Chair – Dr Rowena Coutts

Rowena currently consults to higher education organisations providing governance, legal, audit and policy advice and she is a partner in the family primary production business.

She is the immediate past Chair and Director of Ballarat Health Services and former Chair of the Grampians Regional Board Network.

As former Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Ballarat/Federation University Australia she had responsibility for Corporate Services including Finance, Legal, Governance, HR, Technology Park, Commercial, International Education and PR. She is also a former Chair and member of Board of Directors, Ballarat Clarendon College. Rowena commenced her career as a lawyer, and holds an LLB and BJuris from Monash University and a Doctor FedUni (Hon).

Elleni Bereded – Samuel AM

Elleni is an experienced senior executive, board member, and community engagement practitioner whose work with migrants and refugees communities has been recognized with many awards including an AM for services to the community in 2019. She has also been recognized in the Westpac AFR award as one of 100 Women of Influence in Australia and won Diversity@Work individual Champion Award for Diversity and Inclusion. Elleni has deep expertise in strengthening education, training and employment opportunities, and access to services for Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. She has extensive skills in creating strategies and programs to help people access and participate in society. Currently, Elleni is the Executive Manager of Diversity and Capability Development with Australian Unity. She provides thought leadership and subject matter expertise on diversity and inclusion-related issues to our diverse community of Australians. Elleni was previously a Director of SBS, The Royal Women’s Hospital, Western Health, and the Australian Social Inclusion Board. In addition to serving on the Boards of the RCH, Elleni is the Co-Chair of the Growing Minds Australia Community Engagement Advisory Committee.

Andrew Chan

Andrew Chan is a corporate lawyer and a partner at Mills Oakley in Melbourne, with over 15 years’ experience gained in Australia and the UK.

Andrew’s work includes regularly advising companies and individuals on significant corporate events including corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, restructures, and technology solutions. As a parent of a regular patient, Andrew is particularly interested in improving the consumer and patient experience at RCH and he is a member of the RCH Community Advisory Committee. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from Monash University. Andrew has previously served on the board of the Collingwood Children’s farm.

Professor Richard Doherty

Richard Doherty trained in paediatrics and in paediatric infectious diseases in Brisbane and Boston and is a consultant physician in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at Monash Children’s Hospital and Professor in the Monash Department of Paediatrics. He is also a former member of the staff of the RCH. He has held previous appointments as Dean of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Head of the Department of Paediatrics and Associate Dean for Teaching Hospitals at Monash, Medical Director of the Southern Health Children’s Program, Deputy Director of the Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research and consultant physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital. He has served as a Director of the Australian Medical Council and on national committees including NHMRC panels, the 2016 Intern Review, the National Medical Training Advisory Network and several Victorian Department of Health advisory committees. Prof Doherty was a member of the Medical Board of Australia from 2018 to 2021

Ms Pallavi Khanna

Pallavi Khanna is an experienced risk management and governance advisor. She has worked both in South Africa and Australia across the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. For more than 20 years she has worked with organisations to develop strategies to address strategic risks, undertaken independent evaluation of governance frameworks and managed projects to deliver strategic objectives. She has also undertaken assessments pertaining to privacy (Australia and International), IT controls, procurement (probity) and customer experience. Pallavi is an independent member of the Finance and Risk Committee at the City of Stonnington and a Director on AVet Health. Her prior board roles include Public Galleries Association of Victoria, Common Equity Housing Ltd and Ballarat Health Services. She is a Chartered Accountant (Australia and South Africa), Prince 2 certified and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Sammy Kumar

Sammy Kumar is the co-founder of Sayers Group and CEO. Sammy is a business leader with over 32 years’ experience in Management Consulting, Mergers and Acquisitions, Risk Management, Strategy, Technology and Ventures. Sammy’s work includes significant experience in many overseas markets including the US, Canada, South America and Asia Pacific. He has advised companies in a number of sectors including Financial Services, Telecommunications, Technology services, Private Equity and Venture Capital.  During his time at PwC he started, led and grew businesses both in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region managing revenues of over $1 billion. Sammy is a thought leader on a range of topics including revenue risk management, mega trends impacting economies and the impact of technology on business strategy. Sammy is a committed member of the broader community. In addition to serving on the Boards of the RCH & RCH Foundation he is also a Trustee of Melbourne and Olympic Park.

Mark Rogers

Mark is the Group Executive – Chief Financial Officer & Group Strategy of Medibank. Mark is a director of Myhealth Medical Group, East Sydney Private Hospital and Integrated Mental Health. He has more than 25 years of global finance, strategic and operational experience across the financial services, insurance and health care (including primary care, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and tertiary care) sectors. Mark has A B.Eng (Hons) and B.Sc from Monash University and commenced his career as Chemical Engineer. 

Dr Michael Wildenauer

After many years technology leadership experience in Australia, the US, UK and Europe, Michael moved into academia at La Trobe University. At La Trobe Business School (LBS), he was a Professor of Practice in Management, teaching into MBA and master’s courses on the social and ethical issues around technology and business, and on corporate governance. More recently, Michael has been involved in subject development and teaching for LBS and for the Centre for AI & Digital Ethics (CAIDE) at the University of Melbourne.

In addition to his role on the Royal Children's Hospital Board, Michael is Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and is a Member of its Profession Advisory Board, and an external member of the Audit & Risk Committee of Central Highlands Rural Health. He was previously a Director of Kyneton District Health where he was at various times a member of its Governance & Remuneration, Clinical Governance, and Audit & Risk Committees.

Michael has been awarded a PhD in Corporate Governance for research on board effectiveness in startups, an MBA with a concentration in computing, a GradDip in Communications Law, and a BSc in Pure Mathematics & Computing. His research interests are at the intersection of ethics, technology, law and governance.