Board Members

Australia for UNHCR is governed by a board of directors who generously volunteer their time and their expertise to the strategic management and governance of the organisation.

John Denton - Chair

John Denton is our founding Chair and works at senior corporate and government level to advocate Australia for UNHCR's mission to provide life-changing support for refugees. John's commitment over the last 10 years to the work of the UN Refugee Agency is shaped by his experience as a diplomat with postings in Dhaka and Baghdad where he observed UNHCR's work on the ground.  He travelled to East Timor in 2002 to receive thanks from the government for Australia for UNHCR's support of new sporting facilities.

John is the Chief Executive Officer and Partner of Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lawyers, one of our key corporate partners which supports UNHCR via staff giving programs and sponsorships. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors and Bachelor of Laws and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. John is a member of the Board of the Business Council of Australia and is a Prime Ministerial Appointee to the APEC Business Advisory Council. Most recently he was appointed to the government's Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness.

John Boultbee

John Boultbee is a lawyer and has been a Director since November 2000. John's work in the Australian sporting community was honoured in 1990 when he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.  John is the Head of National Teams and Football Development at the Football Federation of Australia and a Judge of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.  He is a strong advocate for the transformative sports programs UNHCR provides for young refugees, having observed these programs in refugee camps in Thailand.

Michael Dwyer

Michael Dwyer has been a Board member since July 2000 and is also the Chair of our Program Committee. Most of Michael's professional life has been spent in the superannuation industry and he is currently the CEO of First State Super. Michael's determination to improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people is matched by his admiration for UNHCR's work on the ground which he first saw in East Timor in 2002. He is the instigator of our Twilight Seminar program, a series of occasional seminars for the financial services sector with income supporting UNHCR, and has brought significant corporate support to our annual World Refugee Day Breakfast event.

Paul Reid

Paul Reid joined the Board in December 2004. Paul is a partner at KPMG, a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and is a registered Company Auditor. With more than 30 years experience in professional accounting, regulatory compliance matters and risk advisory services, Paul has made a significant contribution to the governance of the organisation, initially as a pro-bono auditor and now as Head of our Finance Committee. Paul has a strong commitment to social justice and is a generous supporter of a number of not for profit organisations providing advice and pro bono support.

Fiona Reynolds

Fiona Reynolds is the Chief Executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, and is a leader in the  non-profit super sector, representing industry and public sector funds as well as corporate non-profit funds. Fiona joined the Board in early 2010 and travelled with our National Director to Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda in March 2010. She was shocked by the everyday challenges people face in the settlement and the ability of relatively small amounts of money to improve their quality of life. Since her return she has raised significant funding for the settlement's education and water facilities through corporate presentations and events.

Alice Spigelman

Alice Spigelman has served as a Board member since 2006 and is the Chair of our Women's Projects committee. Alice is a biographer and clinical psychologist as well as an experienced marketer and arts practitioner. She brings her creative and networking skills and her own life experiences as a refugee to her advocacy and fundraising work for UNHCR. In 2006 she travelled to East Timor to view UNHCR's emergency response capacity.  Alice is especially passionate about improving outcomes for refugee women and children and is the driving force behind our annual Mothers Day Lunch which raises funds for UNHCR's Reproductive Health programs, supporting mothers and their babies in Somalia, Chad and Myanmar.