LEADERSHIP & COUNCIL

B.Ed, M.Ed, D.Ed

Learn more about Toni

BA LLB (Hons) (University of Melbourne)

Diana is a senior partner in the Mergers and Acquisition practice in the Melbourne office of King & Wood Mallesons with over 25 years’ experience as a partner of the firm. Diana is a market expert in mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and corporate governance. Amongst other roles in the firm, Diana leads King & Wood Mallesons Financial Services Sector.

 Diana is also a member of the Takeovers Panel (and an acting president),  a trustee of Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust, a director of Care Australia Limited and a member of Chief Executive Women. 

Diana is an Old Grammarian, as are many of her family, including her mother Fay Nicholson (dec.).

BArch (Honours) RMIT

Neil is a Director at Lyons, a Melbourne based architectural practice which specialises in the design of complex public-sector buildings around Australia. Neil has over 30 years’ experience in the design of innovative educational and research facilities and worked with many of Australia’s leading universities.  

Neil has taught design in the School of Architecture at RMIT for over 25 years and is currently the Chair of the RMIT Architecture Programme Advisory Committee. Neil is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) and from 2007 -2015 has served as Chair of numerous award jury panels.

Neil joined the MGGS Property Committee in 2012, and has enjoyed working with his committee colleagues and the School’s leadership team to deliver the new Artemis Centre.

Ms Morgan served as an Executive Director for corporate advisory firm Grant Samuel for 16 years, before taking up non-executive directorships at a variety of listed, private and not-for-profit organisations. She currently serves on the Boards of Intrepid Group and Adslot Limited where she chairs the Audit and Risk Committees.

Ms Morgan is also a Non-executive Director Future Generation Global Limited and Skalata Ventures, a seed venture fund manager where she chairs the Investment Committee. Ms Morgan holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Melbourne, and is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Her two daughters attended Melbourne Girls Grammar.

BComm (Melb), CA, GAICD

Alistair is a globally experienced Chief Financial Officer and Finance Executive.  He has lead diverse finance and operational teams across multiple geographic regions and sectors.

Alistair has held senior roles in the government sector, tertiary education and mining industry. His experience includes Board and Board Committees, finance, risk management, insurance, capital projects, joint ventures, supply chain management and international taxation. Alistair previously held directorships of Australian, UK, Canadian and South African companies.   He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and provides executive mentoring in the not-for-profit sector.

Alistair is a past parent, his daughter graduated from Melbourne Girls Grammar in 2015.

B.Sc (Joint Hons), CA, FCA, GAICD 

Ian is a partner at PwC in their Consulting division and has advised clients across various industry sectors across the globe. Ian is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia; the Information Systems Audit and Control Association; and Risk Management Australia.  

Ian brings a diverse range of experiences to Council to assist the School to achieve its vision, deliver on its purpose and mission, and to live its culture and values.  

He is married to Georgie and is father to four girls – Lily, Alice, Holly and Ruby – who have all been or are currently at Melbourne Girls Grammar.

B. Com (Hons), LLB (Hons), Grad. Dip. App. Fin. MAICD

Hayden Stockdale is currently CFO of Catapult, an ASX-listed global sports technology company. 

Prior to this he held CFO and CEO roles in the petroleum, IT and mining sectors, following an 18 year career in investment banking, living and working across Australia, Asia and Europe.

BA (Accountancy), LLB (Hons), GDipAppFin&Inv, CPA, F Fin

Dimitri Kiriacoulacos is currently the CEO of Abbeyfield Australia. He is a senior executive with a corporate and legal background working with listed organisations and Boards on mergers and acquisitions, corporate activity, transformations and restructurings globally.

Dimitri has held senior roles with Centro/Federation Centres, National Australia Bank, Bellamy’s, Mayne Pharma and prior to this was an investment banker. His earlier professional career in the law and accounting was with Finlaysons/Allens Arthur Robinson and KPMG.

