Board Members

John Bertrand AO – Chair

John Bertrand AO is a businessman, international sportsman, and philanthropist. He has been Chair of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Board since 2005.

He skippered the winged keel Australia II to victory over the US Defender Liberty to win the 1983 America’s Cup, breaking 132 years of American domination and in the process, breaking the longest-running record in the history of modern sport. The Confederation of Australian Sport voted the Australia II victory as the: Greatest team performance in 200 years of Australian sport. When Australia II crossed the finishing line (after coming from 3 races to 1 down), the nation celebrated as never before with the late Prime Minister Bob Hawke AC GCL summing it up, ”any boss who sacks anyone today for not turning up is a bum!”

A World champion and Olympic bronze medalist (Finn class, Montreal), Bertrand represented Australia in five America’s Cups and two Olympic Games.

In his business career, he successfully built companies in the marine industry, property development and digital media industries. He was co-founder and Chairman of Quokka Sports, a pioneering digital sports broadcast company based in Silicon Valley, San Francisco.

The America’s Cup winner, Olympic bronze medalist, and multiple world Etchell class sailing champion was inducted to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985 and in 2013 was elevated to Legend of Australian Sport.

John has an Honorary Doctorate from Victoria University, is a Vice Chancellor Professorial Fellow at Monash University and holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Monash University and a Master of Science from MIT in Boston.

In 2016, Bertrand’s Order of Australia (AM) award was upgraded to Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition for sporting administration, in particular swimming and sailing, children’s welfare, higher education and mentoring of young people.

Bertrand was President of Swimming Australia from 2013 until 2020 and continues to mentor young aspiring Olympians.

Achievements

• 1969: Graduated Monash University with a Bachelor of Engineering
• 1971: Graduated Boston MIT with a Master of Science
• 1984: Made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
• 1985: Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame
• 1993: Inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame
• 2000: Awarded the Australian Sports Medal
• 2001: Awarded the Centenary Medal
• 2004: Appointed to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Board
• 2005: Appointed as Chair of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Board
• 2013: Awarded Honorary Doctorate, Victoria University
• 2013: Elevated to Legend of Australian Sport
• 2014: Made Monash University Vice Chancellor Professional Fellow
• 2016: Upgraded to Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)

Perry Crosswhite AM – General Member Director

Perry Crosswhite AM has made a significant contribution to sport in Australia, both as an athlete and as a sports administrator where he’s played a major role in devising, establishing and administering programs which supported the resurgence and sustained success of Australian sport over more than three decades. Throughout his career he has held senior sports positions with the Australian Olympic Committee, 2000 Sydney Olympics, 2006/2018 Melbourne Commonwealth Games organising bodies, State and Federal Governments, Sport Australia (formerly Australian Sports Commission) and Australian Institute of Sport.

A former American who naturalised in 1971, Crosswhite was brought to Australia to play basketball by SAHOF Member Lindsay Gaze OAM and began his career with the Melbourne Tigers and played with this team from 1969 to 1980, a period in which the team won numerous Victorian and National Club championships. In recognition of his playing record, he was inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame in 2016.

He represented his adopted country in Basketball at the Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, and Moscow 1980 Olympic Games and captained the Australian Team at the latter two. He played over 300 games for Australia between 1970-1980 and was a member of the Headquarters staff at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and from 1991-1993 and was part of the team which bid successfully for the 2000 Olympics.

Crosswhite joined the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA) in 1995, initially as General Manager, before becoming the ACGA’s first CEO in 1999. In this position, and until his retirement in 2015, he was responsible for the funding, organisation and preparation of the Australian Teams which competed at the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, as well as the many other programs and projects undertaken by the ACGA. Crosswhite was also a Director of the company which successfully bid to secure the rights to host both the 2006 Melbourne and 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and subsequently became a Director of the both 2006 and 2018 Games organising committees.

His contribution to Australian sport extends beyond elite-level to include participation and, as the first professional Recreation/Sport Officer employed by the Victorian Government back in 1973, he is credited as having helped design, implement, and administer programs that expanded opportunities for Australians to participate in sport including ‘Sport for All’, ‘Aussie Sports’ and ‘Life. Be in It”.

In June 2007 Crosswhite was made a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Awards for his service to sport, particularly through executive roles with the Commonwealth and Olympic Games organisations, and to basketball as a competitor at national and international levels. He was made a General Member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2003.

Achievements

• 1998: Australian Sports Administrator of the Year
• 2000: Awarded the Australian Sports Medal
• 2003: Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame
• 2007: Made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
• 2015: Awarded Australian Commonwealth Games Association Life Membership
• 2016: Inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame
• 2017: Appointed to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Selection Committee
• 2018: Appointed to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Board

Mark Fitzgibbon – Independent Director

Mark has led the nib Group since 2002 as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director and will retire in late 2024. During his tenure nib has grown from a regionally based mutual health fund to become an ASX 100 company with a portfolio of healthcare businesses across Australia and New Zealand. nib also has significant businesses in disability support, life insurance in New Zealand and travel insurance globally.

