Board of Advisors

Chris has worked in the IT arena for over 20 years, a major part of his career as a consultant for IT companies and also for his own company.

His passion to become a CIO made him change to an employee in 2003 and spend 4 years in Multiplex to successfully become the CIO in 2007 for the newly owned Brookfield Multiplex. In 2011 he moved into a CIO position at GrainCorp.

Chris is a technical person at heart and no matter whether it is hardware or software, but the ability to communicate that in a practical nature to the business through years of consulting had him passionately wanting to speak about today’s subject.

Roman Coba currently serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at McCain Foods. Mr. Cobra was previously an Independent Industry Consultant, former Vice President-CIO at Loblaw Companies Limited and a Director of IT at Wal-Mart Germany.

Previously, Day progressed rapidly within SYSCO to senior director of Applications and Development. Throughout her career at SYSCO, she has been intimately involved with an in-house developed multimillion dollar ERP project which has allowed SYSCO’s operating companies to increase productivity and efficiency while setting the stage for strategic supply chain initiatives. Prior to SYSCO, Day advanced through the IT organizations of several small companies.

Twila Day received the 2003 Leadership in Technology Award from the Association of Women in Computing. She is a member of Association for Women in Computing, Women in Technology Industries, and Women in Foodservice Forum. Day holds a BA degree from Our Lady of the Lake University.

John has more than 25 years experience in the financial industry as an IT executive and consultant with extensive expertise on IT strategy, management, business alignment, and transformation. In his last three positions John successfully built and transformed several large IT organizations: established the IT strategy and information management at Wachovia, built GMAC's IT organization following the EDS spin from GM, and strategically re-positioned Region Financial Corp’s IT function.

In the fall of 2007 John returned to the business world from a 7-month sabbatical where he completed a 7,500 mile sailing expedition through the Panama Canal to the coast of Maine. Following this extraordinary adventure, John spent the winter of 2007 working on sourcing strategies for two large US companies, and began his current role as the global CIO for Western Union in March, 2008. With more than 400,000 locations in over 200 countries, Western Union is truly one of the world's most global companies.

John is a graduate from the Education University of Wisconsin, the University of Virginia and the Virginia Commonwealth University - School of Business.

Louis V. Ehrlich is president and CIO of Information Technology for Chevron Corporation. In this capacity, he is responsible for setting and achieving Chevron’s IT strategy and providing information technology services worldwide. Chevron Information Technology is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with locations across the globe.

A native of Pascagoula, Mississippi, Ehrlich earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1981, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Houston Baptist University in 1995.

Ehrlich served Chevron in a variety of positions, including: manager of Central Information Services for the Upstream Technology Company, manager of Organization Renewal for the Upstream Technology Company, member of the Corporation’s IT Vision Team, responsible for Chevron’s Global Information Link and Upstream Product and Service Manager for Chevron Information Technology Company.

In 2000, he was named CIO of Chevron’s Downstream Marketing business. Upon the formation of the ChevronTexaco Corporation in 2001, Ehrlich was named Downstream CIO and GM North America Products Company Information Technology.

Ehrlich was appointed CIO for Global Downstream in 2004, where he focused on enabling Chevron’s strategy to achieve competitive advantage through proactive and strategic information technology investment, while delivering safe, reliable, secure and cost-effective services.

In September 2006, Ehrlich was promoted to VP of Services and Strategy and CIO for Chevron’s Global Downstream operations which include: refining, supply and trading, lubricants, fuels marketing and convenience store retail operations. In that role, he was instrumental in defining, planning and executing Global Downstream’s long-term strategic vision.

Robyn Elliot is currently the CIO at FOXTEL, Australia's leading subscription television provider and is connected to almost 1.6 million homes on cable and satellite through retail and wholesale distribution. FOXTEL strives to ensure our six million viewers find TV they want to watch every time they switch on their television through delivery of more than 150 channels covering news, sport, general entertainment, movies, documentaries, music and children’s programming. Prior to FOXTEL, Robyn was a principal at IBM, a partner at Accenture, and former CIO at McIntosh Securities. She is a graduate of the University of New South Wales and Deakin University.

Angelo Grasso is the former CIO of Aristocrat, a premium supplier of technologies and services to the international gaming industry. Fromerlly, Grasso was a Project Director at Macquarie Bank, Programme Director at Telstra, Main Board Director & IT Director at Gehe UK, Head of Global Business Systems at British American Tobacco Plc, Head of IT at British American Tobacco - Malaysia, IT Director at Rothmans - Malaysia, Associate Director at Coopers & Lybrand / PwC. Grasso is a graduate of Macquarie University and Charles Sturt University.

