LFIA BOARD MEMBERS

Vanessa is an experienced strategist, program manager and academic. She is motivated by the imperative for impact and transformative change towards a resilient, just and prosperous future. Formally trained in urban geography, urban design and project management, and well-versed in landscape architecture, Vanessa fuses her trans-disciplinary knowledge for civic impact.

Working for over 20 years at the intersection of strategy, governance and advocacy, she is renowned for bringing together diverse and dynamic people, with curiosity and empathy. Vanessa has worked across the public, private and for-purpose sectors – leading civic infrastructure projects, delivering public space activations, teaching as a sessional academic and mentoring emerging leaders.

Neil has over 20 years’ experience working in property development, project management and delivery across various large scale mixed use projects in Australia, the Middle East and the UK. Currently the Project Director, Lendlease Urban Regeneration, Neil directs the $3.4b Darling Harbour Regeneration project including a 5 star Sofitel hotel, 1500 residential apartments, a 26,000sqm commercial building, accommodation for over 1500 students, a landmark community building and multiple revitalised public spaces.Neil is a passionate advocate for the evolution of sustainable cities, mixing people focussed design that provide the canvas for socially sustainable diverse places to prosper into the future.

Peri is a highly motivated property specialist experienced in leading and managing multi-discipline teams for the development, asset and investment management of retail properties on a ‘pure-play’ basis as well as within high quality major mixed-use developments. Most recently he was the Executive General Manager of Retail at Frasers Property Australia where he led the team responsible for the Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre, the first retail development in the world to attempt Living Building Certification.

With degrees in Architecture and Construction Project Management, Louise has over 16 years’ experience within the built environment working in architectural practice, government agencies, main contractors, consultancies, and direct for clients in Australia and the UK. She is also a Member of the LFIA Board.

The majority of her experience has been in the Tertiary Education sector which has allowed her to be involved in some significant and exciting projects, with considerable complexities around stakeholder engagement, governance structures, research and technology integration, working in occupied sites, and the implementation of sustainability initiatives.

Louise is passionate about the challenge of taking an idea or concept and being able to convert it into a real project. Louise looks forward to the day when the best sustainable practice becomes the norm through the design and construction process rather than a specialist area of interest.

Dan is a Business Development Director at the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Prior to joining ARENA in 2013, Dan worked in corporate finance in Australia and New York with Macquarie and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Dan has more than 14 years experience in the clean energy sector and completed the Centre of Sustainability Leadership course in 2009 and the AICD Company Directors course in 2017.

Kate has over 17 years’ experience working at Lendlease in property development across Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.

Specialising in large scale mixed use urban regeneration projects with comprehensive sustainability, innovation and placemaking deliverables.

Kate has previously held roles in finance and sustainability and in her role as Development Director at Lendlease enjoys collaborating with and leading teams of diverse experience and expertise, utilising and promoting a values-based approach to leadership.

Katie provides a unique approach to sustainability by thoroughly analysing the options available for each project she works on, ensuring innovative design solutions and achieving the best outcome within feasible budget and time constraints. As National Director of WSP’s Sustainability team, Katie provides leadership to the national team and her clients based on her broad range of experience.
With an educational background in environmental science and sustainable design and professional experience in environmental health and sustainability consulting, Katie is passionate about implementing leading environmental design in new and renovated developments.
Her previous experience in Local Government also gives her valuable expertise in planning regulations, legislative requirements and the relevant Standards, Codes and Guidelines to sustainable design.
Katie’s extensive experience in sustainable design has led to a thorough understanding of the various options available for passive design and resource efficiency from an individual dwelling to precinct scale applications. Her exposure to high density mixed use precincts include the next generation of development in Sydney, namely Central Park, Discovery Point, Ivanhoe and Edmondson Park. These developments posed significant challenges, and Katie worked tirelessly and successfully to deliver on the multiple voluntary and regulatory requirements (e.g. Green Star, Section J of the NCC and SEPP/DCP requirements), precinct infrastructure solutions (e.g. precinct-wide central energy and recycled water treatment plant solutions) and client aspirations in a multi-disciplinary environment.

Robert has been involved in the legal aspects of land development for over 30 years, and has worked with both government and private sector clients across a broad range of environmental issues, such as planning law, development levies, contaminated land issues, biodiversity conservation, pollution, Indigenous and European heritage and environmental protection licensing.

He has negotiated and drafted numerous voluntary planning agreements for private clients and the Minister for Planning, encompassing the provision of State infrastructure and biodiversity and riparian conservation for large residential and industrial subdivisions in Sydney and around NSW.

Robert also has experience drafting project cooperation agreements, project delivery agreements, & joint venture agreements for a range of large land development projects around the state. He has managed the divestiture of contaminated properties Australia-wide for international corporate groups.

Scott is an experienced sustainability consultant and communications expert and has spent the last 10 years as Partner and Head of Strategy of social and environmental impact agency Republic of Everyone. Prior to that, he spent over a decade of working in communications across the UK and Europe.

He has extensive experience developing and embedding sustainability strategies into businesses across Australia, including leading real estate companies. Scott’s passionate about inspiring businesses and people to embrace a sustainable future, and believes the built environment plays an important role in showcasing what’s possible.

Scott is a strategic thinker and trained in GRI, SROI and Shared Value. He’s highly skilled at making sense of complexity and communicating social and environmental issues simply and effectively.