Our BOARD

Independent Director
Michael Lane

Michael is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and has been a Principal at Pitcher Partners in Adelaide for over 30 years.

He is an experienced Independent Director in both the for profit and not for profit Sectors and is a Graduate of the Institute of Australian Company Directors. Michael is also an advisor to a private equity fund based in Michigan in the United States.

Michael’s deep financial background and experience compliments the skills of his fellow Directors. In addition, he contributes to all aspects of Zen’s business including developing strategy, management of risk and corporate governance.

He has participated in numerous mergers and acquisitions including advising on funding, transaction structure and documentation.

Director
Norman Pater

Norman is passionate about acting on climate change. Since meeting Al Gore in 2011, Norman has been searching for ways to reduce his own environmental footprint, as well as that of society as a whole. Therefore Norman’s focus is on these key initiatives:

1. restoring 1-million hectares of Australian farmland within 10 years by means of biodiverse plantings;
2. delivering large-scale renewable energy to the Australian grid by assisting ZEN Energy;
3. converting biomass and municipal waste to biofuel and biochar; and
4. helping build new-age industrial hubs and deliver creative solutions to transition heavy energy users to renewable energy solutions.

Norman draws on his entrepreneurial and academic background in software, marketing and business. He has B.Com and MBA degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, has previously listed his IT company on the JSE in 1987 and served on numerous private, public, listed and not-for-profit boards over the last 37 years.

Independent Director
Paula Conboy

Paula Conboy currently serves on the board of directors of PJM Interconnection LLP in the United States and the Energy Market Authority in Singapore. In addition to running her own advisory services business, Paula is Senior Counsel to Sussex Strategy Group Inc., a leading policy and political consultancy, and works with Australian and Canadian clients in various areas of the energy and broadband sectors.

Paula has over 25 years of experience as regulatory economist, consultant, senior executive, adjudicator, chair, and board member. She is the former Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator and member of Australia’s Energy Security Board, working on various energy policies at a time when Australia began what is now the world’s fastest energy transition to net zero. She is also a former Commissioner of the Ontario Energy Board and served as a senior executive in one of the largest municipal owned utilities in Canada.

Chair
Raymond Spencer

Raymond founded Kanbay International in 1989. As Chair and CEO, he led the firm to list on the NASDAQ in 2004. The offering was ranked as one of the top five performing IPOs in that year. Under his leadership, the firm grew to more than 8,500 associates in 14 cities across eight. Kanbay was acquired by Capgemini in 2007. Raymond continued on as CEO of Capgemini’s Financial Services Global Business Unit until 2009 and then as Chair until 2014.

Raymond is currently Chair of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN). He is Founding Partner of RSVP Ventures, overseeing an investment portfolio of companies in the United States and Australia.

He has previously been Chair of a number of organisations including the South Australian Economic Development Board, the South Australian Health and Medical Institute (SAHMRI) a board member of the Information Technology Association of America and Raymond was named a Laureate in the Computerworld Honors Program, distinguishing innovators around the world whose visionary use of information technology produces and promotes positive social change.

He holds an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Arizona recognising his work on Ethical Leadership and Organisational Culture.

Director
Ross Garnaut

Professor Garnaut has played a critical role in the transformation of the Australian policy and business landscape over the past 40 years.
He remains a leading voice in the national conversation on the energy transition and economic reform.
Read more about Professor Garnaut here https://www.rossgarnaut.com.au/

Our EXECUTIVE TEAM

Chief Executive Officer
Anthony Garnaut

Anthony’s passion, knowledge and experience in the renewable energy market is extensive. Known for his acute observations, critical analysis, and bold decisions, he is respected for both his tenacity and ability to question the status quo. His focus is on harnessing technologies and leveraging financial instruments to ensure clean and green energy is affordable, reliable, and sustainable.

Under his leadership, ZEN Energy’s national footprint of customers, energy and asset portfolio has grown significantly. In the 5 years since ZEN obtained its electricity retail license, they have brought together a community of sustainability-driven customers, renewable energy suppliers and capital partners. ZEN’s customers include the South Australian Government, CSIRO’s sites in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory and the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) which comprises twenty-five local councils in New South Wales. Under Anthony’s leadership, ZEN has now contracted renewable energy and environmental certificates from 17 solar and wind farms and is actively growing their firmed renewable energy supply. Anthony has had a diverse career including positions with Oxford University and the University of Melbourne as a Lecturer and Research Fellow in Chinese History.

Chief Financial Officer
Phillipa Chen

Phillipa Chen is responsible for all finance functions at ZEN. Her role spans ZEN’s group-wise financial strategy, oversight of all financial planning and analysis, capital management, financial reporting, and investor relations. As CFO, she holds a specific responsibility for working with the ZEN executive team to develop and enhance ZEN’s long term business strategy.

Phillipa has spent the last 16 years with the Macquarie Group, establishing, investing, and managing infrastructure and energy-focused funds, overseeing credit exposure and market risk, and building new funds and businesses including renewable energy development platforms with a global remit.

She brings deep capital market experience in M&A, investing, debt and equity raising, as well as institutional-level governance and operational rigour. She has worked in both Australia and China and was previously a Non-Executive Director of the Port of Newcastle.