Dimitri currently has a daughter at Melbourne Girls Grammar.

BSc (Psychology) (Hons Class 1), MSc, PhD, MDiv, Dip Pastoral Ministry 

Now retired from full-time ministry, Sharne is an ordained Anglican Priest. She served in parish leadership positions in the Diocese of Melbourne from 2014-2020 and now undertakes part-time parish ministry and other leadership roles within the Diocese.

Prior to her ordination as Priest, Sharne was a consulting psychologist in the field of developmental and educational psychology and a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at The University of Melbourne, a position she held for more than 25 years.

BAppSc (Information Technology)

Stephanie Wilson is an experienced business leader and entrepreneur with corporate, start up, founder and public company experience.

Stephanie is currently supporting a technology start up business in a strategic and operational advisory role, further charitable organisations and continues to provide mentoring for young business professionals. She has also spent recent years in community engagement with Melbourne Grammar School – Friends of Grammar Committee with the last year as President in 2019.

Stephanie was an Executive Director with publicly listed Candle Australia (CND) which was formed and listed after the acquisition of an Information Technology Recruitment business that Stephanie jointly established. This role involved extensive experience across strategy, client relationship management, general management, people and culture, merger & acquisition and maintained a clear results driven focus. She was also instrumental in the establishment of an IT Recruitment industry body and regularly presented to graduate students.

Previously, Stephanie was a Technology practitioner and held management roles in a number of organisations.

Stephanie’s daughter graduated from Melbourne Girls Grammar in 2023.

B.Sc (Hons), MBA (MBS) 

Cynthia Wong has a background in Product Development and is skilled in the Design Thinking process and Human Centred Design. Her brief time living overseas gave her an opportunity to work at the United Nations Development Program. In Melbourne, she has overseen large transformation program at Medibank and Sensis, primarily focusing on new digital solutions that delight. She is currently working as a Global Program Leader at Xero which delivers beautiful software to small businesses. 

An experienced people leader, she is particularly passionate about mentoring young people interested in careers in STEM, including both formal and informal Graduate programs. 

Outside of work, Cynthia maintains a vigorous fitness schedule and has completed multiple marathons and half-marathons. As an Old Grammarian herself, she has chosen MGGS for her three daughters. 

BA, BBus (Marketing) Monash University

Sam is an experienced marketing & innovation executive in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. She spent 18 years with Cadbury Schweppes (later Asahi Beverages) in a number of senior marketing roles.  She’s currently an Insights Director for the Blue Ocean Consulting Group and a Director of The Marketing Precinct. Having worked on some of Australia’s most loved brands, Sam is passionate about understanding what motivates consumer behaviour. 

Sam joined the Marketing Committee in 2021 and is currently a member of the Parent’s Association. She is an Old Grammarian, as too were her mother and grandmother. Her daughter, who graduated in 2023, is the fourth generation in her family to attend Melbourne Girls Grammar.

Belinda is a Director of Donald Cant Watts Corke, Project Management and has extensive project experience across many sectors within the property and construction industry including education, commercial, sports/recreation and residential.

Belinda specialises in major and complex programme delivery with a background which encompasses client, contractor & consultant roles enabling market leading expertise. She is a trusted advisor to many clients and has led teams to successfully deliver complex projects. She epitomises a collaborative and engaging approach in all aspects of project delivery to achieve successful completion.

Belinda is passionate about promoting and supporting diversity and equity in the property and construction industry is part of numerous initiatives and organisations.

Belinda is a Director of TEN Women and is the Deputy Chair of the Property Council of Australia (PCA) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She also sits on RMIT University Industry Advisory Committee (Property, Construction and Project Management).

Cert IV WAT, BMin (Theol.), GradDipSocSci, GradDipEd., MACA, MACE, MACEL

Matt is an ordained Anglican Minister, educator, and pastoral care professional. He is a Commissioned Officer of the Royal Australian Navy, currently serving as Chaplain to HMAS Cerberus, and is an Honorary Associate Priest at St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne.

