Leadership

Ms Wakefield Evans joined the Board in September 2013.

Ms Wakefield Evans is a business leader and non executive director with broad ranging commercial, business management, strategy and legal experience gained over a 30 year international career.

Ms Wakefield Evans was Managing Partner, International at King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in Hong Kong where she was responsible for the overall governance and strategic positioning of the business in the Asia region. In addition to holding a number of senior management and leadership roles, Ms Wakefield Evans has had a diverse career as one of Australasia’s leading lawyers. Ms Wakefield Evans has been involved in a number of significant and ground-breaking M&A transactions and has advised some of the largest companies in Australia, Asia and globally. She has extensive international experience having worked in Australia, New York and Hong Kong.

Ms Wakefield Evans was included in the Australian Financial Review and Westpac Group’s inaugural list of ‘Australia’s 100 Women of Influence’. She is a member of Chief Executive Women Inc.

Ms Wakefield Evans holds a Bachelor of Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales and is a qualified lawyer in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

• Non Executive Director of Macquarie Group Limited (appointed February 2014, retired February 2024)
• Non Executive Director of Viva Energy Group Limited (appointed August 2021)

• Chair of Metlife Australia
• Chair of 30% Club, Australia
• Director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation
• Guardian of the Future Fund
• Director of UNSW Foundation Limited
• Director of the GO Foundation Limited

• Chairman of the Sustainability Committee
• Member of the Nomination Committee
• Member of the Audit Committee
• Member of the Risk Committee

Mr Craig joined the Board in March 2016.

Mr Craig is a business leader with a successful international career spanning over 37 years in finance, accounting, audit, risk management, strategy and mergers and acquisitions in the banking, property and professional services industries.

He was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Commonwealth Bank of Australia from 2006 through the GFC, until he retired in June 2017. At Commonwealth Bank, he was responsible for leading 2,500 staff in the finance, treasury, property, security, audit and investor relations teams.

Mr Craig’s previous leadership roles have included CFO for Australand Property Group (now Frasers), Global CFO for PwC Consulting and a Partner at PwC.

As well as his role as CFO of Australand Property Group, Mr Craig was responsible for Property for the last 22 years of his executive career, including overseeing three significant property transformations at CBA.

Mr Craig holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, ANZ and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company
Directors.

• President of the Financial Executives Institute of Australia
• Deputy Chairman of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute

• Chairman of the Audit Committee
• Member of the Nomination Committee
• Member of the People and Culture Committee
• Member of the Risk Committee

Mr Coffey joined the Board in January 2017.

Mr Coffey served as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Westpac Banking Corporation from April 2014 until his retirement in May 2017. As the Deputy CEO, Mr Coffey had the responsibility of overseeing and supporting relationships with key stakeholders of Westpac including industry groups, regulators, customers and government. He was also responsible for the Group’s Mergers & Acquisitions function. Prior to this role, Mr Coffey held a number of executive positions at Westpac including Chief Financial Officer and Group Executive, Westpac Institutional Bank. He has successfully led operations based in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and Asia and has extensive experience in financial markets, funds management, balance sheet management and risk management. He began his career at the Reserve Bank of Australia and has also held executive positions at Citibank.

Mr Coffey holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the University of Adelaide and has completed the Executive Program at Stanford University Business School. He is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Non Executive Director of Macquarie Group Limited (appointed August 2018)

• Director of Goodstart Early Learning Ltd

• Chairman of the Risk Committee
• Member of the Sustainability Committee
• Member of the Nomination Committee

Ms Proust joined the Board in February 2018.

Ms Proust is one of Australia’s leading business figures and has had a diverse career holding leadership roles in the public and private sectors for over 30 years. Ms Proust spent eight years at ANZ Group including four years as Managing Director of Esanda, Managing Director of Metrobanking and Group General Manager, Human Resources, Corporate Affairs and Management Services. Before joining ANZ, Ms Proust was Secretary (CEO) of the Department of Premier and Cabinet (Victoria) and Chief Executive of the City of Melbourne. 