Gavin is the General Manager, IT for Grenda corporation. Grenda has two primary business divisions, Volgren Australia and Grenda Transit Management. (www.grenda.com.au). Volgren Australia is the largest bus manufacturer in Australia and has manufacturing facilities in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane and exports to Asia and the Middle East, Volgren’s unique designs and commitment to quality produces a premium product to exacting standards recognised both nationally and internationally. Prior to Grenda Gavin was the Information Systems Manager for IVECO, responsible for a manufacturing site in Melbourne and sales/marketing offices throughout the SE Asia region. Gavin has also held Global and Asia Pacific roles with Mayne Pharmaceuticals (Formally Faulding Pharmaceuticals), responsible for manufacturing plants in Australia, Puerto Rico and Ireland with sales and distribution offices in another 30 offices spread around the globe.

Recognized by International Who’s Who of professionals in 2001 for achievements in management Gavin started his career in the Royal Australian Navy and is a qualified Electrician and Diesel fitter, he saw active service during the first Gulf War and has also held senior IT roles in Mining and Systems Integration organizations.

Irene Jeremic is the President and CEO of The Tableau Inc., an international company specializing in B2B market solutions that provide consumer goods businesses with benefits of cutting–edge online technologies. Ms. Jeremic moved to The Tableau Inc. after completing a full-blown makeover for another international company, Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc, now operating in Canada, US and Asia. As a senior CXO executive, Ms. Jeremic served Stork Craft for the past five years, helping the company through international re-positioning and brand acquisition of Ragazzi, Status and Canwood.

For her work on the company’s business makeover, Ms. Jeremic has been recognized with Dell’s Top 10 Award (New Business Architecture and eCommerce Solutions); CIO 100 Honoree Award (1st Internet Sales Channel for Wal-Mart Canada and the 1st Internet Sales Channel for Stork Craft Canada); Top 40 Under 40 Award (Achievements in Business), Woman of Worth Award (Business and Prosperity); for her work on the company’s renaissance, she has also become Stork Craft’s 1st Honoree.

She mentors YWiB’s young women in business and featured in YWCA’s Women of Distinction ceremony. Ms. Jeremic holds a B.Sc. (Comp. Sci) degree from Simon Fraser University, a MBA from Athabasca University and is currently completing a Master of Laws (LLM) degree at Osgoode Hall, York University, with a focus on corporate law. She continues her philanthropic journey by supporting leaders of tomorrow through Tindale Foundation, an affiliate of The Tableau Inc.

Chris joined Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) as CIO, AP in 2007. He is a Senior IT Executive with extensive experience managing business process improvement, IT Strategy implementation and management of distributed teams of highly technical specialists. Johnson's industry experience includes Direct Marketing, Advertising, Publishing (Online), Telecommunications and Multi-disciplinary Engineering Consulting.

Previously as Chief Information Officer at the State Rail Authority of New South Wales, Carsten actively contributed to the executive management team, in particular, successfully introducing far-reaching change through strategic planning and management for their use of IT. Carsten then joined the ACTEW Corporation (now ActewAGL) as General Manager, Business Systems in October 1999. Since then he has made significant strategic and structural changes to the division resulting in a significant decrease in outstanding ICT support calls, an increased number of services offered and reduced ICT costs to the corporation. Carsten added the responsibility for ActewAGL’s Commercial Development to his role in January 2004 with specific focus on sustainable energy development as well as mergers and acquisitions. At the same time ActewAGL signed a management services agreement with TransACT (Triple Play Telecommunications Carrier). Since that time Carsten has had dual responsibility for ActewAGL’s and TransACT’s ICT and Commercial Development.

Carsten left ActewAGL in 2008 and has since joined the Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) as its CIO responsible for driving through a significant transformational programme to facilitate the Agency reaching its vision of being the world’s best converged regulator.

Royce Michael Lee is the Chief Information Officer for BVN Architecture, an awarding-winning Australian national architecture practice. Royce is responsible for the strategic development, management, and integration of information and design technology, and is working to mature IT governance and service management practices through the adoption of COBIT and ITIL frameworks. He is spearheading IT transformation efforts through IT organisation restructure, project portfolio management, stakeholder engagement, resource management, and driving business process improvement.

Royce has over 17 years of experience in technology management and has completed a Bachelor of Built Environment (Architectural Studies) from QUT, and a Master of Business and Technology from AGSM. He is also a Board Member and Secretary of Bicycle NSW, a community based not-for-profit organisation of over 12,000 members, whose purpose is 'creating a better environment for cycling'.

