Our team
Chief Executive Officer – Anthony Cavanagh
A Taungurung person from Victoria. Anthony became the CEO of Ganbina in 2013. Anthony’s career spans over 30 years working in recruitment, training, operations and community services in both the private and government sectors. He is a past member of the ANZ Bank’s Indigenous Advisory Council, an alumni of the prestigious Williamson Leadership Program and Melbourne Business School’s MURRA Program and a past director of Philanthropy Australia. He has also studied at Stanford Business School in the United States.
He has a Diploma of Business and holds qualifications in Quality Management, Risk Management, Workplace Safety and Environmental Management.
The Board
Chair: Fallon Wanganeen
Joined: 2023
Fallon is a proud Narungga man from the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. He is a results-driven professional with a proven track record in championing diversity and inclusion. His roles have spanned across Talent Acquisition, Employment Program Management, and Employee Journey Enhancement. As ANZ’s Inclusion Program Manager, he focuses on harnessing the power of diversity by creating employment avenues for underrepresented groups and fostering workplace capabilities.
Deputy Chair: Chris Schulz
Joined 2018
Chris spent more than thirty years as a partner at Allens, one of Australia’s leading commercial law firms, where he mainly practised Environmental Law. After retiring from full time work in 2017, he spent five years as a consultant to Allens and other organisations. He was also a director at Earthwatch Institute for nine years. He has a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Laws from Melbourne University.
Treasurer: Edward Waller
Joined 2017
Ed is a Deputy Portfolio Manager at Yarra Capital Management, one of Australia’s leading independent fund managers. As a member of the firm’s investment team, he is responsible for equity research and analysis of banks, diversified financials, infrastructure and utilities securities. Ed previously worked for 10 years as an investment manager for Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He has a BA in Commerce and a BA in Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne.
Secretary: Timothy Warwick
Joined 2017
Tim is a former teacher and school principal, who currently leads the Education Equity Alliance, a collaboration of students, teachers and school/system leaders, aimed at achieving system change for equity. He is also a current board member of the Australian Alliance of Associations in Education, Ganbina and the Victorian Student Representative Council.
Previously he worked as a project manager for the Department of Education (VIC) to support school improvement across a large network of schools, led the development of Kaiela Dhungala First Peoples Curriculum and was on the Primary English Teachers Association Australia board.
Member: Paulleen Markwort
Joined 2024
Paulleen is a Murri woman with connection to the Gulf of Carpentaria through her matriarchs and Wiradjuri through her grandfather.
Paulleen is a highly qualified senior executive with extensive experience in key strategy and policy roles within State Government and the community sector, with a successful track record driving innovation and reform to improve education, health and wellbeing outcomes and enhance service responsiveness, effectiveness, quality and safety.
She holds a Master of Public Administration from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government and a Bachelor of Teaching Early Childhood from Charles Sturt University.
Paulleen is a skilled communicator, adept at utilising systems thinking and implementation science frameworks, Agile and Scrum methodologies, design thinking and collaborative participation models to strategic policy development and design.
Member: Kevin Moore
Joined 2018
Kevin is a VC Indigenous Pre-Doctoral Fellow at RMIT School of Management Melbourne, with his PhD topic on Victorian Treaty, Voices and Identity. Earlier roles at RMIT include Manager, Planning and Operations of RMIT’s Ngara Willim Centre which supports Indigenous people who work and study at RMIT; and Senior Advisor, Community Engagement. Kevin has a BA in Kyinandoo (Indigenous Studies). He is a member of RMIT’S Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Employer Advisory Committee and the Education Research Group.
Member: Dr Lisa Griffiths
Joined: 2022
Lisa is the Chief Executive Officer at OzChild, a National Child Welfare Organisation. Lisa is a strong advocate for using ‘multiple sources of evidence, that demonstrate what work’ for children, young people and families facing vulnerabilities and has led the introduction of multiple evidence-based models in Australia. Lisa is an Adjunct Professor with the Australian Graduate School of Management and holds a Doctorate in Business Leadership. Lisa also sits on multiple expert committees in relation to Children and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Centre for Evidence Based Management.
Member: Lena-Jean Charles-Loffel
Joined: 2021
Lena is a Yorta Yorta/Gunai Kurnai woman and a Ganbina graduate. She joined Ganbina when she was 14-years-old and became the first Ganbina participant to obtain a Master’s degree (Master of Public Health) specialising in Indigenous Health from The University of Melbourne. Today she is Head of Impact at Clothing the Gaps Foundation, an Aboriginal-led not-for-profit by public health practitioners with the purpose to add years to Aboriginal people’s lives. She has been involved in the Yorta Yorta Traditional Owners Land Management Board and is the second Ganbina participant to join the Ganbina Board.
Member: Dr Ash Francisco
Joined: 2023
Ash is a proud Wiradjuri woman who grew up on Wurundjeri and Bunurong Country and is now based on Taungurung Country in North Central Victoria. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) from the University of Melbourne and a Master’s degree in Applied Cultural Analysis from Lunds University in Sweden.
Her industry experience has focused on advancing Indigenous success and restorative justice in both the corporate and public sectors. She obtained a PhD from the University of Newcastle detailing the history of the NSW Aboriginal Protection Board throughout the 1930s and the Welfare Board throughout the 40s. Her current research agenda focuses on the Indigenous future of work, regional Indigenous business development and access and youth leadership.
She has previously worked with the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Kimberley Land Council (WA) and the Koori Justice Unit in Victoria. She is currently a lecturer and engagement lead at the Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Business School. She is an inaugural member of the Yuma Yirramboi Victorian Aboriginal Economic and Employment Council, an advisor of Richmond Football Club’s reconciliation advisory group and MCA’s Bangawarra Art Yarns Reference Group.
On average 90% of Ganbina participants complete Year 12
(National Indigenous average = 66%, Non-Indigenous average = 89%)
Source: Close the Gap Report 2020