Phillipa holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Law and a Masters in Finance and Banking from the University of Sydney. Phillipa is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

 

Chief Governance Officer
Glenn Garnaut

Glenn has nearly thirty years of multinational financial management experience across a range of market sectors. Prior to joining ZEN, Glenn was based in New York as group CFO of the aerospace and engineered products division of Arconic (previously Alcoa).

Chief Information Officer
Christopher Smyth

Chris has more than 20 years’ experience in the Australian and New Zealand energy sectors, having previously had operational, analytical and management roles at AGL, International Power and Contact Energy. Since joining ZEN in 2017, Chris has played a key role in enabling our entry to the National Electricity Market, and establishing processes, systems and analytics to support ZEN’s ability to deliver on its promises to customers.

Executive General Manager – Markets
James Mcintosh

James is a seasoned electricity trader with twenty years’ experience in the National Electricity Market. His past roles include senior trader at International Power, head of trading for AGL, head of energy with RWE Supply and Trading (Singapore) and portfolio manager with Attunga Capital. James is responsible for ZEN’s energy trading strategy and has played an integral role in ZEN’s success.

CE, ZEN Energy Retail Pty Ltd
Geoff Titus

Geoff has twenty-five years’ management experience in the energy market, where he has been a consistent advocate for customer-focused business practices. Geoff led ZEN through its transformation from a solar hardware sales business to a renewable retailer.

General Manager, Brand & Marketing.
Emily Kucukalic

At ZEN Energy, Emily Kucukalic is responsible for leading the brand and marketing function along with ZEN’s expansion of its small market and residential services.

She is also the owner and MD of the Brand New You Group, Australia’s number one personal branding agency, which she founded in 2009.

Prior to founding Brand New You, Emily was the Group Head of Brand and External Relations at AGL Energy and a member of the Executive Team. Before joining AGL, she was the Director of Marketing and Communications for EDS across Asia Pacific including Japan, China and India.

Emily was a finalist in the Telstra Young Business Women’s Awards, an EY Entrepreneurship prize winner and a recipient of the Australian Marketing Association’s awards for Marketing Excellence in 2017 for work she delivered with her client Westpac.

Our MANAGEMENT TEAM

General Manager Assets
Dan Manderson

Dan Manderson is responsible for managing all of ZEN’s greenfield origination, connection, and development approvals, tendering for late-stage developments and conducting technical due diligence on potential acquisitions. Additionally, Dan supports ZEN’s Energy Markets team to assess risks involved with PPA and tolling agreements.

Dan has deep and extensive experience across the energy sector with expert capabilities in utility scale solar and battery energy storage systems and a thorough understanding of NEM connection processes and challenges. He has also worked across a range of wind, hydrogen and thermal power projects including as Technical Adviser on Fortescue Future Industries’ global
green hydrogen portfolio.

Prior to joining ZEN, he was the Australian manager of New Energy for global engineering advisory firm WSP. During his time there, he was involved in a diverse range of energy sector feasibility assessments and projects, covering solar, wind, bioenergy, energy from waste, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and various forms of energy storage (thermal, chemical, hydro, compressed air).

Chief of Staff to CEO
Joey Yeo

Joey Yeo is Chief of Staff to ZEN Energy’s CEO, Anthony Garnaut. He is responsible for the oversight and management of ZEN’s corporate functions including the development and implementation of ZEN’s strategic change program, development and implementation of strategic corporate programs and shareholder and board interactions.

He has led ZEN’s journey into being an ESG focused organisation including launching ZEN’s inaugural ESG report and its commitment to science-based emissions targets.

Joey holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons, first class) in Chemistry and Statistics from the University of Melbourne. He has completed the Foundation Course in Government Administration from Singapore’s Civil Service College and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Joey is fluent in Chinese and certified in PRINCE2 Agile.

Head of Treasury
Lara Reid

Lara Reid is the Head of Structured Capital Products at ZEN Energy. She is responsible for strategically engaging with key capital partners to develop, enhance and deliver structured capital products to the organisation. Lara works across the business, clients, capital partners and at Board level to develop comprehensive and innovative solutions.

Lara is also Co-Head of ZEN-A, ZEN’s female engagement program.

At Westpac, she won the Top Business Partner award in recognition of her ability to create and nurture key client relationships and increasing Westpac Adelaide’s foreign exchange revenue by 30%. She was also the Chair of the highly regarded Women of Westpac group for South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Driven by a deep desire to be engaged in a sustainability focused industry and a purpose driven organisation, Lara moved to ZEN in 2021, taking on the role of Business Development Manager.

Lara was quickly promoted to her current role in 2023. She has subsequently devised and executed novation structures, resulting in the delivery of capital at the lowest cost of debt that ZEN has negotiated.

General Manager Commercial Development
Ryan McKee

Ryan McKee is the General Manager of Commercial Development at ZEN Energy. He is responsible for sourcing new energy and storage offtakes to meet ZEN’s business growth ambitions while taking stewardship of developing and growing ZEN’s key relationships with Australia’s largest renewable asset owners and developers.

Prior to joining ZEN, Ryan worked for AGL for thirteen years, including being responsible for growing and retaining AGL’s largest electricity and gas customers. He worked with large customers including BHP Billiton Olympic Dam, OZ Minerals, Santos, and Fonterra Australia to develop comprehensive, long term energy solutions spanning infrastructure upgrades, power factor correction services, solar generation, battery storage, onsite generation, and energy efficiency programs.

Ryan has deep knowledge and experience across all areas of customer solution development, customer engagement, sales, and service.