OUR TEAM

David is a retired professional who enjoys working with people and being involved in ventures that give back to the community.

He brings over 39 years of trade and farming experience working in senior and executive leadership roles to GGC, and is passionate about supporting the region.

David also is the Chair the Committee for Wellington.

Peter comes to GGC after being the stakeholder manager at the Committee for Gippsland. He has a strong finance and management background, these skills and experience lend themselves well to his role as CEO of the George Gray Centre. His strong social conscience will see him fight for all GGC participants, their families and staff.

Peter Lives in Sale with his partner Lisa and his most beloved dog in the world, Judy. He has one adult son, Fin. 

Don’t tell anyone but he somehow still follows Carlton. Please call in and say hello should you be at the Maffra centre.

Leanne was born and raised in Maffra, and has a sound understanding of the value that an organisation like GGC brings to the community. Leanne has an extensive career in business process development and supply chain planning, and is currently the Business Process Lead for Logistics and Customer Experience in the Global Supply Chain for Fonterra.

As self-proclaimed, tenacious truth-seeker, Leanne is committed to ensuring the success of GGC by utilising her research and analytical skills to find unique solutions to difficult problems.  

Having been born and raised in Maffra, Catherine has always had a deep respect and awareness of the great service the George Gray Centre provides to the local community.

Catherine has a strong background in finance, having run her own bookkeeping business for 20-plus years. 

In her free time, Catherine runs a Social Walking group, as well as a Support Group for women who have recently lost their partners.

Now semi-retired, Catherine loves to travel, meeting new people and learning new skills.

Derek Phelps joined the Board of Management after becoming inspired by the work that the GGC team undertakes for the community.

He currently works for Exxonmobil as the Longford Maintenance Superintendent, and also operates a small beef farm in Longford alongside his wife, where they live with their three children.

Derek’s work experience includes various project management, planning and supervision roles, largely within the oil and gas industry.

Paul Davis is a local small business operator in Primary Production, and has 30 years of experience working in the Oil and Gas industry in both field and management roles.

Paul is a father to a George Gray Centre participant, and feels inspired and grateful for the work and services that the GGC provide. He uses his skills an experience to help contribute to GGC as a Member of the Board of Management.

Jamie joined the board of GGC to increase the linkages between disability service providers within the Wellington Shire.  Jamie is currently Principal of Sale & District Specialist School and has been in this roll since July 2020.  

He has 7 years experience being a board member of disability services in North East Victoria and has been a Principal of two specialist schools with 2008.  

Jamie lives in Sale with his wife Mandy and in his spare time enjoys fishing and working in the garden. 

Mathias, born and bred in the Latrobe Valley where he attended school and grew up. Moved to Newcastle for 6.5 years and returned to Gippsland where he has been an engaged and active member of the community serving on multiple community advisory committees and cemetery trusts. Here are where he has developed the drive and skills for the GGC Board of Management. 

Mathias is employed as a Maintenance Projects Lead with AGL Energy at the Loy Yang Power Station and mine and brings strong planning, project management and leaderships skills. He is the lucky Dad to Jemimah and partner to Chloe where they reside in Traralgon.

The General Manager, a Principal, and CPA, Kurt has a long history with Phillipsons, acting as accountant and business advisor to a cross section of clients across Melbourne and Gippsland.

Kurt oversees systems and personnel to ensure a consistently high level of service is delivered across all teams.

Kurt regularly writes for national magazines on business and financial software reviews.

A passionate individual who believes in giving back to the community and making the lives of those most vulnerable better by letting them live with dignity and a sense of belonging. Kanchana has used sports as a means of teaching kids the tools of resilience, not to be afraid to fail and self-worth, and is looking to apply my passion to other areas of the community.

He and his wife have two boys, 21 and 15, accompanied by our two dogs (Nala and Erol) and live in Berwick.

Kanchana’s professional background is in computer science, project management, change management, and mentoring, of which I most enjoy mentoring. As an out-of-the-box thinker, he is always looking for ways to do things better and more efficiently to improve the experience of all those involved. 

He hopes to bring my skillset to help and also to learn new ones along the way.