Matt is an experienced people leader, contributing to high performing teams across a wide variety of contexts, including Independent Anglican Schools, Retail Events Management, Workplace Training and Development, Youth and Children’s work, and several years in advocacy and promotion with not for profits, including World Vision – Australia’s largest non-government organisation. He has over 10 years’ experience in governance roles, currently serving as a Non-Exec Director of Melbourne Girls Grammar School, and previously with The Oaktree Foundation, Mustard Leadership Australia, and National Adoption Awareness Week (Adopt Change).

Matt has qualifications in Theology, Education, Workplace Assessment/Training and Social Science which provide a strong and distinctive foundation for his work. He is passionate about people, social justice, holistic education, music and the arts, good food and wine, the ocean and the transforming power of the gospel. Most importantly he is husband to Melissa and dad to Will and JM. 

B.Ed, M.Ed, D.Ed, GAICD

Toni is the Principal of Melbourne Girls Grammar.

Read more about Toni.

BCom, LLB, CA, GAICD

Christian Lawless is a member of the Executive Management Team at Melbourne Girls Grammar as the Director of Business Services.

Christian commenced his career as an auditor in a professional services firm where he was manager in charge of a variety of clients in the not-for-profit sector, ASX listed entities, friendly societies and large private companies. 

He has also worked in Europe as a consultant to large multinationals, advising them on methods of obtaining economic efficiencies.

Christian is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Fred Grimwade is a professional company director after a career as a lawyer at King & Wood Mallesons and senior executive at Goldman, Sachs & Co., WMC Ltd and Colonial Ltd. He is currently Chairman of CPT Global Ltd, and a non-executive director of Australian United Investment Company Ltd, Select Harvests Ltd and XRF Scientific Ltd. Fred is also a Board member of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, the Australian Institute of Art History and The Ian Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne.

Fred’s wife Alexandra is a teacher at Melbourne Girls Grammar and their two daughters Mary (2012) and Olivia (2014) both attended the School. They also have two sons Freddie (MGS 2009) and Russell (MGS 2017).

B. Comm. (Hons), Uni. Melb.

Mark is currently a board member of several investment management companies and a large industry superannuation fund. He is advisor to international sovereign wealth funds and global investors. He is a champion for education, and chairs a charity which mentors and sponsors state school students during their tertiary education and is actively engaged in student mentoring at the University of Melbourne.

He was previously Managing Director of the Future Fund in Melbourne and has an extensive international career including as Executive Vice Chairman at Credit Suisse in London.

Michael Clough is a partner in the Melbourne office of King and Mallesons where he specialises in income tax issues which arise in the domestic and international capital and debt markets and M&A transactions. He has been closely involved in the development of financial instruments and capital market products.

Chambers Global has recognised Michael’s ‘leading tax disputes practices with significant experience in the Supreme, Federal and High Courts….acting for many of the largest corporations in Australia in high-profile cases’. Specifically, his work includes all aspects of tax audits and litigation such as negotiations and actions in relation to the collection of tax, access to premises, production of documents and tax appeals generally.

Michael has been recognised as a leading individual in the area of Tax by Chambers Global, PLC Which Lawyer? and APL 500. Michael was also recently voted Tax Partner of the Year 2016 by Lawyers Weekly.

Michael has presented papers to universities, legal colleges and professional bodies such as the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants, the Taxation Institute of Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Michael has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne lecturing in International Tax Law in the Masters of Laws programme.

Katie Allen is a senior leader known for managing, facilitating and influencing change by resetting strategy and transforming organisations through a range of roles – including political office, executive leadership in research institutions, and board chair and director positions in the education and health sectors – building on deep experience in medical research and innovation.

