Corporate Ladder: your weekly guide to executive appointments
South Australia’s premier executive appointments column tracking the movements of those driving the state’s public and private sectors. Plus the latest executive recruitment opportunities.
Micheal Rapisarda (left) has joined wife Paula Rapisarda (right) at MGA Insurance Group. Morgan Stuckey (centre) has also earned a promotion to Portfolio Manager. Photo: supplied
Beach goes internal for CFO role
Beach Energy has appointed Anne-Marie Barbaro permanently as Chief Financial Officer.
Barbaro stepped up to the role in an interim capacity following the elevation of CFO Morne Engelbrecht to acting CEO in November 2021.
A former Senior Financial Analyst at Santos, Barbaro first joined Beach in September 2018 as Group Manager, Planning and Reporting and earned a promotion in 2019 to General Manager, Finance.
Engelbrecht, whose appointment as CEO was made permanent in May, said the new CFO has “proven her leadership and capabilities during the recent years at Beach and gained deep experience of our overall business having led the internal annual planning cycle”.
“I congratulate Anne-Marie on her appointment and look forward to her continuing support and contribution to the leadership team,” he said.
Beach Energy is currently advertising for one of Barbaro’s former positions, General Manager of Finance, and is also on the hunt for a Senior Business Analyst and Senior Project Controller.
Musical Chairs
Pianist, writer and festival director Anna Goldsworthy has been appointed director of the Elder Conservatorium of Music – the first woman to hold the role since the school was established at the University of Adelaide in 1883.
Professor Goldsworthy, author of the memoir Piano Lessons, is artistic director of the Coriole Music Festival and the Music & Mountains Festival in Queenstown, New Zealand, and a former director of the JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice.
She is a founding member of the chamber ensemble Seraphim Trio, which in 2019 won an ARIA award for its collaboration with Paul Kelly titled Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds.
Goldsworthy takes up the new position today, replacing outgoing director Professor Graeme Koehne.
Meanwhile, South Australian Living Artists has appointed prominent company director Alexandrea Cannon as Chair, replacing Nicholas Linke.
Cannon – inaugural Chair of Credit Union SA and a Corporate Ladder regular – is currently Chair of UniSA’s Business MBA Advisory Group and the SA Tertiary Admissions Centre.
Amidst her numerous board appointments throughout her career, she has found time for the arts as a Director with Country Arts SA, the Queensland Country Arts Trust and Queensland Arts Council. She is also a former executive with the Adelaide Festival Centre.
Linke, who is leaving the board entirely, has been a SALA director since 2011 and was appointed Chair in 2018.
The SALA board has also appointed Gino DeGennaro as Treasurer, replacing Richard Allen.
DeGennaro was Chief of Staff to Treasurer Rob Lucas for all four years of the Marshall Liberal Government’s four-year term. He is the former Deputy CEO of the Department for Education and Child Development.
Dunstan Foundation finds new leader
Former government media adviser Kate Baldock has been appointed Executive Director of the Don Dunstan Foundation.
Baldock has returned to Adelaide after a six-year stint in Asia with the Australian Chamber of Commerce Singapore.
She was initially appointed by the business group as a communications strategist before moving up to Executive Director in December 2016.
Prior to her move to Singapore, Baldock was a media adviser in the Weatherill Government for five and a half years, most recently with former Deputy Premier John Rau. Her move into communications followed five years with the ABC as a local radio producer.
Don Dunstan Foundation Chair Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, a former Rann Government Minister, said the group was “delighted to have someone with experience in leading an organisation with a voice”.
“Kate is a highly experienced not-for-profit leader who will bring international perspectives to lead the Foundation in influencing social change,” she said.
“With continuing global uncertainty on many fronts, our work to shape a socially just community becomes increasingly important.”
Baldock, who has been appointed to a three-year term, will replace long-time public servant Ritchie Hollands as Executive Director on July 27.
Hollands has led the foundation since July 2019 on secondment from the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
New Nature boss
South Australian conservation NGO Nature Foundation has appointed its longest-serving staff member, Alex Nankivell, as Chief Executive Officer.
