Board and governance

Beacon is guided by an executive committee of voluntary Board members who oversee our policy, direction and governance. Members are elected to the Board following nomination. The governance of Beacon is further supported by the Investment and Audit Committees. Beacon Board of Directors
Bill Lawson - Chairman Bill Lawson is the Chairman and founding Director of the Beacon Foundation. He is a Professional Engineer and a Principal of Sinclair Knight Merz where he holds responsibilities for the company’s global Corporate Social Responsibility agenda as well as SKM’s Indigenous initiatives within Australia. In 2003 Bill was awarded Australian Professional Engineer of the Year for services to both engineering and young Australians. In 2006 he was likewise made a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2007 named in Boss Magazine as one of Australia’s ‘True Leaders’. Since founding Beacon in 1988 – 1993, Bill has remained passionate about Beacon helping all young Australians to lead successful and meaningful lives.
David F Jones David Jones joined CHAMP in 2002. He has spent the last 15 years in the private equity industry, and was previously in management consulting, investment banking and general management. David began his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company in Australia and New Zealand. He left McKinsey to take the role of General Manager of Butterfields Cheese Factors, of the King Island Dairies group. Since 1994 David has worked in the private equity business in Australia and the USA. He spent four years with Macquarie Direct Investment in Sydney and one year at BancBoston Capital in Boston. In 1999 he founded and led the development of UBS Capital’s Australian and New Zealand business. David holds a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours) from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He is currently a Director of Centric Wealth Limited, Global Sources Limited (NASDAQ) and the Beacon Foundation, and in 2007 he was Chairman of the Australian Venture Capital Association Limited (AVCAL).
Peter Kirby Peter Kirby is a director of the Beacon Foundation, Macquarie Group and Orica. He was previously Chairman of Medibank Private and a director of the Business Council of Australia. He received the Centenary Medal in 2003 for services to business. Peter was the Managing Director of CSR from 1998 to 2003. He transformed CSR into one of the world’s top ten building materials groups and then demerged the Rinker Group out of CSR. Prior to that, Peter was with ICI for 25 years in a variety of international roles, including Chairman/CEO of ICI Paints responsible for the largest coatings business worldwide.
Mark Cubit Mark Cubit is Melbourne based. After earning a Bachelor of Economics at Monash University he found himself in Japan promoting Australia as a tourist destination for the Australian Tourist Commission and then as an investment destination with Mcintosh Securities Limited (now Merrill Lynch Equities Australia). In 1991 Mark continued this latter role in London before returning to Australia in 1994. Figuring you can only do the same thing for so long, Mark concluded his time at Merrill Lynch in 2003 as Managing Director in charge of Institutional Equity Sales to Melbourne and Asian based clients. After leaving the finance industry Mark has divided his time between managing equity portfolios and contributing to the not-for-profit sector. The latter has been in a voluntary role (three years with The Smith Family in fund raising and managing the Victorian Toy and Hamper Appeal), philanthropic role (Trustee of Planet Wheeler Foundation and Cubit Family Foundation), advisory role to a number of Australian and offshore based organisations and finally as a board member of The Beacon Foundation and Good Beginnings Australia.
Owen Stacy Owen Stacy has been working as a Civil Engineer since 1967, interspersed with two periods of fulltime study. Mr Stacy worked for BHP Group for a decade before joining SKM in early 1989. In the twenty years he has been with SKM he has undertaken a wide variety of work roles in different markets and interacted with a range of clients. In recent years Mr Stacy has held senior project management and project director roles on major resource projects. This has allowed him, amongst other things, to get involved in indigenous employment initiatives of BHP Billiton and SKM. Mr Stacy also participates in SKM’s Community Service Responsibility Committee, which provides the corporate guidance on the company’s involvement in community aid, charities, disaster relief and volunteering. Mr Stacy lives in Perth and is married with three grown up daughters.
Heather Barton Heather Barton brings 25 years experience as a senior executive in the not-for-profit sector to the Beacon Board. Following an early administrative career at GM Holden’s, Heather’s roles have ranged across a number of interests with the common theme of helping young people reach their potential. She spent eleven years as the Registrar at Methodist Ladies’ College (Kew, Melbourne), two years as CEO at Girl Guides Victoria, and more recently completed seven years at The Smith Family, first as the Victorian General Manager and later as the National Manager VIEW Clubs of Australia. Heather currently consults to non-profit organisations in the areas of governance, business strategy and change management. Heather is involved in a range of community activities. After working for 25 years as a volunteer Girl Guide leader and trainer, Heather served a five year term as the State Commissioner for Girl Guides Victoria, leading the organisation through a far-reaching change process at both state and national levels. Her non-profit board memberships have included Monash University Alumni, Parenting Research Centre, School of St Jude (Tanzania) and the Rotary Club of Melbourne.
Scott Harris - CEO Scott came to Beacon from a successful career in sales and management in Tasmania and Victoria as well as involvement in running other small businesses. Together with his wife Jo, Scott is the Tasmanian agent for several national and overseas products. In his role at Beacon Scott has been instrumental in taking Beacon from a Tasmanian only organisation to now having a presence in over 100 communities across Australia in all states and both territories. In July 2007 Scott was awarded a scholarship for excellence in social venture, leadership and management to attend Harvard Business School. Outside of work Scott has spent 20 years playing Australian Rules football where he is his club’s games record holder, former coach and president. He is married to wife Jo and has two young sons Samuel and Luke.

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Board and governance

Beacon Board of Directors