Executive Board

Submitted by mifa on Wed, 12/02/2009 - 15:19

	President: Kenneth Meissner [BALaw MBA] Ken is a small business proprietor in the retail furniture industry and is an advocate for the special interests of people with a mental illness. Ken’s daughter Joanne was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1995. After her death in 2000 Ken became a member of MIFQ and was elected to the executive board. He has been president of MIFQ since September 2006. Ken also served as president of the Queensland Division of the Royal Commonwealth Society of Australia for three years and as president of The Brisbane Eisteddfod for 11 years.

	Vice president: Gwen McIlroy [B Com BA Grad Cert WH&S Law & Policy] Gwen is an experienced human resources and industrial relations practitioner with more than 20 years experience in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Until recently, Gwen held the position of State Director Human Resources with RSPCA Queensland and now operates her own consultancy specialising in the not-for-profit sector. Gwen has postgraduate qualifications in Workplace Health and Safety Law and Policy. From 2000 to 2003, she was chair of the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Management Committee. Gwen has a brother living with schizophrenia.

	Treasurer: Cameron Smith [BCom Grad Dip Adv Acc ACA] Cameron is an executive director in Ernst & Young’s Assurance and Advisory practice in Brisbane. He has more than13 years audit experience including five years working for Ernst & Young in London. Cameron has worked with many large corporate and fast growing entrepreneurial clients, particularly in the travel, transportation, tourism and technology sectors.

	Secretary Charles Perry [Bsc] Charles is a computer programmer with the Australian Taxation Office and has been an employee of the ATO for 20 years. Charles has the neurological condition epilepsy and although he has not had a seizure in 26 years, it is a lifelong condition. He was on the board of the Epilepsy Association of Queensland in the early 1990s. Charles also has some experience as a carer, having supported his elderly mother until she died in 2006.

Executive Board:

	Phil Abernethy [BE (Chem) (Hons) MBA] is the founder and managing director of an environmental product and training company. His main experience has been in operational management in the sugar industry. Phil has also worked with community organisations; as president of a junior soccer club, secretary of the Tweed River advisory group and secretary of a primary school parents and citizens association.

	Frances Dark [MBBS FRANZCP] has been a psychiatrist for the past 18 years. She is the current Director of Rehabilitation Services at the Princes Alexandra Hospital and is responsible for the Mobile Intensive Support Team, the Early Psychosis Team and the state wide service for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Frances is also responsible for the development and implementation of the Clinical Care Unit. Frances has previously served as a Board member of Open Minds.

	John Hunting has worked as a social worker in the mental health sector for 18 years. While working for the Gold Coast Integrated Mental Health Service, John developed the family psycho-education program and helped implement the early psychosis program. John was the mental health representative on the steering committee for the development of MIFQ’s Harmony Support Service on the Gold Coast and a member of the Project 300 steering committee. He was a member of the MIFQ executive board for two years during 2005 and 2006, and was president of the MIFQ Gold Coast branch for four years.

	Anthony Martin [Associate Diploma Management] Tony began his career as an electrical technician for the Department of Civil Aviation and, after undertaking a variety of management roles, became owner-operator of a computer business before he retired in 1995. Tony has been a member of MIFQ’s Gold Coast branch committee for four years and a member of the MIFQ executive board for two years. He has also been involved with Rotary in Queensland and New South Wales, and has been vice-president of the Gold Coast Italo Australian Club, and senior director of the Gold Coast Albert Soccer Federation. Tony is currently the carer representative on the State Wide Mental Health Committee.

	Trish Nolan [PhD in Psychology, MAppPsych, Grad Dip Psych, BA] has been the Research Manager at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR) for the past 13 years. In this role Trish has supported the QCMHR’s work toward discovering the genetic and environmental causes of mental illnesses, as well as researching better policies and services for affected people and their families. Prior to this, Trish has worked in the field of mental health, as a private practitioner and in the public systems, both in Australia and the United States of America.

	Meta Ransome joined MIFQ in 1996 after her son Michael was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Meta volunteered her time helping to co-ordinate the Schizophrenia Awareness Week art exhibition for seven years from 1997 to 2003. Michael passed away in 2004. In her 12 years as Michael’s carer Meta developed an understanding of mental illness issues that impact on families, including state government policies, the criminal justice system and the plight of people using illicit drugs. This is Meta’s 10th year on the executive board.

	Poul Sletten [LLB Grad Dip health service management] spent a substantial part of his working life as a self-employed pastoralist before working as a prison officer for the New South Wales Department of Corrective Services. Poul has been a volunteer with MIFQ on the Gold Coast for the past 16 years. He has been a member of the Gold Coast branch committee for the last six years and a member of the MIFQ executive board for the past four years.

	Bob Steele [BEcon] has experience in the mental health sector having served on the Stepping Stone Clubhouse Management Committee as a member between 2001 and 2009, and as President between 2005 and 2009. During that time, Bob established new financial processes, introduced new governance policy, wrote successful grant applications and presented at a number of seminars and conferences. Bob has also been a member of the Queensland Alliance State Council and the Disability Services Queensland Partnership Forum. Prior to his involvement in the not-for-profit sector, Bob worked in the banking and finance industry for 33 years.