Nankivell been with the organisation since 2008 as Science and Knowledge Program Manager. His appointment as CEO was unanimously supported by the Nature Foundation Board last Monday.
His elevation follows the retirement of Hugo Hopton in April. Hopton had led the conservation group for six years.
Nature Foundation Chair Jan Ferguson OAM said the search for his replacement was “comprehensive and unbiased, with all candidates performing well and to a high standard”.
“Many would know that Alex is the longest-serving staff member of the organisation and has contributed significantly to the current success of our organisation,” she wrote in an update for members.
“I hope you will join me in wishing Alex all the best as he steers Nature Foundation to refocus our conservation efforts, ensuring we continue to be an inspirational, financially secure organisation that achieves operational excellence.”
Nankivell graduated Adelaide University with a Bachelor of Applied Science in 2000 and completed a master’s degree in project management in 2007.
Corporate Position: the latest executive employment opportunities
Harness Racing SA (HRSA) has two Non-Executive Director positions, to commence in October.
The Legal Director is the strategic lead for matters of legality, compliance and risk management within the industry and will chair the Risk and Governance Committee. Applications are invited from practising legal professionals in the fields of corporations law, contracts, advisory or investigations.
The Marketing Director is the strategic lead for insights, trends and marketing performance metrics with a view to developing and implementing marketing and branding strategies. Qualifications and experience in marketing, advertising or communication are desirable for this appointment.
Directors are appointed for a three-year term and the positions are remunerated.
Giraffe goes further up the tree
Adelaide marketing consultancy Purple Giraffe has promoted long-time consultant Kelly Wagner to General Manager.
A former AGL Manager who has held senior roles with the South Australian Government’s Essential Services Commission and Energy & Water Ombudsman, Wagner’s step up comes after five years with Purple Giraffe as Senior Marketing Consultant.
She has also established and managed her own e-commerce business.
Purple Giraffe founder Lynda Schenk touted Wager’s “significant contribution” to the firm’s clients over the last five years.
“The transition to this newly created role of General Manager provides the opportunity for a broader range of our clients, and our entire team to benefit from her leadership, skills and experience,” she said in a statement.
Movements at MGA
National insurance brokers MGA Insurance Group has appointed Micheal Rapisarda from Business Insurance Services Pty Ltd.
Rapisarda joins after 15 years with BIS in the eastern suburbs. He also spent five years with Allianz Insurance in the early 2000s.
The appointment at MGA sees him join his wife, Paula Rapisarda, at the Dulwich office. She has been with MGA since 2014.
“Paula and Micheal Rapisarda take over the commercial SME customers and the schemes component,” MGA Managing Director Paul George said.
“Both are experienced commercial insurance brokers in the South Australian market, particularly in contract works.”
MGA also last week announced the promotion of Account Broker Morgan Stuckey to Portfolio Manager.
The firm said Stuckey’s promotion followed the retirement of Ken Barker as Managing Director.
Barker, who has spent 10 years at the helm of MGA, recently finalised succession discussions for his portfolio, the firm said, but will stay around “for a while yet to ensure a smooth transition”.
Promotions at Hood Sweeney
South Australian accounting firm Hood Sweeney has promoted three staff members to Associates.
The professional services firm last week announced Céline Barnes, JC Botha, and Daniel Rechichi would be making the step up.
Barnes and Botha both work within Hood Sweeney’s financial planning division, while Rechichi is a Manager within the accounting & business advisory section.
Barnes is the first non-practitioner in Hood Sweeney’s financial planning division to be promoted to Associate, the firm says. She is currently responsible for front of house and delivery of client advice by the financial planning team.
Botha, meanwhile, moved to Adelaide from South Africa last year to join Hood Sweeney as a Senior Financial Planner.
In 2015, he founded his own financial planning company, Purpose Wealth, in Pretoria. The firm was acquired four years later.
Rechichi, meanwhile, joined Hood Sweeney in 2013 and leads the firm’s “food and hospitality specialty team”. He is described as an expert in cloud accounting software.