Ralph Loura is Vice President and CIO at The Clorox Company and is responsible for the company's worldwide use of information technology. In his role, Mr. Loura leads the global IT organization and directs the company's strategic technology initiatives in support of Clorox' goal of making everyday life better, every day. Prior to joining Clorox Mr. Loura served as SVP and CIO for Medicis, VP and CIO for Symbol Technologies and held IT leadership positions at Cisco Systems, Lucent Technologies and AT&T.

Mr. Loura received a master's degree in computer science from Northwestern University and a bachelor's in computer science-mathematics from Saint Joseph's College.

The Clorox Company is a leading manufacturer and marketer of consumer products. Clorox markets some of consumers' most trusted and recognized brand names, including its namesake bleach and cleaning products; Green Works® homecare products, Armor All® and STP® auto-care products; Fresh Step® and Scoop Away® cat litters; Kingsford® and Match Light® charcoals; Hidden Valley® and K C Masterpiece® dressings and sauces; Brita® Water Filtration systems; Glad® bags, wraps and containers; and Burt's Bees® natural personal care products. With about 8,300 employees worldwide, the company manufactures products in more than two dozen countries and markets them in more than 100 countries. Clorox trades on the NYSE under the symbol "CLX."

Gerry McCartney is the VP of Technology and CIO for Purdue University. He was previously associate dean and CIO of the Wharton School for 11 years.

Gerry is currently interested in the commercial opportunities for creating new markets in quantitative research. Many companies especially in the financial services industry are storing large amounts of business data but few are making efforts to use this data to drive decision-making. Gerry believes that there are large scale opportunities for extracting value from this historical data and is currently looking for partners among companies to pursue this project. He is also investigating the declining role of the general purpose computing facility as a cost center, and the changing relationship between education and the use of technology.

Gerry is a frequent speaker at industry and education events on topics surrounding the strategic use of technology and future trends in technology. He holds a Ph.D from Purdue University and two Diplomas from the Graduate School of Engineering at Trinity College Dublin.

A. Murat Mendi is currently CIO of Ulkar Holding A.S parent company of Nobel Pharmaceuticals, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Turkey. The company's product portfolio comprises of Nobel self-developed / manufactured pharmaceuticals, in-licensed pharmaceuticals and OTC products. Nobel is also one of the main exporters of pharmaceuticals in Turkey.

Mr. Mendi started his career in 1997 as a programmer at California State University, Los Angeles. He worked on several projects preparing tools similar to WebCT and Blackboard helping faculty deliver classes online. After 5 years he joined ePartners as a solution developer and became a Sharepoint and .NET expert delivering custom solutions.

Finally, Mr. Mendi joined Ulkar Holding in 2006, parent company of Nobel Pharmaceuticals, as Deputy General Manager Information Technology. He oversaw the implementation of SAP ERP systems for 17 holding companies in less than 18 months. Within the past several years he initiated projects to improve IT services within the company including an enhanced warehouse automation system, a SalesForce CRM system, a pharmaceutical product tracking system, and advanced ITIL v3.

Clarendon is one of the largest Residential Project Home Builders in Australia. David took on the CIO role at Clarendon, in a full time capacity, when they separated from Investa Property Group at the beginning of 2009. David joined Investa in April 2002 on a contract basis to review their systems and processes. After managing a successful system upgrade and integration project he joined Investa on a full time basis in November 2003 and oversaw significant IT and System Development initiatives as Investa expanded its operations with funds under management growing from under $1B to $5.5 billion. Since separation form Investa, David has been managing the establishment and development of a stand alone IT organisation for Clarendon as well as implementing many business improvement initiatives.

Prior to joining Investa, David spent 15 years at International Real Estate Services Company, Jones Lang LaSalle. During this period David held several senior roles including Managing Director Business Services where he oversaw significant restructuring, systems development and integration initiatives.

David has a Bachelor of Business Degree, majoring in accounting, an MBA from MGSM and is a CPA.

Jackie is the Chief Information Officer for PepsiCo Asia Pacific Region, based in Sydney. As CIO, Jackie is accountable for creating a strategic vision and plan for the delivery of a significant value proposition across her Region. Her key strengths include acquiring a deep understanding of the businesses she works in, their key drivers and how to leverage business solutions and deliver value/ROI. Key to Jackie’s success is her ability to achieve a high level of business alignment and deliver executional excellence, through multi functional collaborative teams in pursuit of a tangible value proposition to the businesses she works across. She is an active member of the Asia Middle East & Africa IS executive leadership team.

