Board of Directors

Richard Stewart OAM has contributed in various capacities to the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW for more than twenty years, including many years in board and committee roles. In his regular work, he is a partner at PwC. He specialises in valuation, corporate finance, strategic value advice, mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings and joint ventures arrangements. His experience with PwC has spanned more than 37 years of work in Australia, Asia, the UK and USA. He has worked for many of PwC’s most prestigious global clients across many industries during his career.

Richard writes and speaks regularly including publishing two non-fiction books.

He holds a Bachelor of Economics, Masters of Business Administration, and is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants ANZ, the CPA in Australia, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia. Richard is also an Adjunct Professor in Business Valuation at the University of Technology Sydney and serves on the International Business Valuation Standards Board and the Business Valuation Committee of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

He received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2015 for his work in the social welfare sector and the accounting profession.

Paul has been a member of the Society for over 35 years. He has served as Conference President, Centres President, and Regional President in south-western Sydney, and currently holds the positions of Conference President (St Patrick’s West Tamworth) and commenced the role of NSW State Council President in March 2022. Paul spent his working life mainly as a logistics manager in road, rail, sea and air freight, providing transport, warehousing and distribution services to the general, food, agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors. Paul is married to Jennifer, has four children and is a member of Rotary.

John Adams is a member of St Patrick’s Conference Glen Innes and serves as Social Justice Representative on the Armidale Diocesan Council and Chair of the Finance Committee of St Patrick’s Parish, Glen Innes. John is a Justice of the Peace (NSW), formerly served as Deputy Chair of the Glen Innes Health Service Board and recently retired from a long career as a Paramedic with NSW Ambulance. John and wife Elaine have celebrated over 45 years of marriage and are proud parents and grandparents.

Michelle was appointed as Broken Bay Central Council President in June 2021. Michelle has previously served as the Vice President for Youth and remains an active member of the Asquith Conference since joining the Society in 2015. She brings to her role a passion in youth ministry, having mentored the Asquith Youth Conference for the past six years and served as a member of the Ku-ring-gai Chase Catholic Parish Pastoral Council and as their Youth Coordinator.

Michelle is currently the Vocations Officer for the Diocese of Broken Bay and the Central Council President for Broken Bay at St Vincent de Paul.

Peter Doyle is an active member of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, being a member of the St Joan of Arc Conference, Haberfield since 2017. Peter became President of the Conference in December 2021. He is a member of the Parish Pastoral Council for the St Joan of Arc Parish. Peter also volunteers at the Vinnies Community Support Centre in Burwood, answering telephone requests for assistance from the Society.

Peter trained as a mining engineer in the early 1980s and pursued a 30-year career in the NSW mining industry. He now has his own consulting practice, with his expertise being predominantly in the field of environmental planning and heritage approvals.

Peter is also an adult officer in the Australian Army Cadets, volunteering his time to support the Saint Aloysius’ College Army Cadet Unit.

Peter is married to Margaret Cassidy, and they have two adult sons, Patrick and Brendan.

Peter holds the following qualifications: Bachelor of Science (Syd), Bachelor of Engineering (Syd), Master of Engineering Science (UNSW), and Master of Business Administration (Executive) (AGSM). He is a Justice of the Peace (NSW). Peter is a Member of Engineers Australia.

Peter has been an active member of St John the Evangelist Parish Dapto since being posted to Wollongong as a primary teacher after his marriage in 1973. He was elected as president of the parish council when it was first established under parish priest Father Francis Tran and is currently an active member of the Dapto Conference. At present, he is the president of the Central Illawarra Regional Council, President of the Wollongong Central Council, and Vice President to the President of NSW State Council. Peter holds a Bachelor Degree in Arts / History, Master of Studies, and a Master of Education (Hons).

John has enjoyed a life-long journey with the Society, from Queensland to Canberra and now the Maitland Newcastle Central Council, where he served as President. John became Interim Chair of the company Board in December 2019. Since 2010, he has also been an active member of the Cessnock Conference. John has held senior positions in both corporate and government organisations, in Australia and overseas. Prior to retirement, he was Chief Operating Officer for Australia Japan Cable, an international consortium of telecom companies.

Liz has 25 years’ experience delivering outcomes at times of change and crisis across large public service and ASX listed organisations spanning transport, investment banking, FMCG, energy and mining, most with international footprints.

Liz has held corporate affairs and sustainability leadership roles within ASX listed organisations, including AGL Energy, Coca-Cola Amatil, South32 and BHP. Prior to specialising in corporate affairs, Liz was Deputy Director General, NSW Ministry of Transport (now Transport NSW), worked in Corporate Advisory at Macquarie Bank with a particular focus on infrastructure development projects, and as a senior ministerial advisor in the NSW Carr Government across infrastructure and transport portfolios.

Liz joined the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW Board in April 2022.

Liz has a Bachelor of Economics (Hons), Sydney University, a Graduate Certificate in Sustainability, Cambridge University, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Anne has been a member of the Society for nearly 30 years and is currently a member of the Winston Hills Conference, having previously served as President of Parramatta Central Council. She was previously The Hills Regional President, Vice President Parramatta Central Council – Member Development and Support, a member of the State Membership Advisory Committee, and President of Harris Park and Winston Hills Conferences. Anne has a background in employment and training and held senior management roles in government regulation and customer service. Anne also holds Director Positions at St Vincent de Paul Society National Redress Scheme Limited and St Vincent de Paul Housing.