Board members

Rhonda Chapman 

(International Development Consultant)

Rhonda Chapman is a practitioner/researcher working as an independent consultant in international community development. She specialises in participatory processes; monitoring, learning and evaluation; non-government organisational development and development effectiveness. She also works as a trainer and group facilitator and is working on completing her PhD.

She has worked in aid and development for twenty years, mostly with NGOs in a range of fundraising, administrative, management and program roles. For four years she worked as a community development practitioner in Central America and Azerbaijan and recently spent 2 years working and conducting her PhD field research in Cambodia. She has also conducted short-term assignments in many countries in Asia, Pacific and African countries. Prior to working independently, she was the Director of Standards and Practice for the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID).

Catherine Ferrari

Catherine Ferrari is currently the Director of the West Australian Opera, Director of Screenwest and a Trustee of the Legal Contribution Trust. She was the Chief Executive Officer of the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra and prior to that was the Director - WA of the Australian Society of CPAs.  Ms Ferrari has a strong record in the strategic positioning of organisations and of engagement with key stakeholders and the community.  She is particularly well known for her work in re-vitalising and re-positioning the WA symphony orchestra.

Barbara Frost

(WaterAid Chief Executive, UK)

Barbara Frost is Chief Executive of WaterAid in the UK, she joined the WaterAid in Australia board in 2006. Prior to joining WaterAid Barbara was the Chief Executive of Action on Disability and Development (ADD) where she had been working in this capacity for nine years. Barbara has previously worked in Africa, for over seven years with ActionAid, Save the Children and Community Aid Abroad, managing programmes in Mozambique and Malawi. 

Grant Hill

(National Campaign Coordinator, Oxfam Australia)

Grant established the WaterAid Steering Committee in October 2002 and led the process of forming WaterAid in Australia.

Grant was the public policy coordinator of TEAR Australia, an international relief and development agency. He was also Australian coordinator of Water Matters, a coalition of over 35 organisations pursuing public education and policy objectives in the International Year of Fresh Water and beyond. Grant is now policy adviser with World Vision.

Grant represented Australian development agencies on the government delegation to the 2002 UN World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and is a member of the Australian Committee of the Global Water Partnership. He was the Coordinator of the Australian Jubilee Third World Debt Coalition from its inception till the end of 2001.

This coalition had major public policy success, for example, the Australian Government cancelled debts owed from the Governments of Nicaragua and Ethiopia.

Tony Kelly

Board Chair (Managing director, Yarra Valley Water)

Tony, a civil engineer, has spent nearly 30 years in the Australian water industry with extensive experience in planning, design and construction as well as key roles in strategic planning, major utility reforms including water authority mergers, corporatisation, pricing, business process redesign and contracting out.

Since joining Yarra Valley Water Ltd at its inception in 1995, Tony has held four general manager positions including chief engineer, corporate strategy, marketing, business strategy and customer operations. Tony was appointed managing director of Yarra Valley Water in January 2003.

Tony chairs the Victorian Water Industry Association's Sustainability Triple Bottom Line Task Group which produced the Tripple Bottom Line Reporting Guidelines for the Victorian water industry in 2002 and also chairs the Board of WaterAid Australia.

Adam Laidlaw

Chief Executive and Company Secretary WaterAid in Australia

Adam has a wealth of senior management, fundraising and advocacy experience from over 20 years working in international development, social and environmental justice agencies in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Adam was Chief Executive of ChildFund New Zealand from 2001 to 2004 and the former Chair of Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand.

Peter Mills

(General Manager, Human Resources, Sydney Water)

Peter is General Manager, Human Resources at Sydney Water and has over 25 years of human resources experience in a range of industries including engineering, manufacturing, investment, business equipment/IT and petroleum.

Prior to joining Sydney Water, Peter successfully ran his own HR consultancy. Peter has also held positions as General Manager, Human Resources at Canon Australia, Human Resources Manager at Warman International and NSW Employee Relations Manager at Caltex Australia.

Peter has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and has been involved in numerous development programs internationally.

Tom Mollenkopf

(Chief Executive, Australian Water Association)

Tom Mollenkopf is the Chief Executive of the Australian Water Association, a role he commenced in May 2007.

Tom’s experience covers many years in the water sector as well as in general industry and private professional practice.

Between 2005 and 2007 he was based in London where he has served as Deputy Executive Director of the International Water Association.  From 1995 to 2005 Tom was an executive at South East Water in Melbourne, Australia.

