Allison Bruce

Allison Bruce

Chair

Allison is the Principal of Bruce Law. She is an experienced lawyer and practises in wills and estate planning, estate litigation, business and property transactions and leasing.

Allison has contributed to a number of local boards and committees. She has been a Director of Albury Northside Chamber of Commerce, President of Albury & District Law Society and Board Member of Age Concern Inc.

When Allison takes a break from work, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, practising yoga, cycling, and walking her highly energetic Jack Russell terrier.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Laws, Graduate Diploma in Dispute Resolution, Bachelor of Business (Marketing)

Vanessa Dale

Vanessa Dale

Deputy Chair

Vanessa is a Risk Adviser at Adroit Insurance & Risk in  Albury.

Vanessa has worked within the insurance industry for the past 27 years in both the metropolitan and regional areas.  Vanessa is extremely experienced in dealing with SME business owners in particular and over many years has built strong relationships with insurers to seek solutions for her clients specific insurance needs.

Vanessa has recently joined the Board of AWCC as she would like to contribute to the local community that she has grown up in.

Outside of work, Vanessa enjoys early morning boxing sessions, walking her Labrador and has two active young boys who keep her very busy.

 

David Clark

David Clark

Board Member

David has worked as a manager in the government and not for profit sectors, as well as publicly listed companies throughout the Western and Riverina areas of New South Wales, delivering quality services in education, health, aged care and disabilities.

He also has extensive real estate experience in both sales and property management. Sharing his change management skills is a way forward for business and customers to navigate a rapidly changing world. One of his skills is the ability to train staff and community volunteers in changing policies and procedures and to successfully implement such changes.

David is committed and experienced in voluntary service for community organisations and believes that the strength in any community lies in transparency and communication where ‘many hands make light work’.

David is passionate about classic cars (Holdens), gardening, cooking and travel to odd places across Australia, Africa, Europe, New Zealand and Japan. I am also a collector of antiques, clocks and art works.

Qualifications: B.A. Dip. Ed. Cert. IV Real Estate Sales

Thomas Scott

Thomas Scott

Board Member

Having just finished a degree in marketing, Tom has a bright outlook on how useful social media and other online platforms can be used to increase engagement and hopes to convert ideas into fun exciting realities as he believes marketing can more than just bright colours and catchy phrases.

Tom currently is the online administrator for several other social network sites, with the highest having a following of plus 5000. Tom joins us having over 8 years’ experience being a part of community boards and community groups.

Tom is a sports fanatic, music explorer, travelling enthusiast and enjoy making fun memories for others.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Business Management (Marketing)

Kate Morey

Kate Morey

Board Member

Kate has worked in a variety of different industries over her career. Kate brings the board a wealth of knowledge from areas of insurance, marketing, advertising and now banking / lending as she is currently employed with Bendigo Bank as one of their amazing lending specialists.

Kate is a mother of 2 motocross loving Boys: Phinn & Tyge. When it comes to the weekend or any free-time, Kate can be found with her boys at the track or out in the bush watching while they practice their racing. Kate also enjoys the relaxation of being outdoors in nature as she loves camping and fishing.

Of course, while all these activities are occurring, Kate loves when there is a glass of wine in her hand 😊

Phil Hartley

Phil Hartley

Board Member

Phillip works as the Marketing & Development Manager for Kirinari Community Services, a recognised industry leader throughout regional NSW and Victoria in providing care and community services for disadvantaged youth, the elderly, people with a disability and the broader community.

Sharing his learnings and knowledge, and identifying opportunities within the community is why Phillip gets up in the morning. He enjoys looking for and introducing people and organisations with a correlation in their core beliefs to build better understanding and a stronger, more connected community.

With a ‘yes we can’ attitude, Phillip is an advocate for people of all abilities, and has an unwavering focus on providing personalised solutions to enrich the lives of everyone in the broader community.
Prior to his current role, Phillip held a variety General and Executive Management positions in Melbourne and on the border.

Phillip is a passionate husband and father to a young family and enjoys fishing, outdoor work, and travel, along with bee keeping. In Spring it is not too uncommon to see Phillip out and about in his protective bee suit rescuing and rehoming wayward bee swarms.

