Board of Directors

Carolyn Viney – Chair, Director appointed 2008

Carolyn Viney holds the role Head of Development with Grocon, Australia’s largest private construction and development company. Within Grocon Carolyn’s key responsibilities include designing the strategy for growing Grocon’s portfolio of property development projects and overseeing the sourcing and conversion of those projects - including selecting the geographies and market segments in which Grocon will participate and the specific projects to be pursued.  It also involves management oversight of the projects and key project team personnel responsible for property development projects once won.

Grocon is a multi-award winning developer, constructor and owner of some of Melbourne and Australia's best known buildings. It has conceived and/or constructed Australian landmarks like Rialto Towers, Crown Casino, Eureka Tower, the MCG Redevelopment and the new AAMI Park in Melbourne, as well as Governor Phillip Tower, No. 1 Martin Place, Cove Apartments and the recently completed No. 1 Bligh Street in Sydney.

Carolyn’s previous roles include General Counsel – Property and Development with Grocon, where she was employed in a ‘hands on’ capacity to manage the legal negotiations for Grocon’s property and development projects, and prior to that as lawyer and then Senior Associate with Minter Ellison, acting for a range of Government and private clients in connection with property acquisitions, disposals and development and commercial leasing transactions.

Carolyn is also a Council Member of the Victoria Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction and the 2011 winner of the NAWIC John Holland Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Businesswoman.  NAWIC is a not-for-profit organisation formed in 1995 whose mission is to promote and improve the construction industry by the advancement of women within it.  It provides a forum for its members to meet and exchange information, ideas and solutions to problems whilst offering individual members an opportunity to expand personal and business networks, maintain awareness of industry developments, improve skills and knowledge and make a contribution to other women within the industry.

Carolyn is a member of the Law Institute of Victoria, Australian Corporate Lawyers Association and Property Council of Australia. She was appointed as Chair of the AIM VT Board in 2011.

 Paul Gargett - Deputy Chair appointed 2010

Sam Osborn - Director appointed 2008

Sam leads the Principals' team in Melbourne. With a background in marketing management and brand strategy, Sam brings a unique mix of client and consulting experience to Principals. Since joining Principals in January 2008, he’s worked on a range of existing and new client projects. His clients include NAB, Coles, CGU and the Alannah and Madeline Foundation.

As CEO and a founding director of the Australian arm of global brand consultancy Interbrand, Sam has worked with many leading national and international brands. In Australia, these include ANZ, Bluescope, Cadbury Schweppes, GE Money, Fonterra, McDonalds, Telstra, Toyota and Tourism NZ. He has also held senior marketing roles with the RACV and NAB.

When not advising on brands he is talking about brands at conferences, client events and in the media.

 Dawna Wright - Director appointed 2011

 Dawna is a Chartered Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, and a partner at McGrathNicol, a boutique advisory firm.  She has almost 20 years of professional experience gained whilst living and working in Canada, Paris, New York and Australia, including four years as a partner at Deloitte.

She has an audit background and now specialises in Forensic Accounting, which involves performing complex financial analysis and then communicating results in a clear and concise manner for non-financial stakeholders and clients, including lawyers, Courts, Boards of Directors and Risk Committees.

Dawna was a Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of Amnesty International Australia from 2007 to 2011, a role that included representing the Australian section at international meetings and conferences.  She is also currently a Director of the Women's Circus.

 Linda Price – Director appointed 2011

 Linda Price is currently the Group Vice President of Gartner Executive Programs for Asia Pacific.  Gartner is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company delivering the technology-related insight to IT professionals.  The Executive Program is designed exclusively for the Chief Information Officer (CIO).  The Program provides CIOs with personalised, independent advice for business-driven IT strategies and investments.

Prior to joining Gartner Linda was the CIO and HR Director at Fairfax Media.  Linda joined Fairfax after numerous roles in IT management in a variety of manufacturing, distribution and service organisations.  Linda originally trained as a teacher and worked within the TAFE system in Victoria.

Linda has extensive experience in driving organisational change through IT, business process and human capital strategies.