The SVI Foundation Board is comprised of committed leaders who are generous with their time, talent and treasure. The Foundation Board members assist SVI in raising funds to meet strategic goals.
Mr Jeremy Gobbo KC
Chair, SVI Foundation Board
Jeremy was educated at Xavier College and the University of Melbourne. He has been a practising lawyer for more than 40 years, 39 years at the Victorian Bar and 23 years as a QC, now KC.
He enjoyed a diverse practice, specialising in property related matters, particularly town planning. He was a member of The Bar’s Ethics Committee for 5 years and Chairman of the committee that managed Foley’s List, Barristers, and a director, for 9 years.
He is a Fellow of the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association. He is a director of International Specialised Skills Institute, a not-for-profit organisation promoting skills by awarding overseas study fellowships.
He left the Bar recently to pursue other activities and is now consulting to three large family businesses in relation to their property and business strategies. He has a particular interest in health and wellness. He is a keen golfer, part-time farmer, Italophile and doting grandfather.
Ms Rhonda Barro
Rhonda Barro is an Executive Director of Barro Group and has over 45 years’ experience in the construction materials industry and executive management in line and functional areas. She has significant expertise and insights in customer and stakeholder relations. Rhonda is a non-executive director of Adbri Ltd and Independent Cement & Lime Pty Ltd and has held numerous leadership roles in community organisations. She is a Director of the Italian Australian Foundation and a Fellow of the Williamson Leadership Program.
Mr Michael Burn
Chair, SVI Board
Michael became Chair of The SVI Board in May 2025, having first joined the board in 2019.
Michael has enjoyed a long career in investment banking and is the Deputy Chairman of Flagstaff Partners, a leading boutique corporate advisory firm. He is also a Non-Executive Director of the Carlton Football Club.
Michael was previously an Executive Director of Macquarie Group, and a Non-Executive Director of PFD Food Services, The Victorian Convention & Exhibition Centre Trust and the Victoria Racing Club (the latter which he Chaired from 2011-2016).
Mrs Caroline Daniell
Since studying art, Caroline Daniell has worked in catering, event planning and as a personal assistant. She is a former President of the National Gallery Victoria Women’s Association and the current Honorary Treasurer of The Alexandra Club.
Ms Maree Davenport
Maree served two terms in the Parliament of Victoria. She was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Housing, Community Services and Aged Care, Member & Deputy Chair of the Joint All-Party Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, Chair of the Redundant Legislation and Regulation Review SARC Committees and other senior policy roles.
With qualifications in governance and risk (AICD and GIA), Maree has a Master of Leadership in gender equality and specialises in workplace Gender Equality Action Plans and Audits. Maree is an AMDRAS-accredited Multidisciplinary and Online Mediator and an appointed ADR practitioner with the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO). Maree is a professional member of the Mediation and Resolution Institutes and professional speaker through Saxton and ICMI.
A Member of Chief Executive Women (CEW), Maree has been an Ambassador for Carlton Football Club since 2013. She has been appointed as Ambassador for the Housing Industry Association (HIA) Building Women and is a member of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), Women in Public Health, Women on Boards, and Victorian Women’s Trust.
Maree is the author of The Australian Guide to Living Well with Endometriosis. She has also been a member of the Australian Government Expert Endometriosis Group and other health and research advisory committees.
For 7 years, Maree Chaired the Victorian Minister for Planning’s Building Advisory Council, comprising the peak bodies and regulators in the building and construction industry, the VBA, VMIA, CAV and Department of Planning.
She was a Member of the Victorian Building Authority Building Appeals Board (BAB), a specialist expert tribunal that makes decisions about matters relating to legislation, regulation, codes, and practitioner registration.
Maree is an Inaugural Foundation member of Monash Children’s Hospital. She was previously President of Wavlink disability service for 7 years, founded Angel Babies Foundation, and supports many organisations which provide a helping hand to people in need.
Ms Bernadette Dennis OAM
Bernadette Dennis is the Director of BD Concepts Pty Ltd, a consultancy company, focusing on providing customer service skills, sales training and marketing concepts for the hospitality, tourism and travel industries. Prior to its establishment in March 2007, Ms Dennis was Vice President, Asia Pacific for Marriott International‘s Global Sales Organisation based at the Marriott Asia Pacific Regional Office in Hong Kong. Ms Dennis worked for Marriott International for 22 years and spent 10 years working in hospitality in the US.
In addition to the SVI Foundation Board, she currently sits on boards with the Marriott Vacation Club Asia Pacific Advisory, St Joseph’s Outreach Services and The Friends of The Johnston Collection. She is also involved with other not-for-profits and industry associations, plus she participates as a mentor in TIME, mentoring the future leaders of the Travel, Tourism, Hospitality and Aviation industries.
Mr Paul Ramadge
Paul has developed leadership skills at a high level in both the private and public sectors in Australia and overseas – in designing and delivering innovative initiatives for the higher education and postgraduate scholarship sectors, pioneering new forms of cross-cultural engagement, and leading media teams to achieve impact in the public interest.
In Australia, Paul is well known as a former Editor-in-Chief of The Age at a time (2008 – 2012) when the newspaper and its digital platforms were setting the national agenda and winning awards for journalistic excellence. He is a former Vice-Chancellor’s Professorial Fellow at Monash University, where he focused on enhancing the university’s standing as one of Australia’s most internationally engaged institutions. He reviewed Monash’s strategy in Indonesia then led a team to establish a new Australia-Indonesia Centre.
Other key roles held by Paul include Managing Director of The PLuS Alliance, a collaboration between UNSW Sydney, King’s College London and Arizona State University. In 2020, the alliance launched a joint-venture university in London, TEDI-London, which responded to industry needs for creative, multi-skilled and entrepreneurial engineers; and Chief Executive Officer of the General Sir John Monash Foundation, which provides postgraduate scholarships for study overseas, with the aim of creating future leaders for the nation. Paul is a former chair of the not-for-profit Dolphin Research Institute and a non-executive director of Mental Health Victoria. He is a passionate Melburnian with interests in current affairs, books and ideas, and initiatives that improve lives.
Mrs Christine Tarascio AM
Co-Vice Chair, SVI Foundation
Christine Tarascio is the matriarch of the Tarascio family, proud owners of Salta Properties and Salta Capital. Salta’s breadth of property development projects and investments across multiple sectors has helped it become one of Australia’s largest privately owned property companies.
Ms Tarascio has been an active fundraiser over many years for various causes, including the Lady Mayoress’s Fund, Queen Elizabeth Centre, PMB (Private Men’s Business, raising funds for prostate cancer research), Pampering Patients, Women at the Alfred, and St Vincent’s Institute. Ms Tarascio is a long-term member of the SVI Foundation Board and was responsible for the set-up and development of the SVI Discovery Fund. She is the founder and chair of the Tarascio Family Foundation.
Ms Yan Li Wang
Yan Li Wang is a Partner of HWL Ebsworth Lawyers, a major Australian legal firm, practising primarily in tax and commercial law. For the past 10 years, she has been an advisory committee member and Australian representative of three private charitable foundations with a global reach in more than 40 countries, working with NGOs both in Australia and overseas on projects in medical research, education, Microfinance, social enterprises and post-disaster reconstruction.
Ms Wang has been a member of the Melbourne Leadership Council of Social Ventures Australia and is a current member of the assessment panel appointed by the City of Melbourne to evaluate applications for social enterprise and micro business grants.