Board of Directors

Craig Bingham

Craig Bingham has a long cycling history as a passionate rider, supporter and investor, including the 2017 Bennelong SwissWellness cycling team sponsorship.

Craig is the global CEO of the BFM Group, which operates as Bennelong Funds Management in Australia and BennBridge in the UK and US. He is a highly regarded financial services executive with extensive experience in Australian and international markets.

Since joining in October 2014, Craig has fast-tracked the Group’s growth, expanding the Australian-domiciled offering from four to six boutique asset teams. In addition, Craig’s entrepreneurial drive led to the Group’s global expansion, building on the Australian business to establish Bennelong’s offshore arm BennBridge in the UK and US. This has included partnering with a further four boutiques in the UK, with plans for future growth.

A strong advocate of creating an enviable corporate culture, Craig has ensured the global ethos is one of high performance, while retaining a focus on mutual respect, open communication and continuous curiosity.

Craig was previously the CEO of Federated Investors Asia Pacific. Prior to that, he was CEO at Portfolio Partners (which later became Aviva Investors Asia Pacific) where he was responsible for establishing and developing licensed asset management businesses in Australia, Singapore and China, and expanding a presence in Asia and the Middle East.

Craig is also a Non-Executive Director of the philanthropic Bennelong Foundation and the Australian Cricketers Retirement Account.
 

Darren Alomes

Darren was elected to the BMX Australia Board in 2016 and elected Chair in 2018. He has previous governance experience with BMX South Australia where he provided support from administration and officialdom roles at all levels - club, state, nationally and internationally. Darren has over 30 years’ experience in all levels of Government IT and Security, currently in Network and Cyber Security. With previous recreational riding experience and a family active in this sport and others, inclusiveness and respect are priorities that Darren personally strives to deliver and promote at all levels.

Lee Brentzell

Lee is an experienced Business Leader, Strategic and Governance Advisor and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Lee is an engineering professional with business qualifications and international project experience in energy, oil and gas, mining and sport. She has 25 years’ senior executive management experience defining and leading large-scale transformational projects in the private sector as well as State and Federal government entities. 

Lee is the former Chair of Mountain Bike Australia and has been recently appointed to Commonwealth Games Australia’s governance subcommittee to provide her contemporary governance expertise. She is a competitive sports person who loves to share her passion for mountain biking riding with her family and friends.

Katrina Cowan

Katrina is an experience finance professional with over 30 years of financial services experience. She is a Chartered Accountant with a Masters of Tax degree and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Katrina has skills in governance, risk management, transformation and stakeholder engagement. She has been involved in running large enterprise-wide regulatory projects, is a change management expert and has consulted for international technology companies. She is a previous Finance Director of BMX Australia and current director of Ausrichter Pty Ltd a veterinary pharmaceutical company, Independent Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee of Skate Australia and member of State Leadership Committee for Women in Banking and Finance.

Katrina is passionate about increasing participation in sport and keeping members involved in sport throughout their lives. 

Brian Gallagher

Non-Executive Director, Experienced Media Executive, Consultant and Advisor

Brian is a strategically focused and frequently disruptive C-Suite executive with over 30 years’ experience leading broadcast, production and digital media companies to growth through innovation. He has honed the discipline of harnessing research and insight to inform commercial strategy and creative execution.

Currently, Brian is Chair of Boomtown, the regional media industries trade marketing body, charged with ensuring the continued investment in regional media advertising and a major shareholder and director of a video production company, Context Media. Context produces main stream television content and has been successful in distributing original TV shows globally.

Anne Gripper

Anne has enjoyed 25 years working in sport leadership roles. Most recently she was the Executive Director at the NSW Office of Sport and previously the Chief Executive Officer of Triathlon Australia for five years. Between 2006 and 2010 she worked for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) as the Director of Anti- Doping. She is involved in the governance of cycling at the national level through AusCycling, at the continental level through the Oceania Cycling Confederation and at the international level as a member of the UCI Management Committee and Chair of the UCI Integrity Commission. 

Outside of sport, Anne is the Chair of the June Canavan Foundation, a Non-Executive Director of ACRE (the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship) and is a Board member of the Pharmacy Council of NSW.  

Anne remains an active cyclist and triathlete, representing Australia at the Age Group Triathlon World Championships on three occasions.

Jenni McLeod

Jenni has been mountain biking for 22 years, volunteering with clubs, events and trail building activities. In 2017 she founded ‘Shredding Betties’, Australia’s first women’s specific affiliated mountain bike club to connect, support and inspire women and girls with the aim of increasing female participation. For the past 10 years Jenni has worked as an on ground political staffer applying her skills to develop and implement campaign strategies to connect and unlock capacity contained within communities. Jenni now runs her own consultancy business.

Rob Nelson

A former surf-ski and kayak paddler, Rob turned to cycling later in life and now actively competes in masters road events having qualified for UCI Grand Fondo World Championships whilst also enjoying hitting the MTB trails.  He brings over 25 years of executive and leadership experience predominantly in the sports, tourism and major events industries having held roles across surf lifesaving, rugby union and AFL and working on significant events including Sydney Olympic Games, Rugby World Cup and the Tour Down Under. He is currently Chief Executive Officer at MI Global Partners, a leading consultancy firm specialising in sport, events and place. Rob is chair of AusCycling's National Advisory Council and QLD State Advisory Council.

Michael Smith

Michael is the current Chair of 7-Eleven Stores PL and Starbucks Australia. He has previously chaired the West Coast Eagles, iiNet, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Perth International Arts Festival.  Michael is also the Principal of boutique strategic development consulting firm, Black House. Previously, he founded The Marketing Centre which provided strategic advice to many of Australia’s most iconic brands for more than three decades.  Michael has a long history in the development of effective strategies, managing performance and identifying critical success factors for outstanding executive team function.