Board & Governance
2022 Governance Documents
Bower 2022 Audited Financial Report
Bower Business Plan 2021 – 2023
The Board
As a co-operative and a not-for profit, the Bower is overseen by a group of directors who volunteer their time and expertise to ensure the longevity of our environmental charity. The Bower Board of Directors is a group as diverse and knowledgeable as the Bower’s members, and many have a long standing history with the co-op. The Board is elected annually by the membership at the Annual General Meeting.
The Bower’s Current Board of Directors
Marcelle Psaila – Independent Director, Chairperson
Marcelle is a Senior Project Officer in the NSW Government with over 20 years’ experience working in waste, resource recovery and circular economy across local and state government, consultancy and not-for-profit sector in the UK and Australia. Her work has centred on supporting communities to manage waste and resources sustainably and she is passionate about transiting to a circular economy. Marcelle has a background in developing behaviour change campaigns, undertaking research, design and implementation of government programs, strategy, and policy. Marcelle will support the Bower in its advocacy and community education role, helping to drive positive consumer choices while supporting those in need.
Gaurav Kumar Sharma – Member Director-Treasurer
Gaurav is a CPA and works as a Sr. Finance Manager and Business partner for Commercial and Operations matters with over 15 years of experience in the US and Europe listed companies. His career has been characterized by successfully integrating business and financial requirements during business modernization and process transformation. His passion is continuous improvement and creating a better working environment as well as implementing reuse and recycling, which utilises items to their full potential.
Shane Wiechnik – Member Director – Secretary
Shane Orion Wiechnik is a conservator/restorer of furniture and wooden artifacts, working on museum/heritage objects as well as pieces of personal significance in Sydney and internationally. He began his career in repair and restoration with the Bower in 2014, helping to establish its woodworking program, run repair cafes, and develop community education programs as their first Woodworks Manager. Since then he has received formal education in the Conservation of Furniture and Related Objects from West Dean College in Southern England, and worked with a variety of professionals around the world. In 2022, he completed a year-long research and development trip as a George Alexander Fellow, travelling across three continents to meet with, learn from, and work with people in the fields of repair, restoration, and conservation. He is very passionate about the important role that reuse and repair have in sustainable living and waste reduction, as well as the power of hands-on-engagement to enrich lives.
Michelle Sheather – Member Director
Michelle Sheather works in International Development Coordination and international Project Management has worked on all continents, focusing on environmental and human rights and disarmament initiatives for 30+ years in the international and Australian NGO community. Previously, Michelle held the role of Campaigns Director for Greenpeace International in the Netherlands with 35 global project; and coordinated their priority campaign projects and field expeditions in remote areas such as the Norwegian Arctic and French nuclear test site in the South Pacific. Michelle worked for Amnesty International on issues relating to Africa and setting up AI’s Crisis Response Unit on large-scale human rights issues. She has worked on numerous UN Conferences and treaties; and runs global training programs. Michelle is also a permaculturist and permaculture teacher.
Angus MacGregor – Independent Director
After emigrating from Scotland in 1995, Angus has had a distinguished career in publishing and online media as a business development and marketing leader. After a four-year stint on the Australian Financial Review, he led the highly successful launch of Money Magazine in 2000 and was launch Advertising director for Wish magazine in 2007, before moving to Perth as Sales Director for the Sunday Times Newspaper. On returning to Sydney, he held Senior Marketing and Business development roles in the online advertising and auctions space for Adstream and Invaluable. Angus has a passionate interest in social equity and environmental issues, and the positive role that business can play in building and strengthening communities.
Rose Dravitzki – Member Director
Rose is a lawyer who has broad commercial experience including across commercial transactions, real property and intellectual property. She graduated from law with honours, has been admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW and the High Court of Australia and has recently completed a Graduate Certificate of Commerce at the University of Sydney. She has experience working with businesses across various industries developing and executing their growth strategies. She is currently Head of Legal Finance at Plenti where she works with hundreds of lawyers across Australia. Rose sees her involvement with the Bower as a way to help reduce wasteful purchasing and help people in need.
Katherine Lindsay – Member Director
Originally from Newcastle in England, Katherine has lived and worked in London and New York, before settling in Sydney in 2018. She is a senior business consultant, accountant and project manager with a solid reputation for process improvement, structuring and advising finance functions and delivering large transformation projects within Financial Services organisations for over 15 years. Katherine is passionate about bringing teams together to thrive and deliver their best work and enjoys spending time mentoring and coaching her teams. She is excited to join the Bower community as their mission is truly inspirational and becoming more important given the ongoing cost of living crisis and ever-increasing importance of sustainability.
The Bower Governance Documents
Annual Report 2020-2021
2021 Financial Report
2020 AGM Minutes
Annual Report 2019-2020
2020 Financial Report
2019 AGM Minutes
Annual Report 22018-2019
2019 Financial Report
2018 AGM Minutes
Bower Strategic Plan 2022-27
Business Plan 2016-2021
Bower Rules
Bower Conflict of Interest Policy
Co-Operatives Compliance Checklist
Governance for Good the ACNCs Guide for Charity Board Members
Board meeting minutes
Members may request access to minutes in writing addressed to the board. Members can also view or copy minutes at the Bower by appointment (please email the General Manager info@bower.org.au to make an appointment to view meeting minutes or other Co-operative records).
