Our Board and Leadership team

Dr Forrest is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Fortescue (US$60bn market cap). Through his public and private interests, he is the world’s largest developer of green hydrogen, the owner of Squadron Energy, Australia’s largest renewable energy company delivering 30 per cent of the Federal Government’s 82 per cent renewables target by 2030 and a major supplier of critical and strategic metals through Wyloo and Fortescue. 

He has extensive and particularly diverse experience at board level in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. He is currently a member of the Board (and Chairman of the Audit Committee) of the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Deputy Chairman and Lead Independent Director at Fortescue. In 2015, Mr Barnaba was named a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia for significant service to the investment banking and financial sector, to business education and to sporting and cultural organisations.

Mr Barnaba also chairs the Hospital Benefit Fund (HBF) Investment Committee. Mark is also a member of the Board of The Centre for Independent Studies. He has previously chaired several publicly listed Australian companies within the mining and infrastructure sectors along with chairing non-profits including the State Theatre Company of Western Australia and AFL club, the West Coast Eagles.

In his previous career, Mr Barnaba founded, led and sold two companies - GEM Consulting and Azure Capital (both independent corporate advisory firms which provide financial, corporate and strategic advice to public and private organisations in the Asia-Pacific region). He also held several senior executive roles at Macquarie Group (one being the Chairman and Global Head of the Natural Resources Group). He previously worked at McKinsey & Company in their London, Johannesburg and Sydney offices.

Mr Barnaba was the Inaugural Chairman of the University of Western Australia Business School Board from 2002 to 2020 and serves as an Adjunct Professor in Finance. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (First Class Honours and University Medal) from the University of Western Australia, an MBA from Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar) and has an Honorary Doctor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia. He has lived in Australia, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom and South Africa and is married with two children.

Committee Memberships:

Audit, Risk Management and Sustainability Committee (Chair), Nomination Committee (Member), Remuneration and People Committee (Member) and Finance Committee (Chair).

Ms Gaines led Fortescue as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director from February 2018 to August 2022, after joining the Executive team as Chief Financial Officer in February 2017.

A highly experienced business leader, Ms Gaines has extensive international experience in all aspects of financial and commercial management.  Ms Gaines has significant experience in the resources sector and exposure to the impact of the growth in Asian economies, particularly China, on the Australian business environment and economy as well as a deep understanding of all aspects of financial and commercial management at a senior executive level in both listed and private companies.  Ms Gaines has extensive exposure to the drive to transition to green energy and has been a key driver of the goal to decarbonise Fortescue’s mining operations by 2030.

Elizabeth is a part time Executive Director and Global Ambassador for Fortescue. She is a Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chair of Greatland Gold PLC, a Non-Executive Director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and a Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chair of the West Coast Eagles (AFL) Football Club.

Ms Gaines was ranked second in the 2019 Fortune Magazine’s Businessperson of the Year and in 2020 the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia awarded her the ‘Women in Resources Champion’ at the annual Women in Resources Awards. In 2020, Ms Gaines was awarded Joint Australian Business Person of the Year by the Australian Financial Review.

Ms Gaines is a former Chief Executive Officer of Helloworld Limited and Heytesbury Pty Limited and has previously held Non-Executive Director roles with Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited, NEXTDC Limited, Mantra Group Limited and ImpediMed Limited.

Ms Gaines holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Curtin University, a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University and an Honorary Doctorate of Commerce from Curtin University.  She is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Chief Executive Women.

Based in Monaco, Lord Coe is the Non-Executive Chairman of CSM Sport and Entertainment, within the Chime Communications group as well as Non-Executive Director of Vitality Health Ltd and Allwyn Entertainment AG. He was elected President of the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2015 (now World Athletics) where he is driving significant governance reforms through the organisation and its 214 Member Federations around the world. He is currently serving his second term as President.  He was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee in 2020, and became a director of the British Olympic Association at that time, having previously served as Chairman of the British Olympic Association from 2012 to 2016.

Lord Coe previously served as Chairman of the Organising Committee for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. He was a member of the British athletics team at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games where he won two gold and two silver medals, as well as breaking twelve world records.

In 1992, Lord Coe became a Member of Parliament and during his political career served as a Government Whip and then Private Secretary to William Hague, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party. He was appointed to The House of Lords in 2000 having resigned in 2022

Committee memberships:
Nomination Committee (Chair), Remuneration and People Committee (Member)

Dr Baderschneider retired from ExxonMobil in 2013 where she was Vice-President of Global Procurement. During her 30-year career, she was responsible for operations all over the world, including Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.

