BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rob Coombe is Chair of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and a member of the AIEF Investment Committee.  He has been an AIEF Director since 2008.

Rob is Chairman of Colonial First State (previously Executive Chairman 2021-2024), a leading Australian superannuation and wealth management business owned by KKR and CBA.  In addition, he is Chairman of Generation Development Group (previously Executive Chair 2017-2020) an ASX listed financial services company which owns Generation Life, Lonsec and Evidentia.

Rob is also Chair of Tibra Capital, Expert360 and on the Advisory Board of Five V Capital, a leading Growth orientated Private Equity firm.

Between 2013 and 2019, Rob was CEO (2013-2017) then Chairman of Craveable Brands, the largest Australian owned Quick Service Restaurant business.

Rob has over 40 years’ corporate experience in both Australia and Asia, primarily in financial services, including as the CEO of BT Financial Group, and Group Executive for Westpac’s Retail and Business Bank.

In 2011 Rob was awarded the prestigious UTS Alumni of the Year for Excellence and in 2021 he was appointed as a Fellow of the University.

Carlie Bender is a Director of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and an AIEF Alum.

Carlie is a proud Gumbaynggirr woman from Bowraville on the NSW mid-north coast and is a Legal Counsel at SBS.  She graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2014 with a combined Bachelor of Law and Arts (Criminology) degree and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW in 2015.  She has been an AIEF Director since 2014.

Carlie has a broad range of commercial law and governance experience, has been a guest lecturer at The University of Melbourne, Macquarie University and UTS, and also provides pro bono advice to Arts Law clients.

Carlie was part of the SBS team that won LawyersWeekly Corporate Counsel Award for Sport and Entertainment team of the year in 2023 and 2021, and the Association of Corporate Counsel award for In-House Legal Team of the Year in 2018.

Carlie has previously worked at AIEF, Allens, and the UNSW Faculty of Law. In 2024, Carlie completed The Observership Program, including training from AICD and The Ethics Centre, and was an observer on the Detour House board.

A past recipient of an AIEF Scholarship, Carlie completed her secondary education at St Vincent’s College, Potts Point.

Greg Cooper is a Director of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and Chair of AIEF’s Investment Committee. He has been an AIEF Director since 2015.

Greg is Chairman of Avanteos Investments Limited (part of the Colonial First State Group) and Chairman of Perpetual Limited. Greg is also Chair of Edstart and Calvary Health Care.   He is a Director of Australian Payments Plus Ltd (AP+) and its subsidiaries/related entities and Tracks Media Pty Ltd.  In addition, Greg is an independent member of the Queensland Investment Corporation’s Private Equity Investment Committee.

Until December 2018 he was Chief Executive Officer of Schroder Investment Management Australia Limited, a position he held since September 2006, with responsibility for Schroders Institutional Business Globally.  Greg has more than 30 years of global investment industry experience in the UK, Asia and Australia with a deep understanding of international funds management.  Previously, he acted as a non-executive Director to the Financial Services Council and held the position of Chairman from 2014 to 2016.

Emily Hill is a Director of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.

Emily is a proud Dunghutti and Yuin woman from the coastal regions of NSW.  She is currently Assistant Secretary, AUKUS and Partnerships Branch at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  She has been an AIEF Director since 2019.

Emily has held various roles in Government including at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and in the Office of the Foreign Minister.

Emily completed her secondary education at St Catherine’s School, Sydney, an AIEF Partner School.

Helen McCabe is a Director of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.

Helen is the Founder and Managing Director of Future Women.  She has been an AIEF Director since 2015.  Helen was formerly the Digital Content Director at Nine Entertainment Co and the editor-in-chief of The Australian Women’s Weekly which she joined after 12 years working in newspapers including as the Deputy Editor of The Sunday Telegraph and Night Editor of The Australian.

Helen began her career in Adelaide television before moving to Canberra Press Gallery with the Seven Network.

Michelle Penfold is a Co-Founder and Director of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.

As a Founder and Director of AIEF, Michelle is responsible for all programs, stakeholder engagement, major partners, advocates, fundraising, communications, media, marketing and events.

Michelle is a UTS Ambassador, Australian Alumni Network and a former CEO (1995-2003) of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AustCham), the largest Australian business organisation outside of Australia.

Michelle began her career in the hospitality industry and spent eight years working in hospitality management in Sydney, London and Hong Kong.

Andrew Penfold is the Executive Director of AIEF and a member of the AIEF Investment Committee.

Andrew also sits on the National Apology Foundation for Indigenous Australians (NAFIA) Board.  In 2014 Andrew was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the Indigenous community.

A former finance lawyer and investment banker with 20 years’ experience working in leading international firms in Sydney, London and Hong Kong, Andrew left the business world in 2004 and spent five years working on a full-time, voluntary basis for a range of non-profit and charitable organisations, before establishing AIEF in 2008.

Andrew participated in the Indigenous Australia stream of the Australia 2020 Summit in Canberra in April 2008 and received a Leadership Award from the Prime Minister at the Australian Davos Connection in 2008. He was also one of the 2009 True Leaders in the annual Australian Financial Review Boss Magazine award, was a finalist for Australian of the Year in 2010 and was nominated by The Australian for its Australian of the Year award in 2012.

In 2013 Andrew received the inaugural NSW Human Rights Award, assuming the role of NSW Human Rights Ambassador, and an Order of Merit from the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the highest award issued by the organisation. In the same year he received the 2013 Community Alumni Award and the 2013 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence from the University of Technology, Sydney. As the winner of the 2013 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence, Andrew became a member of the UTS Luminaries, a select group of UTS graduates with a sustained record of outstanding achievements.