John Withers has extensive experience as a leader and manager in Defence, and more recently in the private and public sectors. After completing his schooling in Melbourne, John entered the Royal Military College and served as an officer in the Australian Regular Army for 25 years in the Infantry and the Special Air Service Regiment. After leaving the Regular Army in 1998, John moved to Hobart where he has worked in the private and public sectors.

John is currently a HR specialist with the Tasmanian State Government holding a number of positions in the Department of Education and more recently the Department of Justice.

For the past 17 years, he has been an active member of AIM in Tasmania serving as a member of the local committee of management, implementing and facilitating on the Aspiring Manager Program, and the IML Business Leadership Awards.

John is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Managers and Leaders.

Marie-Louise has over 32 years in sales and management experience in the energy, telecommunications and ICT industries. As part of the Extended Leadership Group at Jacana Energy, Marie-Louise has directly been involved with the recent establishment of the Commercial & Industrial business of the Territory’s largest retail electricity company. With her background in management at IBM, Optus, and now Jacana Energy, Marie-Louise has extensive management experience in complex changing businesses and is keenly interested in delivering value and strong governance.
Under her Chairmanship of the IML NT Council 2006 to 2012, IML NT saw its strongest ever recorded Membership and participation rates. Marie-Louise has a strong history of leadership in community organisations. Most recently these included being Chairman of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra Board and Chairman of the Anchorage Sister Cities Committee of the City of Darwin.  Marie-Louise won the 2014 ALEA award for Community Leader of the Year.

Marie-Louise is a Life Member and Fellow of IML, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, holds a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Sciences.

Ann Messenger is a Chartered Accountant who studied marketing and operations management before specialising in accounting and finance. Ann began her career in banking and has had a range of commercial experiences both in Australia and overseas, including six years in Latin America where, as an equities analyst, she covered emerging markets during the mid-1990s.

In Australia, Ann has worked in corporate finance and middle market advisory roles with accounting firms KPMG and HLB Mann Judd in the early 2000s before moving into Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer roles with organisations including the Sydney Chamber of Commerce. In recent years Ann has developed a strong interest in the not-for-profit and education sectors. Ann worked as General Manager of St John’s College (within the University of Sydney) from 2009-10 with responsibility for the financial and commercial management of the College. In 2011, Ann was appointed to the Mosman Council’s Development Assessment Panel.

Ann is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders.

Cherie is the CEO and Executive Director of Revelian where she is responsible for the strategic and operational direction of the business. Here she delivers global solutions that utilise advancements in both technology and psychology, while optimising the individual potential of her team. Cherie joined Revelian (then Onetest) in 2003 as an intern, progressing to Head of Psychology in 2005, then became the CEO in 2015. During this tenure Cherie also managed the sales and marketing teams, client and technical services divisions, while holding not for profit Non-Executive Board positions after hours.

Cherie was recognised as the 2016 AIM Regional, State and National Leader/Manager of the Year in the Leadership Excellence Awards, and was also a QLD finalist in the 2015 Telstra Business Women’s Awards. Cherie is a registered Organisational Psychologist and Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Cherie understands people and how to motivate their behaviour to deliver successful business outcomes. She is a strategic thinker and an authentic, passionate leader. She values effective communication, credibility and the delivery of quality, commercial outcomes. She regularly presents at conferences, contributes to the media and guest lectures at a number of leading universities. She is also a wife and proud mum of two who loves to share a glass of wine with her girlfriends.

Diana De Hulsters has over 25 years of international experience in commercial and not for profit organisations. She has expertise in association management and was previously National Executive Officer at the Australian Organics Recycling Association Limited.

Diana commenced her career in Belgium in the international travel industry, specialising in travel to Australia and New Zealand. She moved to Adelaide in 2002 and after several international sales positions, including with AccorHotels, she side-stepped into association management for organisations such as the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Simulation Australasia and the Royal Institution of Australia.