Jackie’s experiences include a C level position in a leading global pharmaceutical company, multiple executive positions in both Information Technology and Operations/Supply Chain functions in the Pharmaceuticals and Chemical Industry as well as Management Consultancy for one of the big 5 in Europe.

Jackie holds an MSc in Mathematics of Modern Control Systems from Loughborough University (UK) and a BSC in Mathematics with Computing from the University of East Anglia (UK). She has attended various Leadership Programmes at the Hong Kong University and in Australia.

Peter is an Information Technology Manager with more than 25 years experience in the successful implementation of IT systems into organisations. As a senior executive, he has been responsible for business planning and the change management of work practices. Peter also has a background in consulting, having developed and implemented IT strategic plans for several organisations and having undertaken general management consulting assignments.

With a Bachelor of Applied Science (Computing) gained from Sydney University of Technology in 1984, Peter’s special fields of competence include strategic and solutions architecture development for Information Systems to meet varying business needs, specialising in cross cultural business process change.

Helen Polatajko has spent more than 30 years in the technology field. Prior to joining CIBC Mellon in January 1998 as the Chief Information Officer, she was CIO at the Mellon Financial subsidiary in Houston, Texas in the U.S. She received her education from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor in Science in Mathematics and Psychology, and graduated from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware. In 1996, she was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in Computing, acknowledging her achievement and contributions to Information Services and Technology. In May 2003, she was featured on the cover of CIO Canada for an article titled "Fusing Business and Technology." Since 2004, Helen has served on the judging panel of the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA).

Mike Skinner is VP and CIO of Eurpac Service, Inc. He also serves on the corporate Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Eurpac is an employee owned team celebrating its 60th year marketing and distributing consumer goods in several categories including grocery, spirits, tobacco, beer, platform games & DVDs, electronics, sports nutrition and health & beauty. Eurpac operates domestically and in Europe, the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia and the Pacific. Mike’s previous responsibilities with Eurpac were in sales and marketing, leading all overseas operations.

Mike is also a Major General in the U.S. Air Force Reserves where he has served as the assistant to the Air Force CIO, Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Secretary of the Air Force’s Operations Group. He is a graduate of The United States Air Force Academy, Harvard University’s Kennedy School, and the Defense Information Resources Management College. Mike is a DoD Certified CIO.

Stephen Warren joined the Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2007 as principal deputy assistant secretary in the Office of IT. Previously, he was the CIO at the Federal Trade Commission, joining in December 2001.

Warren has over 24 years of federal experience. Prior to the FTC, Stephen served for 10 years at the Department of Energy (DOE). His last position at DOE was as the CIO for the Office of Environmental Management, a $6 billion per year program responsible for managing the cleanup of former nuclear weapon production sites. Previous to working at DOE, Warren served in the Air Force where he was involved in a broad range of activities including: research in support of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), support for nuclear treaty monitoring efforts, and service in Korea as a transportation squadron section commander.

Stephen Warren is a 1982 graduate of the University of Michigan, where he received a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering. Stephen received a M.S. in Systems Management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is widely published on subjects involving, nuclear facilities, radioactivity, and related issues. He is accomplished speaker on a range of topics including information security, project management and managing change.

Warren is a recipient of the 2006 Government Information Security Leadership Award (GISLA). He was awarded the 2004 Service to America Social Services Medal, as one of the managers of the FTC’s National Do Not Call registry. He was recognized by Federal Computer week as one of the Federal 100 award winners for 2004. He led the IT team that received the 2004 AFFIRM (Association for Federal information Resources Management) Leadership Award for Innovative Applications and one of five federal 2004 American Council for Technology Intergovernmental Solutions awards. He is a founding member of the CIO Executive Council.

Garry commenced his challenging career in the Information Management and Technology Industry some 23 years ago. His accumulated knowledge and extensive experience spanned over this period of time, has positioned him as a forefront leader in the Industry and is highly recognised and respected by the suppliers as well as his peers in the Industry at large. He has held a number of strategic positions in Multinational Corporations including, General Manager, Information Technology, Telecommunications and e Business for Sony. Under Garry’s strategic direction, Sony continued to utilise technology to clearly differentiate itself in the Asia Pacific Region and on a number of strategic global projects including e Business direction. Over the past six years, Garry has held the Chief Information Officer position at Corporate Express Australia, where he is chartered to create, deploy and synergise the strategic advantage for the organisation through the effective utilisation of appropriate enabling technologies. Garry was also appointed to the Corporate Express Australia Board in 2002.