Source: Australian Renewable Energy Agency
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) welcomes the announcement by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon Chris Bowen MP, of new leadership appointments to the ARENA Board.
Deputy Chair Ms Marianna O’Gorman has been appointed Chair of the ARENA Board, replacing Mr Justin Punch on 18 July. Justin has served in the role since July 2020. Current Board member, Ms Elizabeth O’Leary, has been appointed as Deputy Chair and re-appointed for another term.
ARENA also welcomes the appointment of Ms Lara Olsen and Mr Kobad Bhavnagri to the ARENA Board, while farewelling longstanding Board Director Mr Stephen McIntosh.
Zoe von Batenburg, who is Acting CEO while Darren Miller is on leave, welcomed the appointments, saying the new leadership team would help guide the agency through the next phase of Australia’s energy transition.
“ARENA plays a critical role in accelerating the development and adoption of renewable energy technologies, and strong leadership at the Board level is essential to us delivering on this mission,” Ms von Batenburg said.
“Marianna’s experience across clean energy investment and public policy, and Elizabeth’s deep financial and sector expertise, have already been invaluable to us and we’re delighted to have a female Chair and Deputy Chair leading the board for the first time in ARENA’s history.”
“I’m also thrilled to welcome Lara and Kobad to the Board, both of whom will bring additional expertise and fresh perspectives to support the agency’s work in accelerating Australia’s transition to net zero emissions.”
“I would like to acknowledge the significant contribution of outgoing Chair Justin Punch and Director Stephen McIntosh, who have helped guide the agency through a period of growth and impact and have been instrumental in shaping ARENA’s strategic direction,” Ms von Batenburg said.
“We thank them both for their dedicated service and lasting contribution to Australia’s renewable energy sector.”
The Minister has also announced that current Board members Ms Ruby Heard and Dr Dean Travers have been reappointed for another term.
For more information on ARENA’s Board and structure, including biographies for every Board member, visit ARENA’s board page.
Background:
Marianna O’Gorman
Marianna O’Gorman brings to the ARENA Board experience in sustainable investment, energy generation, clean tech innovation, and public policy. Her career has included work at the World Bank; in the Australian Government focusing on national climate change and energy policy and on governmental and international climate change negotiations; the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and in public policy think tanks. She co-founded the McKell Institute Queensland.
Marianna mentors at EnergyLab and is a mentee under the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Chair’s Mentoring program. She is a recipient of the Chief Executive Women Sustainability Scholarship and the Garnaut Prize. Marianna holds a Masters of Climate Change from Australian National University; a Bachelor of Laws from University of Queensland; is a graduate of the AICD and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees. She is admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Elizabeth O’Leary
Elizabeth O’Leary is a Senior Managing Director in Macquarie Asset Management (MAM), the real assets investment division of Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG). She has over 20 years’ experience at Macquarie where she has held senior roles including the Global Head of Agriculture & Natural Assets.
Under her leadership the division grew one of Australia’s largest diversified agriculture portfolios with substantial decarbonisation initiatives that included the development of methods for measuring, reducing and removing greenhouse gas emissions across its existing operations. She also led MAM’s international investment strategies into nature-based solutions. She was previously Macquarie’s Global Head of Human Resources and has extensive experience in people leadership, M&A transactions, large-scale asset and investment management and organisation transformation.
Elizabeth is an investment committee member of several Macquarie-managed funds in the agriculture and renewable resources sectors and holds several portfolio company directorships in Australia and Europe including Forliance GmbH and Aula Energy Pty Ltd.
She is also a board member of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Chair of the People and Culture Committee. She contributes to several not-for-profit initiatives and is currently a Director of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation.
Kobad Bhavnagri
Kobad Bhavnagri is a leading expert on the energy transition. He was most recently the Global Head of Strategy for BloombergNEF, an international research provider specialising in the transition to a low-carbon economy. In this role, Kobad spent 16 years analysing the energy transition and providing rigorous, independent advice on the technologies, economics and market conditions driving decarbonisation.
Kobad has subject matter expertise spanning clean power, hydrogen, industry decarbonisation, electrified transport, carbon markets, sustainable agriculture, nature restoration and climate adaptation. He is a trusted advisor to senior decision makers in government, industry and finance around the world, and has authored over 200 research publications including the New Energy Outlook and Hydrogen Economy Outlook.
Kobad is currently a Governor and Member of the Eminent Scientists Group of WWF Australia and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the faculty of Engineering at the University of New South Wales. He held various executive leadership roles with Bloomberg in Australia and globally, and was previously a member of the Australian Government’s India-Australia Green Hydrogen Taskforce and National Hydrogen Strategy Review. He is a former Non-Executive Director and Nominations Committee Chair of the Carbon Market Institute. Kobad has a Bachelor of Engineering (first class honours) from the University of New South Wales and executive education from Harvard Business School.
Lara Olsen
Lara Olsen brings over two decades of executive leadership experience across the energy, technology and public sectors.
Lara’s previous roles have included Managing Director of South East Water and Global Head of Business Development and Industrial Products at Tesla USA. Her strategic background includes Head of Strategy roles at the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and CitiPower & Powercor and as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group in London and Australia. Lara also spent more than 5 years founding and leading energy start ups including co-founding an energy software as a service company.
Lara is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a member of Chief Executive Women and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). She has a Bachelor of Engineering (Hon) / Arts from the University of Melbourne and a Masters of Business Administration from INSEAD.