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Executive Directors & Board Chairs

Executive Directors:

Gerard Kennedy Tucker 1933–54

• founded the Brotherhood as a religious order
• pioneered social welfare activities to address poverty. 

Geoffrey Tremayne Sambell 1954–69

• established the donated goods division
• Anglican priest; later Archbishop of Perth  

See also : Sambell Oration 

David Scott 1969–1980

• nephew of Father Tucker
• took a lead in establishing Community Aid Abroad.  

Peter Hollingworth 1980–90

• Anglican priest; later became Archbishop of Brisbane, then Governor-General of Australia
• led the campaign Promise the children against child poverty.   

Bill Ford (acting Executive Director 1990)

• Previously Director of Income and Business Development, oversaw Diamond Jubilee Year  

Michael Challen 1991–99

• Anglican bishop, strong advocate of social justice for all Australians
• supported close links between Brotherhood research and services. 

Nicolas Frances 1999–2003

• Anglican priest, born in the United Kingdom, had set up income-generating activities with disadvantaged people
• fostered the concept of social enterprise. 

John Wilson (acting Executive Director) 2003–04

• Board member, oversaw transition period 

Tony Nicholson 2004–2018

• brought strong background in services and policy development with people at risk of homelessness

Conny Lenneberg 2018–2021

• Strengthened focus on creating lasting change
• Built organisational service delivery capabilities.   

Lucia Boxelaar (Acting) 2021-2022

• Joined BSL in November 2018, after being with World Vision Australia for 11 years leading teams that managed, researched and developed large-scale programs.
• Led two global strategic initiatives for World Vision International to promote evidence capture, utilisation and communication.
• Holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Anthropology from Monash University, and a PhD in Community Based Natural Resource Management from the University of Melbourne.

Travers Mcleod 2022-

• Holds a DPhil and MPhil (Dist) in International Relations from Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar
• Author of Rule of Law in War, (Oxford University Press, 2015)
• Associate Fellow of the Oxford Martin School and holds adjunct positions at the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia
• Board member of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture
• Occasional moderator for the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership

Chairs of the Board:

Venerable Andrew Curnow 1991-1993

Bishop Oliver Heyward  1993-1997

Sandy Clarke 1997-2000

Professor Stephen Duckett 2001-2005

Bishop Philip Huggins 2005-2014

Hon. Rob Knowles, AO 2014-2015

Most Rev Dr Philip Freier 2016-2020

Stephen Newton 2021-