Anthony Nicholson

Anthony Nicholson

Board Member

Nicho has 25+ years’ experience of working with young people in a variety of roles. He started out in outdoor education working at Outward Bound Australia for 4 years; he has worked at 4 Summer Camps in Michigan (U.S.A) including taking his family there in 2019; he has worked at the YMCA in Palmerston (N.T); as well as a role at City of Wodonga for 13 years as the Youth Services Officer; most recently he spent 5 years at Wodonga Middle Years College as the Defence Transition Mentor.

Now he works full time with his wife running their own business (The Mandala Project) where they run leadership and personal development programs for young people form 12 – 27 years of age, as well as father/son and mother/daughter programs amongst other things.

Nicho loves to travel both internationally and in Australia and has a passion for hiking and camping with the family. Now that he is past playing sport he loves to watch it when he has time. And he is a massive Bruce Springsteen fan.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Applied Science in Parks, Recreation and Heritage; Diploma of Youth Work; Certificate IV in Outdoor Recreation; Certificate IV in Training and Assessment

Simon Morris

Simon Morris

Board Member

Simon comes to the Albury Wodonga Connected Communities board with over 25 years of Information Communications & Technology (ICT) and business experience, having worked all over the world in a number of different roles. Currently, Simon is the Principal Consultant at ArchiTech Network & Communications Solutions, a regional Victorian ICT provider that currently supports a number of customers in the Albury Wodonga and surrounds region, many of which are in the Health Care industry.

After a long stint living in Melbourne, Simon relocated back to the Albury Wodonga region with his family (wife and two daughters) back in May 2022 as he sought to provide his family with the same rich experiences he had whilst growing
up in Wodonga area. Simon is passionate about the local area and continually strives to find ways to contribute positively to the local community, whether that is in a formal capacity or an informal one.

From an informal perspective, Simon is deeply engaged with the local Craft Beer community, as well as supporting other key producer industries, most notably the wine, spirits and fresh produce industries as he believes that the North East region
of Victoria has some of the best offerings in the world! When he’s not involved with these industries, Simon enjoys spending time with his family, travelling, camping, fishing, taking the kids behind the boat in the biscuit, watching motor sports & local/ Australian football and of course tinkering with IT and electrical equipment.

Qualifications: Certificate III in Information Technology

David Baird

David Baird

Board Member

David brings to the board 20+ years working in hospitality management and healthcare.

Originally from the Albury Wodonga region, a passion for cooking in his early years saw him to undertake a chefs apprenticeship, which led to roles in restaurants across Australia, the UK and Canada. Moving on into management roles in corporate catering, and large pub groups, he also had his own business contracting to the defence and aged care sectors.

He is currently working in public sector residential aged care as the Catering Coordinator for Tallangatta Health Service. He is also currently on the board of Meals On Wheels Victoria.

After being lucky enough to travel and live around the world, David honestly believes the Albury Wodonga region is one of the best places to live. So much so, he and his wife returned in 2021 to settle and raise our family.

Brazilian jiu jitsu trained, David is a mad foodie, and is in love everything this region has to offer from the produce to the wineries and breweries!

Georgia Spence

Georgia Spence

Board Member

Georgia comes to the AWCC Board with experience as both a business owner and an organisational resourcing specialist, currently working as a Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Albury Wodonga Health, with a number of other human resourcing roles to her name as well. This experience allows Georgia to contribute a wealth of experience to the board, with specific focuses on corporate governance and the ability to guide the AWCC team on the best use of resources in the community. Not one to rest on her laurels, Georgia also has a wealth of experience with managing social media accounts and is looking forward to keeping the community continually informed of our ventures via the AWCC social channels.

From a company ownership perspective, Georgia and her partner Dean recently acquired the O’Connell’s Refrigeration and Airconditioning business after the original owners sought to relocate to another part of Australia. Prior to owning the business, Dean worked as an employee for the company and when the previous owner sought to exit and relocate, Georgia and Dean saw a great opportunity to continue the operation of a business that has served the North East Victoria region for over 40 years. It is this experience that Georgia will lean on in order to drive high value outcomes for the AWCC organisation and of course the local community members who benefit from the work that is done.

Georgia is a lifelong resident of the Albury-Wodonga region and is extremely passionate about investing in and supporting the Albury-Wodonga and surrounds community. She enjoys spending time with her dog (Zeus the Maremma), engaging in physical fitness and enjoying the company of her close family and friends. More importantly, Georgia absolutely loves the outdoors and enjoying all the things the NE Victoria community has to offer, often spending time going camping, going motorbike riding and riding horses.