MVGWTA is governed by a Board comprising six Directors and a Chair.
Chair
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Chair
David is an experienced professional company director and governance consultant. He is currently Chairman of Tyre Stewardship Australia, Chairman of Office Brands, Director of Unity Housing and Director of VUCA Pty Ltd.
David has over 25 years’ experience in commercial business management and over 10 years of directorship experience. He is a strategic thinker and communicator and brings extensive experience in governance, strategy and risk.
Director
Owner and CEO at Fox Creek Wines. Operations professional with over 20 years of general management and executive director experience in the Wine and Spirits Industry.
Combined with an MBA and tertiary background in agribusiness, Ben has strong skills in the areas of operations management, supply chain, financial management, commercial negotiation and procurement, customer service, organisational behaviour and strategy, people and productivity, lean management, quality/safety/environment integration and technical innovation / R&D.
With a commitment to effective commercial management, Ben believes in emphasising strong communication to drive interpersonal relationships across all levels. His style focusses on empowering employees, colleagues and industry members at all levels to ensure ownership, cross fertilisation of ideas and a sense of value; in turn building collaborative relationships.
Director
David is an Executive Director at Bentleys SA, leading the Business Advancement, Audit and Assurance teams and has 17 years’ experience working with many not-for-profits in South Australia as a financial accounting, audit and risk management provider. David's experience has extended to the wine and tourism sectors in varying capacities, including advisory support of the SAWIA and Bentleys Annual SA Wine Industry Snapshot.
Director
Karen is currently the Director of Brand and Member Engagement at Super SA. Karen has extensive experience in executive roles as the former CEO of Brand South Australia, and has recently led a stakeholder engagement project for the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA).
Karen is an experienced board and committee contributor across a number of industries including wine tourism, sport, media communications and higher education.
The areas of expertise that Karen brings to the MVGWTA Board include brand marketing and strategic communication, stakeholder engagement and strategic planning.
Director
Kate Hardy is a lawyer admitted in South Australia and in the states of New York and California in the United States. She is Senior Legal Counsel at Accolade Wines, in-house counsel to The Australian Wine Research Institute, consults to the San Francisco firm of Strike Kerr & Johns Alcoholic Beverage Law, and operates a small practice advising clients about legal and business operations connected to the alcohol industry. She was a partner with the California law firm of Strike & Techel (precursor to Strike Kerr & Johns) for five years before coming home to Adelaide at the end of 2019, and a senior associate with the beverage alcohol group in the law firm of Nixon Peabody in New York and San Francisco for six years before that.
Kate spent three years in Paris, France as Unit Manager for the Law & Economy Commission of the International Wine Organisation (OIV), and was a solicitor at Mellor Olsson in Adelaide when first starting her career. She speaks fluent French and Italian, is a qualified French interpreter, and is a sixth generation member of the Australian wine industry through the Hardy family.
Director
Larry is a trained viticulturist (MSc from Cornell) and marketer (PhD from Ohio State), who has spent the last 30 years working with the wine industry and a range of other major companies through the Ehrenberg Bass Institute of Marketing Science at UniSA. Larry's strengths are in strategic and people management through his work mainly at UniSA alongside his skills as a marketer. Larry has consulted for a number of wine companies here in Australia and overseas in strategy and wine marketing.
Director
Steven is currently General Manager at McLaren Vale winery, Kay Brothers. His experience in the South Australian wine industry allows him to understand the wine market and the pressures faced by the McLaren Vale entities. Steven has experience in management positions across a wide range of industries and has an extensive background in managing strategic development, governance and risk management.