A past member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Supply Management and the Executive Board of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Dr Baderschneider also served on the boards of The Center of Advanced Purchasing Studies and the Procurement Council of both The Conference Board and the Corporate Executive Board.

Dr Baderschneider is the President of the Board of Trustees of The President Lincoln's Cottage and a member of the Abraham Lincoln National Council of Ford's Theatre.  In addition, she is on the Board of Directors of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the Board of Directors of the McCain Institute and is a Commissioner on the United Nations and Liechtenstein's Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery. With over 15 years of experience working on anti-human trafficking efforts globally, she served on the Board of Directors of Polaris, Made in a Free World and Verite and is currently a Founding Board member and Chair of the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery.

Dr Baderschneider was a Presidential appointee to the US Department of Commerce's National Advisory Council on Minority Business Enterprises and is a past recipient of Cornell's Jerome Alpern Award and Nomi Network's Corporate Social Responsibility Award.  She holds a Masters Degree from the University of Michigan and a PhD from Cornell University.

Committee memberships:

Audit, Risk Management and Sustainability Committee (Member)

She is a Non-Executive Director of Dexus Property Group, Supply Nation and the Crescent Foundation. Ms. Bingham-Hall is also Chair of Vocus Group, Taronga Conservation Society Australia and the Advisory Committee of the Climate Governance Initiative Australia.

Ms. Bingham-Hall has worked in the construction, infrastructure, mining and property industries across Australia and the Asian region. She has a particular interest in environmental sustainability, workplace safety and indigenous employment. Prior to becoming a company director, Ms. Bingham-Hall was Executive General Manager, Strategy at Leighton Holdings (now CIMIC) - Australia’s largest construction, mining services and property group. As part of the leadership team at Leighton she had responsibilities across the group’s Australian and Asian operations.

She is a former director of BlueScope Steel Limited, Australia Post, Port Authority of NSW and Macquarie Specialised Asset Management. Ms Bingham-Hall was also chair of the NSW Freight and Logistics Advisory Council and Deputy Chair and Life Member of the Tourism & Transport Forum.

Ms. Bingham-Hall has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Design, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a member of Chief Executive Women and Corporate Women Directors.

Committee memberships:

Audit, Risk Management and Sustainability Committee (Member), Remuneration and People Committee (Chair)* and Finance Committee (Member)

Ms Li was an Independent Board member of GAVI (The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) from 2012 to 2018 and was formerly the Country Chair for Man Group in China, one of the world’s largest hedge fund managers.

Before joining Man Group, Ms Li had over 18 years of senior management experience, having successfully led the expansion of several multinational companies in China, including Viacom, MTV networks and VivaKi of Publicis Group.

Ms Li has a Bachelor of Law degree from the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing and an M.A. in International Relations from Baylor University in the United States.

He is the longest serving Chief Executive of CSIRO, and led a transformation which achieved the first growth in 30 years, doubling the value delivered to stakeholders, making CSIRO the first Australian entity to reach the Thompson Reuters Global Top 20 Innovators List.

Dr Marshall is a technology innovator, business leader, published author and a Male Champion of Change with a wealth of experience in creating new value and impact through innovation.  He has a PhD in Physics and has been honoured for both his business acumen as a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, but also his Technology and Engineering acumen as a Federation Fellow, and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) and Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), and an inaugural Male Champion of Change STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

He has co-found and led six companies in Biotech, Telecom, Semi and Venture Capital.  He has 100 publications and conference papers, holds 20 patents and has served on 20 boards of high-tech companies operating in the United States, Australia and China.

Dr Marshall is the author of the 2023 book, Invention to Innovation: How Scientists Can Drive Our Economy, which charts a course for Australian business to disrupt their Market, defeat competition and accelerate economic growth by using science driven innovation.

Committee Memberships:

Audit, Risk Management and Sustainability Committee (Member)

She has held various leadership positions in the United Nations, Blackstone Group, Global Water Development Partners, and the International Finance Corporation.

Usha currently serves as a Member of the Environmental Steering Committee for NEOM, Saudi Arabia; Member of the International Advisory Panel on Carbon Credits, Singapore; Commissioner of Global Commission on the Economics of Water, Netherlands and Co-Chair of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative.

Usha has also been involved in several global initiatives and partnerships on water resources, clean energy, resource efficiency and environmental issues such as the 2030 Water Resources Group, the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Councils and the CDP North America where she facilitated dialogue, innovation, and solutions among public, private, and civil society actors.

She has a Masters in International Affairs and Finance from Columbia University, a Masters in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, and a B.A. Honors Economics from Delhi University, and has completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School.

Committee Memberships:

Audit, Risk Management and Sustainability Committee (Member), Finance Committee (Member)