Mark is well known for his progressive and entrepreneurial approach. nib has a long track record of challenging business models and innovation. In its core private health insurance business, nib has consistently outgrown the industry average with continuous brand, product and distribution development. Today, nib covers or supports about 2 million people.

Mark began his career in local government culminating in him leading three significant Councils in NSW. He was well known as a business and industry reformer and very much values the experience in dealing with grass roots politics, a wide diversity of trades and professions and community expectations.

Mark was subsequently Chief Executive Officer at Clubs NSW and Clubs Australia the peak industry bodies for registered Clubs. In that role, Mark led an agenda of modernisation, repaired strained relationships with government and developed responsible gambling practice across the sector. During his tenure, Clubs NSW was also a major sponsor of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, better connecting the Olympics with regional NSW.

Achievements

• Masters in Business Administration (UTS)
• Masters in Arts (Applied Research – MGSM)
• Harvard Business School Education in Global Strategic Management
• 2001: Appointed Chairman of Honeysuckle Health
• 2002: Appointed as CEO of nib Holdings
• 2005-2022: Appointed as Director of Private Health Association
• 2024 Appointed to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Board

Rachael Neumann – Independent Director

Rachael Neumann plays across many parts of the startup ecosystem, primarily as the founder of Flying Fox Ventures, an early-stage investment firm designed to mobilise more investment into early-stage startups and attract new investors to the space.  Flying Fox has quickly emerged as the most active early-stage investor in Australia with over 50 investments in cutting-edge technology, SaaS, and marketplace businesses across all industries.  

Rachael also works to create the right policy environment that’s conducive to a thriving sector, having served on the Board for StartupAus and has two federal ministerial appointments on the Entrepreneurs’ Programme Committee (EPC) and Boosting Female Founders Initiative (BFFI), distributing funding on behalf of the Department of Industry. 

Previously as Head of Startups in ANZ for Amazon Web Services, Rachael supported thousands of startups and more established scaleups on their growth journeys. Prior to this, Rachael was the Managing Director of Eventbrite Australia, launching the Melbourne-based office to further serve the APAC market. Before stepping into the MD role, Rachael served as Eventbrite’s Director of Customer Experience Strategy in Silicon Valley.  In her early career, Rachael was a Case Team Leader at Bain & Company in Silicon Valley and Australia, advising Technology, Private Equity, Consumer Products, and Retail businesses, and continues to bring this interdisciplinary mindset and structured problem-solving approach to everything she does. 

Matching her passion for startups is her love for sport and modern art.  Rachael is proud to be one of the founding owners of Angel City Football Club, America’s first majority women-owned, women-run, women’s sports teams based in LA.  In 2024, ACFC was identified as the most valuable women’s sport franchise in the world.  She serves on the Board of Directors for the Australian Sports Hall of Fame. On the art side of things, Rachael proudly serves on the Council of Trustees for the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and serves on the Investment Committee.

Educated in the States with an undergraduate degree from Stanford University where was a scholar-athlete, playing Division 1 NCAA lacrosse, and two Masters degrees from Columbia University, Rachael now proudly calls Melbourne home, alongside her partner Jodie and their two children.

Achievements

• 2003: Graduated from Stanford University – Bachelor of Arts with Honors
• 2009: Graduated from Columbia Mailman School of Public Health – Masters of Public Health with Honors
• 2009: Graduated from Columbia Business School – MBA with Dean’s List Honors
• 2017: Appointed Chair of the Board for StartupAus
• 2018: Appointed to serve on the Entrepreneurs’ Programme Committee (EPC)
• 2019: Appointed to serve on the Boosting Female Founders Initiative (BFFI)
• 2020: Appointed to the Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria
• 2023: Awarded the Investor of the Year by the State of Victoria
• 2024: Appointed to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Board

Hon. Martin Pakula – Independent Director

Martin Pakula completed a Bachelor of Economics at Monash University in 1989 and an Honours Degree in Law in 1991. After leaving university Martin completed articles at Macpherson and Kelley and was admitted to practice in 1993.

From 1993 to 2006, Martin worked as as an official of the National Union of Workers where he served as Assistant Secretary of the Victorian Branch from 2000-2004 and as Victorian Branch Secretary and National Vice President from 2004-2006. Martin also served as a Director of LUCRF Super from 2004-2006.

In 2006 Martin was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council electorate of Western Metropolitan where he served till 2013 and in 2013 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly seat of Lyndhurst (later renamed Keysborough) which he represented till 2022.

Whilst in State Parliament Martin held a range of ministerial portfolios including Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Public Transport, Attorney General, Minister for Racing, Minster for Tourism, Sport and Major Events and Minister for Jobs and Innovation

Martin is a Major Projects Advisor at the Australian Football League and a Non-Executive Director of Helloworld Travel Limited. In October 2023 Martin Pakula was named the new Chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

Achievements

• 1989: Graduated from Monash University – Bachelor of Economics
• 1991: Graduated from Monash University – Honours Degree in Law
• 2006: Elected to the Victorian Legislative Council
• 2013: Elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly
• 2023: Appointed to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Board
• 2023: Appointed Chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation