BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Neel Chand

Chairperson
Affiliations
Penrith RSL | B. Bus, CA, MBA
Biography

Neel was the Chief Financial Officer of Rooty Hill RSL before his appointment to his current position as CEO of Penrith RSL in July 2010. Neel is a Chartered Accountant with a Business Degree and Masters in Business Administration in Marketing. He has worked in the Corporate and Business profession for over 15 years for various companies including PBL/ Acer Arena, Sunbeam Corporation and Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Neel has been on the Board since January 2011 and Chairperson since December 2022.

Peter Berger

Deputy Chairperson
Affiliations
Berger Piepers Chartered Accountants |Bom, FCA
Biography

Peter has lived in Penrith all his life. He attended St Dominics College and gained his Bachelor of Commerce Degree at the University of New South Wales. Peter is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a registered company auditor, a registered tax agent and a Justice of the Peace. He is also a past member of the executive of the Penrith Chamber of Commerce. Peter was awarded Honorary Membership of the Centre in October 2008 for 20 years of service to the Board.

Peter has been on the Board since its inception in 1988. He held the position of Chairperson from 1991 to 1994 and was re-elected as Chairperson in 2002 until Dec 2022.

Diane Azzopardi

Honorary Secretary
Affiliations
Direct Accounting | B.Comm (Acc), CA, FTIA, JP
Biography

Diane is a Chartered Accountant and has been working in the profession for over 15 years. She is the sole principle of Direct Accounting, a Chartered Accountancy practice that commenced in November 2001 as a result of the purchase of a division of a local Penrith business. The business now employs numerous staff. Diane prides herself and her firm on professionalism, efficiency and friendly service.

Diane is also a Board member of the Nepean Medical Research Foundation and an inaugural member of the Nepean Philanthropists. She is the only female business owner represented out of the 50 businesses initially involved.

Diane has been on the Board since July 2008.

Mark Streater

Honorary Treasurer
Affiliations
Westpac Banking Corporation

Biography

Mark has been employed by Westpac Banking Corporation for over 30 years and was appointed Bank Manager of the Penrith Branch in July 2009. Prior to this he was Regional Manager for Business Banking in Sydney South West where he managed a successful sales team.

Mark has lived in the Penrith Region for over 20 years and this has seen his involvement with various sporting organisations. Mark is a member of many local organisations through his role with Westpac such as Penrith Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Mark has been on the Board since Oct 2009.

Ian Hicks

Director
Affiliations
Hix Group Pty Ltd
Biography

Ian has lived in Penrith for many years. Ian is a local businessman and a Director of three local businesses that employ over 50 people. Ian is a mentor for the Young Achievers Program and has helped many apprentices and trades people with training and mentoring, some of whom have won awards. The Hix Group is now one of the largest businesses in the area and includes six distinct divisions providing Electrical, Data & Integrated Services, Plumbing & Hot Water, Carpentry & Maintenance, Solar Installation and Fire Detection Systems.

Ian has been on the Board since May 2004.

Jason Stone

Director
Affiliations
Panthers
Biography

Jason is an experienced manager within the Club Industry with over 29 years’ experience. He has worked for one of the largest Club groups’ within the southern hemisphere, 6 of those years as General Manager of Penrith Panthers.  He is passionate about the Club industry and working with his teams to achieve the best they can for the business and within themselves professionally.

Jason has been on the Board since January 2019

Jeni Pollard

Director
Affiliations
Penrith City Council (Eng)
Biography

Jeni is a senior manager at Penrith City Council with portfolio responsibilities including economic development, marketing, activation and community engagement.  Jeni has worked in Penrith for over 25 years with a commitment to supporting the vitality of the local business and community organisations to meet the challenges of today and build their resilience to succeed through change. Jeni is an experienced people leader with a passion for creating strong, creative teams.

As Manager City Resilience and part of Council’s City Futures Division, Jeni works with others to shape the transformation of Penrith as the city linked to the Western Sydney Airport and the amazing opportunities that will come from this once in a lifetime infrastructure.

Jeni has been on the Board of Western Sydney Business Centre since 2022.

Donald Luscombe

Director
Affiliations
Martin and Luscombe  | AFSM FCA
Biography

Don has over forty five years experience in public accounting. Together with his partner, Graham Martin, Don has operated an accounting practice at Springwood in the lower Blue Mountains for the last 30 years. His main areas of experience are auditing, management advice and taxation, and his experience covers a broad range of enterprises and business types.

Don has developed a particular interest in business planning and management. He has spent many years informally studying and reading on the subject and has had success in applying his knowledge both within the firm and with clients’ businesses.

In addition to his professional activities, through his involvement in local Community affairs Don currently holds a number of Board positions:

– Chairman of DARE Disability Support
– A director of both the Rural Firefighters Foundation and Coffee for Kids Foundation

Don has also served in a number of positions resulting from his 38 year involvement with the NSW Rural Fire Service and currently holds the position of Group Captain (Retired) of the Blue Mountains Rural Fire Service. He is a past Deputy Captain and Captain of the Winmalee Rural Fire Brigade, President, Vice President and Executive Member of the NSW Rural Fire Service Association. He also served as a member of the Corporate Executive Group (the equivalent of the Board of Directors) of the NSW Rural Fire Service and was a member of the Fire Services Joint Standing Committee for 8 years. On Australia Day 2007 Don’s service to the Rural Fire Service was recognised by the awarding of the Australian Fire Service Medal to him.

He has been on the Board since January 2015.