Diana graduated with an MBA from the AIM Business School in 2014. She has completed the Company Directors Course and holds GAICD level membership at the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She also holds membership of the Australasian and American Societies of Association Executives (AuSAE and ASAE). Diana is proud to have achieved Chartered Manager status as one of the first 100 people in Australia to do so.

Gerard is a long-term member of IML and has many years of boardroom experience with appointments in the NFP sector and with privately held unlisted companies.

As a company director, Gerard has a keen interest in corporate governance and risk management, and has an extensive professional background in information and communications technology (ICT) and digital strategy development, transforming his client’s business operations into industry leaders.

He also has over 25 years of corporate business management experience within the manufacturing (Pacific Dunlop, ADI, Azon, Austrim, and ITW), ICT (Asta Solutions and Mullins Advisory) and building and construction industries (Master Menders, Eureka Rise, Nuval). Gerard is an experienced project manager in the ICT and construction industries.

Complimenting this experience, Gerard has maintained professional qualifications including completing:

1. The AICD Company Directors course
2. An MBA at Latrobe University
3. Graduate Diploma in Business Management (Monash)
4. Graduate Diploma in Building and Construction (MBAV) and
5. The IML Chartered Manager certification.

Gerard is a Fellow of the AICD and IML, and is married and has three boys.

John Labou has over 30 years of international experience across numerous industries, having spent over 20 years primarily as an independent technology consultant and board adviser working in Canada, the U.S, New Zealand and Australia.

Prior to his current role as head of technology for New Zealand’s largest wine producer, he held senior executive roles in both New Zealand and Australian Government agencies, most recently with the New Zealand Police where he developed a comprehensive technology and multi-channel digital strategy.

John is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. He is also Senior member of the Australian Computer Society and a Charter Member of IT Professionals New Zealand.

Mike Zissler is the Chief Executive of the Australian Property Institute having been in that role since October 2014. Prior appointments include the Chief Executive Officer of Lifeline Canberra, the Commander of the Northern Territory Emergency Intervention and the Chief Executive Officer of a large ACT Government Department. He has extensive public sector experience having been in senior roles with a number of State and Territory Government agencies.

Mike has a British Army background and trained as a Paramedic/Registered Nurse before specialising in Paediatrics in the NHS. Arriving is Australia in 1988 Mike has undertaken a Bachelor’s degree in Health Administration and a Masters of Business Administration and has specialised in organisational development and change often working with organisations undergoing governance, constitutional and financial crisis.

Mike is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management.

Stephanie is an experienced senior marketer, working with business leaders nationally to create tailored and integrated marketing strategies aligned to business objectives.

With an established background in marketing, communications and branding Stephanie’s experience has been varied from working in a small start-up to national law firm Minter Ellison and global firm PwC. Currently at PwC Stephanie operates in a national role acting as an advisor to senior leaders across the business on all matters of marketing. She also acts as an Executive Coach on personal brand to high performing firm Partners.

Stephanie is a member of the Institute and has been involved with IML for a number of years, most recently serving on the Institute of Managers and Leaders Emerging Leaders Advisory Board.

Chris has over 20 years’ experience in the restructuring and advisory sector, across a wide variety of industries. In recent times, Chris’ primary roles have been in advising on or managing, or reporting on complex situations with multiple stakeholders, particularly in the Mining, Property, Infrastructure and Private Public Partnership (PPP) sector, with clients ranging from domestic and offshore banks, hedge funds, state governments and private companies.

Rob Soros is a management consultant with several years of experience working with multinationals, corporates, government and social enterprises in developing business strategy, evaluating social impact and addressing strategic risks.

With a background in crisis management and strategic communication across a diverse range of sectors, Rob has held various leadership roles with regular advisory services to CEOs, Senior Directors and Directors. With interests in social enterprises, he is a strong proponent of social entrepreneurship and ethical leadership.

Rob is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders, having most recently served as Chair on the Emerging Leaders Advisory Board during the final phases of AIM Group’s amalgamation and subsequent spin-off of its education and training business. He is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School.