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Advance enhances global connections with new board appointments

Advance is pleased to announce six new board members to augment Advance’s global reach and expertise. Joseph Kwok, Josephine Linden, Jeannie Lopes, Jennifer Mackinlay, Jessica Michaels and the Hon Wyatt Roy, are joining the board to help to guide Advance through the next phase of growth and impact. 

Chairman of the Advance board, Andrew Low, said: “I am delighted that such high calibre and accomplished individuals are joining the Advance board, and sharing their diverse and global experience and their insights into the international career journey.” 

“They bring their energy and expertise to help Advance deliver a growing suite of services, for next generation leaders looking to work overseas, Australians based permanently overseas, and Australians returning home with many years of international experience.”

“Through our annual Global Australian Awards, we have seen the many different paths global Australians take to achieve impact and how much they give back to Australia”, he added. 

The six new members join Andrew Low, Chris Boshuizen (San Francisco); Michelle Garnaut AO (Hong Kong); Gary Quinlan AO (Canberra) and Louise Thurgood Phillips (Sydney) on the board. Andrew Low and the board thanked Warrick Cramer and Doug Ferguson for their enormous support and expertise provided as members of the board from 2020 to 2022.

Meet the new members:

Joseph Kwok (Singapore)

With over 20 years’ experience working across the globe in the financial services industry, Joseph Kwok is a welcome addition to the Advance Board, providing closer ties with international alumni of Australian universities, and the Australian community in Singapore. Joseph is currently Immediate Past President & Adviser of Australian Alumni Singapore, President of UNSW Alumni Singapore Chapter and President of Association of Chinese Securities & Futures Industry in Singapore. He is also a Fellow of Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) and Singapore University of Social Science (SUSS).

Throughout his career, Joseph has held senior leadership roles in financial institutions such as JP Morgan, UBS and Standard Chartered Bank. He was also on several Singapore main-board listed companies as an independent non-executive director.

Josephine Linden (New York)

Advance Ambassador Emeritus, Josephine Linden, will join the Advance Board, bringing her vast experience in wealth management, and numerous connections to the nonprofit world to the board. Josephine is the Founder and CEO of Linden Global Strategies, a wealth management advisory firm and multi-family office. She retired from Goldman Sachs as a partner and managing director in 2009, after being with the firm for over twenty-five years.

Josephine also serves on private and nonprofit boards and served as Treasurer and Trustee for the Collegiate School, serving on the Executive Committee and on the Investment Committee. She also acted as an Adjunct Professor at the Business School of Columbia University, where she taught a class in wealth management, and currently teaches and moderates ad hoc sessions. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Jeannie Lopes (London)

Advance Ambassador to the UK, Jeannie Lopes, brings a wealth of connections and insight about the UK to the Advance board. Jeannie grew up in Tasmania and was educated in NSW and the USA before moving to London in 1990 where she worked for the BBC, later joining a number of not-for-profit boards, including the Britain-Australia Society. 

She remained involved in business and education through the years when her children were young and mixes her commitments to Advance with head-hunting for non-executive directors, for investment companies and asset managers. She also serves on the Australian Advisory Board of the Global Foundation.

Jennifer Mackinlay (Paris)

Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner for Austrade, and Head of UK, Europe and Israel, Jennifer Mackinlay will join the Advance Board in an ex-officio capacity, in order to bring further representation from the Australian government. Having lived in France for 20 years, Jennifer has a deep knowledge of European markets and doing business in Europe. Jennifer joined the Australian Trade and Investment Commission in 2015 as Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Luxembourg. In 2020 Jennifer was appointed Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the UK, Ireland and Nordics.

Prior to joining Austrade, Jennifer worked as a lawyer for international law firm Clifford Chance in Paris for 15 years, where she specialised in Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity. She was admitted as a lawyer to the Supreme Court of NSW in 1994 and admitted as a French ‘avocat’ to the Paris bar in 2003. She speaks French, Italian and Spanish.

Jessica Michaels (Seattle)

Long time Advance member, and digital agency owner, Jessica Michaels brings essential expertise in branding and digital operations, to fuel the growth of Advance’s global community. Jessica has lived in the UK and USA since 1999, and is known for building and launching brands across the media, entertainment, lifestyle and technology industries. She has been named Marketing Innovator of the Year, is a guest lecturer at The University of Washington’s Foster School of Business and advises CEO’s, CMO’s, CXO’s on brand and product strategy, e-comm and emerging media trends. 

Jessica is currently the CEO and Founder of Bread n Butter, a Seattle based brand development venture that works with many of the world’s leading edge companies and organizations including Amazon, Microsoft, DirectTV, Facebook, LVMH, T-Mobile, F5, Procter & Gamble, Xbox, Gates Ventures, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and more. 

The Hon Wyatt Roy (Sydney)

Australia’s youngest ever appointed minister, The Hon Wyatt Roy, has joined the Advance board, bringing with him a wealth of experience in both the public sector and the media industry. Currently, Roy acts as an Executive Director of the Tech Council of Australia, and an advisor to SunDrive Solar, McKinsey and Afiniti. From 2017 to 2022, Wyatt was previously the Managing Director (Australia) for Afiniti, a fast-growing AI platform to optimise customer interactions.

Wyatt served in the Australian House of Representatives and was Australia’s first Minister for Innovation. At age 20, he was the youngest person elected to the Australian Parliament; at 25, he was the youngest Minister in the history of the Commonwealth. In 2010 Wyatt was GQ Magazine’s Politician of the Year and had been named on Forbes magazine’s 30 under 30 in Asia list.


About

Advance.org links expatriate Australians with Australia. We shine a spotlight on their achievements and support them in their endeavours, wherever they are along the international career lifecycle. Advance is an integral part of Australian ‘soft power’ abroad. By harnessing the potential of global Australians and keeping them connected with Australia, Advance ensures their talent and ideas will flow back into Australia. 

Advance was established in 2002, by the then Australian Consul-General to New York, Ken Allen AO, who is now the Advance Chairman Emeritus and Chair of the Judging Panel for the annual Global Australian Awards. Chaired by Andrew Low, an expert on Australia’s engagement globally, Advance is partially funded by the Australian Federal Government and through the generous contributions of philanthropic donors and corporate sponsors who value Advance’s role in connecting global talent and elevating Australia’s global reputation.

Media Contact: Johanna Pitman | [email protected] | 0406 344 578

Read More

Advance Board Members (for individual profiles)
New Chairman of the Board for Advance (March 8, 2022)