Katie was sworn in as the Member for Higgins at the Opening of the 46th Parliament in Canberra. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, she was a paediatrician at the Royal Children’s Hospital for 28 years, a Professor at the University of Melbourne and the University of Manchester and was Founding Director of the Australian Centre of Food and Allergy Research. Katie also sat on the Board at Cabrini Health and was Chair of the Melbourne Girls Grammar School Council.

Katie grew up in Albury NSW and lives in Higgins with her husband and 4 children.

BCom/LLB (Hons), GDLP, MCL (Hons), FGIA

Olivia is an experienced and highly qualified lawyer who is the General Counsel and Company Secretary of road safety technology company, Acusensus Limited. She started her legal career in the Corporate team at Australian law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth, then spent eight years as in-house legal counsel at ASX Top 20 company, Transurban.

Olivia received her Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree from the University of Melbourne and was a student in the inaugural year of the University of Cambridge’s Master of Corporate Law degree (MCL), which she undertook several years after she commenced her legal career at Corrs. She graduated from the MCL with Honours after finishing third overall in her cohort.

Olivia attended Melbourne Girls Grammar over a 14 year period, as did both of her sisters. She graduated from the School in 2004.

BE (Hons) (Chemical), LLB (Hons), DipAppFin

Craig is currently a Managing Director of Grant Samuel, a leading Australian independent corporate advisory firm. Craig has over 18 years of investment banking experience and has been involved in M&A and capital raising transactions across a range of sectors. Craig commenced his career in the petrochemical industry.

Craig previously served as treasurer of the MGGS Parents Association for two years.

Com (Melb), Grad. Dip. App. Fin. MAICD

Amanda Fong is currently an Investment Advisor and one of eight Founding Partners of wealth management firm, Escala Partners.

Amanda has 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry and has had roles in institutional and private client equity research, corporate advisory and as an Investment Advisor in the wealth management division of several  global investment banks.

Amanda currently serves as a member of other education related Investment Committees.

B.Sc, MBA

Askin is a Partner with Bain & Company a global business strategy consulting firm which works with large organizations to address opportunities and challenges and deliver sustainable results. In this role, Askin works with local and global clients on topics of strategy, business performance improvement, M&A and organisation design and effectiveness. He also leads Bain’s Australian Organisation Practice and is a leader in the global Performance Improvement Practice.

Askin has worked with Bain & Company for over 20 years, working in offices in Australia, Asia and the Americas. He has also led pro bono support for several not-for-profit organisations.

Graduate AICD 

Grad. Cert. Business Administration 

Associate Diploma Farm Management 

Kate is the Managing Director of Portishead Pty Ltd specialising in executive coaching for women in male dominated industries. She is a leading executive coach and mentor to women in the corporate sector, including some of Australia’s leading organisations. Kate’s areas of expertise include investment, marketing, client relationship management and business strategy. 

Wendy Peter is the General Counsel of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.  She was previously a partner of the commercial law firm Allens Arthur Robinson for 21 years, specialising in competition and regulatory work.  Wendy was a member of the MGGS council for 9 years until April 2019, and continues to be a member of the Governance and Audit and Risk Management Committees.

Elliet Spring is a Director at MGS Architects. A registered architect and urban designer, Elliet has architectural qualifications from the University of Melbourne and Columbia University in New York. She has over twenty years’ experience in a broad range of projects in Australia, the USA and Norway. Elliet attended MGGS from 1988 until 1996, when she was School Captain.

Ray is currently the Executive General Manager – Housing & Property Strategy with St Vincent De Paul Society Victoria.

Ray has over 20 years’ experience operating at a senior management level across a numbers of sectors, covering Developments and Capital Works, Asset and Facilities Management, Master Planning, Procurement and Supply Chain, Fleet, Commercial Functions, Contract Management and Mergers & Acquisitions.

Ray has an Executive MBA through ACU and has been involved at a committee level with the Property Council of Australia and the Facility Management Association of Australia.

BE (Mech)

Michael Priest is a Director of Consulting Engineering company Norman Disney & Young (NDY), a Mechanical Engineer and has over 28 years experience in the design, documentation & delivery of projects for high profile and respected clients across a broad range of markets.

