Meet our Advisory Council

Our Advisory Council brings together an impressive and experienced lineup of business and industry leaders, to help guide Asialink Business in it its mission to build an Asia capable, prosperous Australian workforce and community.

Meet the Advisory Council members below:

Tarandeep Singh Ahuja, Partner, McKinsey and Company, Chair, Asialink Business Advisory Council: 

Tarandeep is a Partner at McKinsey & Company, based in Melbourne. He leads McKinsey’s product development and procurement work across the Asia–Pacific region and leads the firm’s energy sector work in Australia and New Zealand. During his 16 years at McKinsey, Tarandeep has built extensive experience in strategy, M&A, operations, procurement, sustainability, digital and analytics, and large-scale performance transformations across various industries. Tarandeep is a regular speaker on energy and procurement topics. He has also been a knowledge advisor to Asia–Pacific CPO Forum and Australian Energy Week. Tarandeep is passionate about strengthening the business relations between Australia and Asia, and recently led research on the opportunities for economic collaboration between Australia and India. He is also on the advisory board of Young Sikh Professionals Network in Australia.

Kate Pounder, CEO, Tech Council of Australia: 

Kate is an experienced tech policy expert and senior executive who has worked across the public, private and non-profit sectors. She is the CEO of the Tech Council of Australia, the peak body representing the Australian tech sector. Before her time in consulting, she spent 15 years working in technology policy roles with the Australian Industry Group, National ICT Australia (NICTA), Network Ten, and the Federal Government. Kate is passionate about growing Australia's tech sector, creating new jobs and businesses, and helping all Australian businesses make the most of tech adoption.

Catriona Jackson, CEO & Director of Universities Australia: 

Catriona is Chief Executive and a Board Director of Universities Australia, the peak body representing

Australia’s university sector. Catriona is a highly experienced advocate and has extensive experience in the policy making process. Prior to this appointment, she served as UA’s Deputy Chief Executive leading the policy team in developing sectoral policy. Previously Catriona was CEO of Science and Technology Australia, press secretary and senior advisor to a federal government cabinet minister, director of government relations and communication at ANU, and a newspaper and radio journalist.

Bao Hoang, Founder and CEO Roll’d, Member of the Commonwealth Government Job Maker Board:

Bao is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Roll’d Group, one of Australia’s fastest growing fast-casual food franchises serving fresh Vietnamese. Born in Melbourne and the son of Vietnamese refugees, Bao’s key strengths are in strategic planning and innovation, with experience and expertise in small business across both the health and hospitality industries.

After completing his Bachelor of Physiotherapy at Melbourne University in 2005, Bao quickly became a franchisee, owning and managing multiple physiotherapy health clinics across Melbourne.

Sue MacLeman, Chair and Non-Executive Director, MTPConnect: 

Sue has more than 30 years’ experience as a pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology executive, having held senior roles in corporate, medical, commercial and business development. Sue has also served as CEO and Board member of several ASX and NASDAQ listed companies in the pharmaceutical sector. Sue is currently the Chair of MTPConnect (MTPII-GC Ltd), and she serves on several academic and government advisory committees, including the CSIRO Health and Biosecurity Advisory Committee, the Prime Minister’s Digital Experts Advisory Committee, DMTC’s Medical Countermeasures and various COVID-19 taskforces. Her broad commercial experience is underpinned by graduate qualifications in pharmacy and post graduate qualifications in corporate governance, commercial law, business administration and marketing.

Jason Chang, CEO and Managing Director, EMR Capital: 

Jason is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of EMR Capital, a global mining private equity firm with more than US$5bn of assets under management, and offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Prior to EMR Capital, Jason was a partner of KPMG in Australia for over 13 years, including in the role of Partner in Charge of KPMG Australia’s Asia Practice.

Jason graduated with a Master of Law, Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics (majoring in accounting) from Monash University.

Corrina Bertram, Partner and Board Member, KPMG Australia: 

Corrina is KPMG's geographic leader for Management Consulting in Melbourne and a leader in the Government Advisory practice. Corrina joined the KPMG Australia Board in 2020. With 20 years' experience in providing strategic advice to public sector clients, Corrina has driven reform agendas across Australia and secured significant investments in sectors ranging from life sciences, regional economic development, skills and training, transport, local government, energy and the start-up ecosystem. Prior to joining KPMG, Corrina held several senior economic policy roles in the Victorian Public Service and was also the General Manager of Biotechnology Policy and Projects. In these roles she provided advice to the Premier and Treasurer, led national reforms to enable innovative medical research, oversaw a significant portfolio of investments into the sector and participated in global trade and investment attraction delegations.

Professor Paul Kofman, Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics,University of Melbourne:

Paul Kofman (PhD Erasmus University Rotterdam) was appointed Professor of Finance at The University of Melbourne in 2001. In 2012, he became the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics. Paul’s research interests and publications are in quantitative and behavioral finance and the regulation of financial markets. He has received numerous competitive research grants and was one of the founding directors of the ARC-funded Financial Integrity Research Network. Paul has undertaken consultancy work for the European Options Exchange, the New York Board of Trade, the Central European University, several Dutch investment banks, the Dutch Centre for Actuarial Statistics, the Australian Office of Financial Markets, and the RACV.

Innes Willox, Group Chief Executive, AI Group: 

Innes Willox is Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group). Innes served as the Australian Consul General to Los Angeles from 2006 to 2008, where he represented wide-ranging Australian interests on the west coast of the United States, including in the areas of trade, finance, culture, bio-technology, environment and energy sectors. He was Chief of Staff to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, from 2004 to 2006. Earlier, Innes held a number of private sector and government positions including Manager of Global Public Affairs for Singapore Airlines based in Singapore (2000-04). Innes began his working career as a journalist. His positions included Chief of Staff at The Age newspaper in Melbourne and Chief Political Correspondent for The Age in the Canberra Parliamentary Press Gallery. Innes was educated at Melbourne High School, Monash University (BA History and Politics), and Edinburgh Business School. He is on the Board of Windermere – Victoria’s oldest family and child services agency, and is also a Director of Australian Super, Director of the Innovative Manufacturing Co-operative Research Centre, Board Member of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue, Convener of the Industry 4.0 Advanced Manufacturing Forum, Chair of the Migration Council of Australia, Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Skilled Migration, and Chair of the RMIT College of Business Industry Advisory Board.

Sanjeev Gandhi, Managing Director & CEO, Orica Limited:

Sanjeev was appointed Managing Director and CEO of Orica Limited in April 2021, after previously holding the role of Group Executive and President, Australia Pacific and Asia since July 2020.

Headquartered in Melbourne, Orica is the world’s leading mining and infrastructure solutions providers. Operating for over 148 years, today Orica’s 13,000+ global workforce supports customers across surface and underground mines, quarry, construction, and oil and gas operations in over 100 countries. Sanjeev is a former Executive Director and Member of the Board of publicly listed German Chemical company BASF SE. During his 26-year career with BASF, Sanjeev held several senior marketing, commercial and business leadership roles in Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and India including the Head of Asia Pacific and the Head of Global Chemicals Segment (Intermediates & Petrochemicals).