Ms Proust has extensive board experience in listed and private companies, subsidiaries and joint ventures, as well as government and not for profits. She was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2010 for distinguished service to public administration and to business, through leadership roles in government and private enterprise, as a mentor to women, and to the community through contributions to arts, charitable and educational bodies.

Ms Proust holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from La Trobe University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne. In March 2021, Ms Proust was appointed a Life Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

• Chairman of Cuscal Limited
• Chairman of GQC Partners Inc
• Member of the Fujitsu Advisory Board

• Chairman of the People and Culture Committee
• Member of the Nomination Committee
• Member of the Risk Committee
• Member of the Sustainability Committee

Mr Welanetz joined the Board in March 2020.

Mr Welanetz is based in the US and has significant executive, advisory, strategic and operational experience in the property and construction sectors, gained over an international career spanning over 40 years.

In his most recent role, Mr Welanetz served as Chief Executive Officer in the property division of Majid Al Futtaim (MAF), based in Dubai, where he had overall responsibility for managing MAF’s property portfolio and development pipeline. Mr Welanetz retired from that position in 2018. Prior to joining MAF, Mr Welanetz spent over seven years in a global role in Blackstone’s Real Estate Group advising and identifying acquisition opportunities in retail real estate and providing strategic guidance for Blackstone’s portfolio of retail assets and retail operating companies.

Mr Welanetz also served as Chief Executive Officer of Shanghai Kinghill Ltd, based in China, with responsibility for the operations and delivery of retail and development projects in mainland China. Prior to this, Mr Welanetz was President and Chief Executive Officer, Retail at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc Americas.

Mr Welanetz holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University. He is a former Chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centres and served on the board of the Galileo Property Trust, an Australian shopping centre investor.

Nil

• Chairman of the Nominations Committee
• Member of the People & Culture Committee
• Member of the Risk Committee
• Member of the Sustainability Committee

Term of Office

Nicholas Collishaw was appointed to the Board as an independent Non Executive Director, effective 1 December 2021.

Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Based in Sydney, Mr Collishaw is an experienced property executive and non executive director with more than 40 years’ expertise gained across Lendlease’s core segments of Development, Construction and Investments. During his career he has overseen the development and delivery of a number of significant and ground-breaking projects across the commercial, industrial and retail sectors.

Mr Collishaw currently serves as the joint Chief Executive Officer of Lincoln Place Pty Ltd, a boutique funds management entity focussed on affordable retirement accommodation, and is Chairman of ASX-listed hospitality group, Redcape Hotel Group. Until his recent retirement, he was a non-executive director of ASX-listed investment manager, Centuria Capital.

Mr Collishaw’s executive career comprised a number of high-profile roles including Centuria Capital’s Chief Executive Officer of Listed Property. Prior to this role, Mr Collishaw spent eight years at Mirvac Group serving as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director between 2008 and 2012. He also held senior leadership positions at James Fielding Group where he was Executive Director and Head of Property, Deutsche Industrial Trust and Paladin Commercial Trust.

• Chairman of Redcape Hotel Group

• Member of the Audit Committee
• Member of the People and Culture Committee
• Member of the Risk Committee
• Member of the Nomination Committee

Term of Office

Ann Soo Chan (“Margaret Lui”) was appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director, effective 1 December 2022. Ms Lui will stand for election at Lendlease’s Annual General Meeting on 17 November 2023.

Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Based in Singapore, Ms Lui is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Azalea Asset Management, which she helped to found in 2015. At Azalea, Ms Lui leads an experienced team of investment managers, overseeing a portfolio valued at US$10 billion.

Ms Lui was previously a member of the investment team at Temasek Holdings and involved in direct investments across a variety of sectors including transportation, industrial, real estate investments, and major redevelopment projects in Asia. She has a track record in restructuring, transforming and creating new Temasek businesses and led the startup of several business joint ventures including Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia, and the creation of Cityspring Infrastructure, the first infrastructure business trust listed on the Singapore Exchange. As a senior executive at Temasek, she was a director of numerous subsidiaries and JV entities and listed companies including Sembcorp Industries, a leading energy and urban development company.

Ms Lui currently chairs the Marine Services Supervisory Committee of PSA International. She also serves on the Board of Trustees and the Investment and Finance Committees of the Singapore Institute of Technology, and is a member of the Singapore Exchange’s Listing Advisory Committee.