Michael’s extensive experience base covers all aspects of building services in both consulting and contracting fields throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the UK.

Michael is a current parent of one Old Grammarian and two current students attending Melbourne Girls Grammar. 

Bachelor of Business in Marketing, Monash University

Sally was a student at MGGS (1981) and recently her three daughters attended the School as boarders, graduating in in 2022, 2018 and 2015. Four generations of her family have attended the School, including her mother Judy Roach (Westacott) and her husband’s great grandmother, Norma Withers.

Sally had many years of consumer marketing experience in a variety of Marketing and PR positions at Dulux Australia, Aquatas (Tassal) and Nestle. She currently conducts  weekly classes for preschoolers and primary school children in learn to swim and school programs at Echuca War Memorial Aquatic Centre.

Sally is co-trustee of The Alexander Wright Wales Scholarship Trust, a ‘means tested’ scholarship set up by her great aunt in memory of her father to provide opportunity for children of good character to be educated at private schools. It is currently providing for 12 students and, since inception in 1978, has provided for around 170 students.

Sally’s interests include golf, tennis, travel, swimming, reading, and listening to podcasts while walking or travelling.

Nicole has over 25 years of Blue Chip FMCG experience across a diverse range of brands and cultures. Having worked in Australia and Asia Pacific for three great consumer goods companies: Unilever, Arnott’s and Coca-Cola, she has built a strong background and passion for brand and business development, innovation and capability building. Nicole is an Asian Pacific specialist who brings a powerful combination of coaching, mentoring and business expertise. Her true passion is helping others be the best they can be. She believes that if leaders thrive, then organisations thrive.

Nicole was raised in Sydney, drawn to the allure of Asia for ten years and is now based in Melbourne. She started her career in the Unilever Graduate program, where she got a look into the workings of one of the world’s best FMCG companies. From there, she joined Arnott’s and led and built teams in the marketing and innovation space across their multitude of food categories. Nicole then moved to China to take up a Group Director role for Asia Pacific at Coca-Cola.

Returning to Australia, she drew upon all her experiences and passion for people and started her own Executive Coaching business. She thoroughly enjoys helping leaders develop practical, effective strategies to drive positive, sustainable high performance for themselves and their organisation. Nicole has volunteered in several community-based clubs and organisations, was the School Council President, fundraising co-ordinator and head of class representatives for Ashburton Primary School, and has served in a number of roles in the MGGS Parent’s Association.
Nicole is mother to Grammarian Emily in Year 11, Sam in Year 8 and a cute Labrador named Charlie.

Megan is Director of Brand & Customer Engagement at Mirvac and has over 20 years’ experience in collaborating to deliver diverse, complex, award winning developments. With a passion for design, and expertise in community engagement, customer experience, brand governance and marketing strategy, Megan hopes to bring an innovative, future-focused perspective to the Property Committee, and an understanding of the importance of delivering sustainable development outcomes to continue to build on the exceptional legacy of MGGS.

Megan has developed a strong, multi-disciplinary network across the industry and within the community more broadly. Megan collaborates to drive proactive strategic outcomes and shared success, and is acknowledged for her effective stakeholder engagement, problem-solving and management of brand and reputation challenges.

Supporting positive, sustainable outcomes for the community, Megan believes in championing meaningful charitable initiatives and has fostered a decade long partnership with the Think Pink Foundation and Mirvac through the delivery of their million dollar Living Centre at Yarra’s Edge for breast cancer patients. Megan is also a member of the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Nursing Development Scholarship Committee and Royal Children’s Hospital Growth Committee. As a former member of the Committee for Melbourne’s Future Focus Group, Megan has a passion for making a positive contribution to a better future for the city.

Megan has a daughter Arabella at Wildfell, who has loved being part of the MGGS community since starting at the Barbara Tolson centre in ELC.