with larger ones. Bruce has also worked as a landscape contractor for 6 years and has a Bachelor of Economics (Latrobe University).

Brian Rankin. (SGA Board member)

Brian is Managing Director of Brian Rankin & Staff founded in 1987. He founded Brian Rankin & Staff Pty Ltd. In 1987 and is Managing Director. Brian's company is a landscape design and construction firm that employs 10 full time staff. He completed a certificate in horticulture in 1983 and worked with Robert Boyle from 1984 until 1986. Brian joined the Landscape Industries Association of Victoria (LIAV) in 1997 and was elected President in 2000. He resigned as President late in 2000 and was re-elected to the committee late in 2001, being elected President again in late 2002. During this period he was involved in various industry roles with positions on the board of the Landscape Industries Association of Australia, representing the LIAV on the Paviors Consultative Committee and the Horticultural Steering Committee.Brain has also been involved in sessional teaching at NMIT over the period 1998 to 2002.

Leigh Siebler (SGA Board member)

Leigh started in the nursery industry managing a family-owned retail nursery from 1970 to 1980. In early 1980 he left there to work with the Retail Nurserymens Cooperative, now Plants Plus in many capacities. Leigh started as magazine editor/manager and progressed to CEO. Leigh left Plants Plus in 1994 to set up his own consulting and publishing business with his wife Jan. Leigh and Jan now work with many retailers and growers in consulting, producing publications and staff training. Their major clients include Garden Centres Association of Australia Inc. (they handle the secretariat) and David Austin Roses where they are the Australian agents and Greenworld magazine where Leigh is the Victorian Sales Manager. Leigh and Jan are members of Horticultural Media Australia with Leigh being the current Australian President.

Donna Stoddart (SGA Secretary and Board member)

Donna Stoddart is the Environmental Planning Coordinator for the Shire of Nillumbik. She has over eight years experience in Local Government. Donna's brief covers the full range of local government environmental and sustainability challenges- including conservation of biodiversity, stormwater protection initiatives, environmental education, energy efficiency programs, organisation change and support of community based environmental action. Donna has also worked with Environs Australia: the local government environment network, facilitating environmental and sustainability programs across Australia.

Mary Trigger (SGA CEO and Board member)

Chief Executive Officer of SGA since 2003. Mary has previously worked for Environs Australia: the local government environment network, working on the prototype of SGA, the Sustainable Nurseries Alliance. Previously Mary worked for 5 years with Greening Australia Victoria as training coordinator and Manager of Education, Training & Community Events. She also worked for the Smith Family for 4 years and as a science secondary teacher for 7 years both in Australia and overseas.