Ms Lui holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from The National University of Singapore and has attended the Advanced Management Development Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Board Committee Memberships

• Member of the Sustainability Committee

Term of Office

Barbara Knoflach was appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director, effective 1 October 2023. 

Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Ms Knoflach is based in Frankfurt and has significant real estate, asset management, investment management, strategy and finance experience gained over an international career spanning 35 years.

Ms Knoflach was Deputy Chief Executive and Global Head of Investment Management of BNP Paribas Real Estate between 2015 to 2019. Prior to that, she held the role of CEO SEB Asset Management and Managing Director of SEB Investment, one of the Nordic region's leading asset management companies. Ms Knoflach is a founder of LifeWorkSpace, a company focused on innovative and sustainable strategies in the real estate industry. 

Ms Knoflach is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and serves in numerous associations and organisations in the real estate industry. She is Chair of CTP NV which owns, develops, manages and leases logistics and industrial real estate properties throughout Europe, is a member of the Board of Directors of Swiss Prime Site, one of the leading real estate companies in Europe, and is a trustee member of ULI (Urban Land Institute). 

Ms Knoflach holds an Economics degree from the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz. 

Justin was appointed Chief Executive Officer, Investment Management in July 2024. In this role, he is responsible for developing and implementing the global strategy and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Lendlease Investment Management business. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer, Asia, responsible for the investment management, development and construction businesses across the Asia region. He also serves as Chairman of Lendlease Global Commercial Trust Management, which manages the Lendlease Global Commercial REIT listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Justin joined Lendlease in 2003 and has over 20 years’ experience including strategy, investment management, capital markets, corporate finance, development and construction across Asia Pacific and Europe.

Tom Mackellar has more than 20 years' experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, business performance, compliance and operations.

Since joining Lendlease, he has held several senior leadership positions across Australia, UK and Europe.

As CEO Development, Tom is responsible for leading Lendlease’s Development business. This follows his previous and concurrent roles as Group Head of Development, and Managing Director Development, Australia.

Before returning to Sydney in late 2021, Tom spent five years abroad as Chief Financial Officer for Lendlease Europe and played an integral role in the growth of the Company's large-scale urbanisation pipeline in Europe and the United Kingdom. Tom led the capital markets activities cementing critical relationships with capital partners to build on the large pipeline of work in Europe.

Before moving to London, Tom was Executive Director, Investment and Development at Barangaroo South. He was responsible for the structuring and negotiation of funding agreements, leasing and other commercial matters on the project.

Prior to joining Lendlease, Tom spent five years with PwC as a financial advisor to both public and private sector clients.

Dale was appointed Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer, Construction in July 2024. He joined Lendlease in 1988 and has held several senior roles across Australia, China and the United States.

Most recently, Dale served as Chief Executive Officer of Lendlease Australia, where he was responsible for overseeing the region’s Investments, Development, and Construction businesses.

Prior to this, Dale held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Construction in Australia. He also has extensive experience in project management and construction, as well as design, development and privatisation.

Dale is passionate about creating a culture that respects, inspires, and empowers our people.

He believes the right culture delivers the best outcomes for our customers, business and broader industry. He also believes a successful business is a safe business, and places a priority on operating incident and injury free.

Dale holds a Civil Engineering Degree from the University of Queensland and is a Board Member of the Property Council of Australia.

Penny Ransom was appointed Chief Investment Officer in 2024, and is responsible for capital allocation across the Lendlease business, and leading a centralised team focused on third party capital raising and product development.

Previously, Penny was Group Head of Investments and Managing Director Investments, Europe.

Prior to Lendlease, Penny was Chief Investment Officer and a Group Executive at Investa. Penny has also led Investa’s Investment Management function, was Fund Manager of the ASX listed Investa Office Fund (IOF), Fund Manager of the diversified Dexus Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF), Head of Capital at Dexus in Sydney, and Head of Equity UK/Europe at Lendlease in London.

Penny has more than 30 years of institutional real estate, transactional and investment management experience, and has been with Lendlease for over 15 years at various intervals.

