Novita Board of Directors

FCA FAIM MAICD BA (ACC)

Andrew Daniels is a qualified and proven Board Chair and Company Director with more than 30 years of experience in major projects and event management in Australia, including roles as the Chief Executive Officer of Adelaide Oval, Chief Executive of the South Australian Motor Sports Board, Commercial Manager of the South Australian Tourism Commission and Deputy Chief Executive of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix Board.

Andrew is also Chair of the Adelaide Venue Management Corporation, the South Australian Motor Sport Board, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Holdings Ltd.

Andrew is passionate about Novita’s mission of enabling children, young people and adults living with disability and their families to participate in the community to their full potential and is proud to be able to support the organisation in its delivery.

Jani is an experienced Board member and Executive in both large public and profit-for-purpose organisations.

Jani’s expertise range across strategy development and strategic thinking, governance, customer experience, stakeholder engagement and leadership. With a background in public health and aged care, Jani has gained a deep appreciation of the needs of vulnerable communities and has identified innovative opportunities to address stigma and disadvantage.

Together with superior interpersonal skills, Jani has extensive experience working across organisations to ultimately influence the health outcomes of the community. Jani is currently the Chief Strategy Officer for the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, and was on the Board of Lighthouse Disability for six years and sees opportunities for improvement in the disability sector through greater partnerships with local communities and the health sector.

Professor Pat Buckley is a scientist and physiologist, with a background in the university sector educating clinical practitioners, growing health and biomedical research, and leading research training and researcher development. She has also held multiple governance and Board roles.

Commitment to equal opportunity and social justice is intrinsic to Pat’s professional and personal life.

It is with great pleasure that Pat has joined the Board of Directors at Novita – an organisation she describes as having inclusivity, achieving potential, and diversity as part of its DNA.

CA CTA BCom BBus (Comm Law)

Amy is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a Chartered Tax Advisor with over 18 years experience providing advice and guidance to businesses to help achieve their financial goals.

Amy commenced her career at EY where she provided tax and accounting advice to a wide range of businesses across South Australia. Amy joined McMahon Services in 2010 and served as CFO until 2017 when she took on the role of CEO for McMahon Investments looking after a broad range of operations including plant hire, retirement living, commercial and residential property, and marine services.

Amy has a strong commercial acumen, with a particular focus on financial reporting, risk and governance.

As an experienced Board director and Executive, and having worked in commercial, public, and not-for-profit organisations, Alison brings extensive experience in transformative leadership and organisational improvement and performance. She has a track record in creating strong and sustainable organisations through the intersection of people, performance, culture and engagement.

With a career spanning 30 years, across professional services, health, technology and public sectors, she is recognised for leading values-led organisations equipped to meet the rapidly changing demands of their industries.

This diverse experience underpins her pragmatic and people-centred approach and has allowed her to occupy trusted advisory roles across a broad cohort of executives, advisors and Boards.

Alison is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Kain Lawyers, and is a graduate of the AICD Company Directors course. She serves on the Board of Crime Stoppers South Australia, the Kain Foundation and FutureYou. She has a deep commitment to community and leads Kain’s partnership with the Kain Foundation focused on supporting disadvantaged youth both here and overseas. She is passionate about Novita’s mission and making a meaningful contribution to improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Meryl has qualifications in counselling and social work and has been an advocate for adults, young people and children who live with disability in a number of positions across the Commonwealth Government. Her most recent position was as a senior executive with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), leading both national and state-based initiatives for eight years.

Meryl’s significant executive career in service‐based sectors includes disability, health workforce, Indigenous Affairs, housing, early childhood and return to work/rehabilitation.

Through Meryl’s lived and work experience, she has developed a passionate commitment to ensuring people living with disability are provided with opportunities, live fulfilled lives and are treated with dignity and respect. Meryl is pleased to join the Novita Board to contribute to delivering accessible solutions and building inclusive services and communities

Peter Prest’s career has focused on strategic planning, corporate performance, decision-critical information provision and the underlying organisational structures and systems that support this environment. Peter has broad commercial, general management and non-executive director experience in large and complex organisations in Australia, United Kingdom and New Zealand across a range of industries. As Chief Financial Officer he currently leads the Finance branch at The University of Adelaide in the Australian Higher Education sector.

Peter’s skills and experience are complemented by a philosophy of building high performing teams in a continuous improvement culture and providing structure and clarity around operational and strategic decisions. He has been involved in numerous change management initiatives including implementations of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, the re-engineering of organisation-wide systems and processes and the alignment of organisational capabilities and structures.

MBA, LLM, FAICD, FGIA, CCRO, FANZIIF

Levi is an accomplished executive and non-executive director with extensive experience in financial services, global markets, strategy, and transformation, underpinned by expertise in governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Levi holds a Master of Laws, a Master of Business Administration, and post-graduate qualifications in risk management, compliance, and insurance.

Levi has held several board positions including with Lakeside Villages, Lighthouse Disability, Burnside Retirement Services, and with state government committees and initiatives such as Green Adelaide, Industry Skills Council, and Industry Leaders.

He is a ‘fellow’ of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Governance Institute of Australia and the Australia and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance and a ‘Certified Chief Risk Officer’ with the Risk Management Institute of Australia.

Levi is committed to driving growth, fostering strong governance, and ensuring sustainable outcomes to enable Novita to support our clients and the community.”

Greg Ward was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Novita Children’s Services in July 2016.

With a focus on innovation and shared outcomes, Greg offers strong leadership for the achievement of our vision and ongoing sustainability. His experience in the selection and management of high performing teams will enable the implementation of a range of new exciting strategies for our transformation into meeting the challenges of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Greg has a long and impressive pedigree with successful military, public and private sector roles, including at CEO and Board level.

Following a 19 year career in the Royal Australian Navy, he has held a number of challenging positions in civil infrastructure, manufacturing, global defence businesses and ICT project management, both in South Australia and overseas.

Among his many achievements, Greg has successfully started, managed and grown a number of innovative businesses. With broad experience as a Project Director and Program Manager across civil design, IT and construction programs, he has delivered complex life-cycle projects. He has also consulted to a broad range of large global organisations focusing on project management strategy and implementation, operational effectiveness and improvement.

Greg is a firm advocate for investment into building skills, knowledge and staff retention, in order to maximise Novita’s unique offer, points of difference and intellectual properties.

Aapo Hakala is a commercially minded executive with more than 20 years of financial and operational leadership experience across the health, government, corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Originally from Finland, Aapo has worked throughout Europe and Australia, supporting organisations ranging from global corporations to community-focused services.

Before joining Novita, Aapo served as Chief Financial Officer at Country and Outback Health, an organisation supporting more than 9,000 clients across regional South Australia. His experience spans aged care, mental health, allied health, Aboriginal health, NDIS, and general health services - giving him a deep understanding of sector complexity and community needs.

As Novita’s Chief Financial Officer, Aapo is a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, responsible for strategic, tactical and operational leadership across finance, business services, IT, business intelligence, plan management, facilities and fleet.

Aapo is passionate about strong financial stewardship and is committed to ensuring Novita’s resources are used in ways that directly enhance outcomes for the people and communities we support.