Tom has a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Melbourne, Bachelor of Jurisprudence [with studies in Economics and Politics] and Bachelor of Laws from Monash University.  He has served on many Industry bodies including the Research Committee of the Water Services Association of Australia, as Chairman of the Water Industry Superannuation Fund and on the Board of Corporate Social Responsibility Australia.   He is a director of WaterAid in Australia, a member of numerous government and industry advisory groups and sits on the International Council of the American Water Works Association.

John Ringham

Board Deputy Chair (Chief Executive, SA Water)

John has thirty eight years experience in the water industry, having held numerous senior management positions with the United Kingdom company North West Water. John is experienced in water resourcing, water supply and distribution, capital planning, change management and international bidding. 

John joined SA Water as Head of Operations, then took on the role of Chief Operating Officer, carrying overall responsibility for water supply and wastewater service delivery including asset management and capital works delivery. In December 2010 John was appointed Chief Executive of SA Water.

Richard Rodd

(Managing Director - Richard Rodd & Associates, Consulting Engineers)

Richard is a civil engineer with over 30 years in the water industry; with extensive experience in investigation, design and construction and project management of water resource projects and civil infrastructure and industrial projects in Australia and overseas.

A Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors; he has a Diploma of Civil Engineering, Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a Master of Environmental Science. 

He is a member of the Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) and his training and professional experience ranges from hydrology, to structural engineering and major dam design and construction.  Many of the projects Richard has been involved with have won engineering excellence or environmental awards.

Wendy Rose

(International Development Consultant)

Wendy is an overseas aid professional with over 25 years experience working with NGOs and is a senior member of the international aid community, representing Australia on various world bodies for many years. She has served as the CEO of Save the Children Australia and on the boards of ChildFund Australia and Anglicord. Wendy is also one of the founders of the International Women's Development Agency.

Wendy is retired from professional employment, however she continues to work with the NGO community as an active board member of numerous organisations. Wendy has represented the Australian NGO community for many years as a member of the ACFID Executive Committee and the AusAID-NGO Committee for Development Cooperation, including overseeing and reviewing for AusAID accreditation and negotiating with governments and multilateral organisations.

Jane Ellis Seabrook

(Lawyer, Blake Dawson)

Jane works as a lawyer at the firm Blake Dawson in the area of competition law and market regulation. She advises on the legal aspects of economic regulation of utilities, such as energy and water, under state and national legislation.  She also advises on all aspects of general trade practices law with a particular focus on the national access regime, competition law provisions, and the prices surveillance provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA).

Prior to joining Blake Dawson in 1999, Jane was a senior policy officer with the National Competition Council. Jane left Blake Dawson in 2004 and rejoined the firm in 2007. During that time Jane worked as an adviser on competition, regulatory reform and governance with an emphasis on anti-corruption.

Jane has been an active member of Transparency International-Australia (TI-A) since 1996, and a director since 2001 (apart from 2006-2007). As a director, Jane has been involved in regional negotiations and has represented TI-A at national and international conventions and forums.

Jane has a Masters in Public Policy from Australian National University, a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from University of Melbourne and Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University.

John Weate

(Executive Officer, Community Resources)

John Weate is executive officer of Community Resources in Forster NSW. Community Resources is a non profit Association which develops local projects to assist the disadvantaged.

For example Tobwabba Art, developed with the Aboriginal community in Forster, is the largest Aboriginal owned and operated art and design licensing studio in Australia. John has served as local government Councillor since 1991.

Since 1995 he has chaired the Wallis Lake Estuary and Catchment Management Committee. The committee's achievements won the 2004 Theiss National River Prize in Brisbane. John is chair of the board of Midcoast Water, a Wateraid foundation member. Last year with the formation of Catchment Management Authorities in NSW, John was appointed to the board of the Hunter/Central Rivers CMA.

Ross Young

(Executive director, Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA))

Ross Young commenced as the executive director of the Water Services Association of Australia in December, 2003.

Ross has extensive experience in urban water management having occupied positions at the executive level in the areas of stormwater, potable water and sewerage management within Melbourne Water.

He was the chair of the Project Management Group which oversaw the recently completed 50 year Water Resources Strategy for the greater Melbourne area. Ross has a Diploma of Horticultural Science, a Bachelor of Applied Science, an MBA and a Graduate Diploma in Natural Resources Law from the University of Melbourne.