Penny holds a Bachelor of Business (Land Economics), a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment, and undertook the Said Business School, University of Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Program in 2019.

Penny is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a member of Chief Executive Women in Australia and is a Non-Independent, Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Lendlease Global Commercial Trust Management Pte.Ltd., the Manager of Lendlease Global Commercial REIT (LREIT).

Claire Johnston was appointed Chief Executive Officer Americas in November 2022, her latest role in a 26+-year history with the global real estate and investment management company. Claire oversees all aspects of the Americas business and is a member of the Global Leadership Team. 

Claire’s previous leadership roles at Lendlease include Managing Director of Google Development Ventures, where she led teams that developed four master plans to bring up to 15 million square feet of residential, retail, hospitality and associated community uses to the San Francisco Bay area.  

She also served as Managing Director of Lendlease Communities, an exclusive partnership with the Department of Defense through which Lendlease delivers design, construction, financing, environmental and asset management services for military housing and lodging, with a national portfolio comprising over 40,000 residential units and more than 12,000 hotel rooms.  

Claire also held the position of Executive Project Director of Island Palm Communities in Oahu, Hawaii, the largest residential privatization project ever awarded by the Department of Defense. Prior to this, she served as Executive Project Director for Lendlease's Docklands Melbourne Australia, a US $6bn (AUD $9.4bn) partnership with the City of Melbourne and the State Government of Victoria, where she oversaw the master plan development and delivery of commercial, residential and mixed-use assets for the urban renewal project. 

Throughout her career at Lendlease, Claire has been a champion for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, having served as the first Executive Sponsor of the Pride Americas LGBTQ+ employee resource group. As CEO, she leads Lendlease’s DE&I Advisory Council. 

Claire was recently named to Globe St. Real Estate Forum’s annual Women of Influence list and was recognized by the San Francisco Business Times as one of its Most Influential Women. She received a Bachelor of Commerce, Labor and Industrial Relations, from the University of Western Sydney and a Masters in Business (Property) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Melbourne).­ 

Andrea Ruckstuhl was appointed Lendlease’s Group Executive, International and a member of the Corporate Leadership Team in July 2024.

Andrea was previously Lendlease's Chief Executive Officer for Europe and a member of the company’s Global Leadership Team.

Andrea has also led Lendlease's Italian business as Head of Italy and Continental Europe. He’s a member of a community of advisors for the Berkeley SkyDeck high-tech startup accelerator, and he collaborated on the opening of that programme’s only international office, which is located in MIND | Milano Innovation District.

Andrea first joined Lendlease in 2005, where over the course of his career with the company he has held positions including: Country Manager for Southern Europe, Executive General Manager of the CEMEA region and Business Development Director based in London.

Karen was appointed Chief Legal Officer in 2024. Based in Sydney, she joined Lendlease in January 2013 as Group General Counsel.

Karen brings significant experience to Lendlease, having spent more than 30 years in senior roles in the property and construction industries. She commenced her legal career at Clayton Utz.

Before working at Leighton, Karen spent almost 15 years at Brookfield Multiplex (formerly Multiplex), where her roles included Group General Manager Corporate, Company Secretary and General Counsel.

While at Multiplex, Karen was involved in several high-profile Sydney projects, the development business in the UK, the Initial Public Offering of Multiplex, the takeover by and integration with Brookfield, the Group’s financing arrangements, and led a series of mergers and acquisitions.

Karen holds a Masters of Law from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Accountancy and Finance)/Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales.

Deb was appointed Chief People Officer in 2021 and is based in Sydney, Australia. She is responsible for all aspects of Global People and Culture including learning and development, talent management, culture and compensation & benefits. She is also responsible for driving the People and Culture strategy and works extensively with the Global Leadership Team and the Lendlease Board

Prior to joining Lendlease Deb held a number of senior leadership positions including National Managing Partner for People and Corporate Affairs, KPMG (Australia); Chief HR Officer at Reckitt Benckiser (RB) where she worked in Australia, the Netherlands, United States and United Kingdom. Prior to RB she held senior HR roles in News Limited, National Meat Association and Qantas airways.

Deb has a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology from Macquarie University and Master of Commerce, Employment Relations from University of Western Sydney.