Our people

Ian holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Entomology and a Master’s in Management from The University of Queensland. He was CEO of Queensland Museum Network for 13 years and prior to that Deputy CEO at Museum Victoria and Director of Land Protection at the Queensland Department of Lands. He also worked with the Department of Primary Industries as an entomologist. He is Chairman of the National Trust of Australia (Qld) and in 2019 received a Member of The Order of Australia for significant service to the museums sector, to historical preservation, and to the environment.

Cherrell graduated from The University of Queensland in medicine and practiced for 30 years, predominantly as Director of the Wesley Breast Clinic. She was Chancellor of QUT from 1994 to 2004 and since 2000 has been a Non-Executive Director and/ or Chair of a wide variety of corporate entities. Cherrell is currently on the Boards of Bolton Clarke Group and the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service and recently retired as Chair of Factor Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:FTT). Cherrell has been awarded five honorary doctorates, a Centenary Medal (2003) and the title of Officer of the Order of Australia (1998). She was named Queenslander of the Year in 1995 and awarded the Queensland AICD Gold Medal in 2015.

Elizabeth is a non-executive director of over 30 years standing and a nationally respected governance consultant of almost 20 years. With a prior background as a partner of a national law firm, Elizabeth founded national corporate governance consultancy Board Matters and associated firm Board Matters Legal. Having served over the past 30 years on the boards of more than 20 other organisations in the private, not-for profit and public sectors, Elizabeth is currently President and Chair of RACQ, Chair of Queensland Theatre, Director of The Pinnacle Foundation and a Director of the Australian Major Performing Arts Group. In 2020 she was awarded a Member of The Order of Australia for significant service to business and the community, especially in the Arts and Education sectors in Queensland.

Ashley holds Commerce and Economics degrees from The University of Queensland, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia. Ashley is a Private Client Adviser at Shadforth Financial Group and was part of Shadforth’s Investment Committee for 10 years. He remains active in the ongoing development of the Group’s investment philosophy and his expertise lies in portfolio construction and developing highly effective wealth accumulation and retirement planning strategies.

Persephone emigrated to Australia from the UK 35 years ago having developed her advertising and marketing career in the UK, Europe and the US.She was a Director at Clemenger BBDO Brisbane before establishing the Queensland based creative branding, marketing and digital agency NOUS in 1999 and retired as Managing Director in 2018. With 30 years of working across all industry sectors both public and private throughout Queensland, Persephone has a deep understanding of its social, economic and geographic challenges. As a Director of SJL Agribusiness she has further substantiated her knowledge of rural Queensland.
Persephone has a Joint Honours degree in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Durham and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a keen Francophile and is currently a Director at Alliance Francaise de Brisbane.

Tony has degrees in Economics and Marketing together with a Masters in Advanced Finance and is the Director of Regional Development for Regional Development Australia Fitzroy and Central West. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, CPA Australia, Governance Institute of Australia and the Institute of Managers and Leaders.  Tony has spent much of his career working for large corporations including National Australia Bank and IBM within Australia and the Middle-East, as well as in his own small businesses in the retail franchise sector. He was the General Manager of Mango 4 Office Technology and has had a great deal of experience working with companies within the emerging technologies sector. He was a founding member of the Central Queensland Committee of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Queensland Small Medium Enterprise Committee of CPA Australia. Tony joined The John Villiers Board in February 2020 and is a non-executive Director of RACQ.

Lea-Anne Bradley joined the John Villiers Trust as CEO in September 2020. She is a highly experienced philanthropic professional who has over 18 years’ experience establishing and managing charitable trusts and fundraising initiatives.  Lea-Anne has worked extensively across areas of fundraising, capital campaigns, major gifts programs and strategy for the charitable sector within youth, education, health, conservation and international development. Her experience working for State Trustees, the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and Equity Trustees enables her to brings a depth of knowledge in the successful implementation, management and process improvement in the philanthropic and grantmaking space to the John Villiers Trust.
She holds a Master’s degree in Social Investment and Philanthropy and has served as a committee and board member for charities within the cultural, education and disabilities sectors.