The MASG Committee
MASG committee members have a strong interest in climate change and sustainability generally and, ideally, several hours per week available for committee and subcommittee meetings which normally take place on Tuesdays. If you’re interested in this rewarding community involvement, please write to the acting Chair, Heather Barrett at: info@masg.org.au or phone 5470 6978.

MASG was incorporated in February, 2006 and the inaugural committee was established at that time. The first Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday August 2nd, 2007.

Acting Chair: Heather Barrett

In her paid employment, Heather has been a teacher, a community education officer and a children’s poetry book author. She has also been coordinator of the YWCA and the CEO of Video Education Australasia in Bendigo, where she was the winner of the inaugural Victorian Government Women in Business Award. Heather has been a company director for 20 years. She has raised three children in Castlemaine (with Neil’s help) and worked as a volunteer in a range of community organisations including Mount Alexander Hospital, Buda historical home and garden, the Castlemaine state festival, Winters Flat primary school and Oxfam Castlemaine.

Treasurer:Michael McCartney
Michael was born in Melbourne and has close family ties to the Central Victorian region. He has a background in law, financial planning and commerce. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. For close to twenty years he was one of the principals of Strategem Financial Group based in Bendigo and remains a consultant to the business. He is a keen cyclist and active in the sailing community through Cairn Curran Sailing Club. He devoted a large amount of time in 2006, largely pro bono, project managing and co-writing the Solar Cities bid for the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance. The Central Victorian Solar Cities bid was successful in obtaining funding. In recent times he has been assisting with MASG’s negotiations on wind energy.

Susie Burke
Susie is a psycologist who works for the Australian Psycology Society, concentrating on psycology in the public interest. As such she has wide experience in the psycological impacts of climate change and methods and techniques for assisting people to come to terms with climate change and take action that is relevant to them. She is a talented facilitator and advocate for cooperative and sustainable housing in regional Australia.

Ron Snep
Ron is an organic grapegrower and winemaker at Welshmans Reef Vineyard. He and his wife, Julia Elkins, have been farming at Welshmans Reef for 24 years. In recent years the focus of the business has expanded to include contract winemaking, wine finishing and bottling for clients in the wider region. On Saturday mornings Ron works in a local Newstead café’. Some say that for a winemaker he makes an all-right coffee.
Since 2002 Ron has been a director of Maldon and District Financial Services – the company that operates the Maldon Community Bank. He is also an active member of Taste of Gold, and is firmly committed to promoting and being involved in appropriate projects that will engage and bring success, resilience and strength to the community.

Mez Woodward
Mez leads a well respected business consultancy called the Futures Factory working for business, government and community organsiations integrating economic, environmental and social sustainability through strategic planning and project management. She was inaugral chair of the local community planning process MAP 2020 and has been a Human Resources consultant for a number of large employers. She lives in a passive solar, energy efficient house in the bush near Faraday.

Derek de Vrieze
Derek has had a long and distinguished career with the Bendigo Bank, working in strategy and community engagement. He facilitated the establishment of a number of business networks and assisted the commercialisation of a number of businesses. He has positions on numerous State Government commercialisation panels in Victoria and the ACT and a member Federal Government committee for a regional grant program.

He was the Founding Chair of The Central Victorian Business Network (CVBN) which was established in 2002. In 2008 CVBN and the Bendigo Chamber of Commerce and Industries created the Bendigo Business Council . In 2010 Derek was appointed Community Banking Manager for mecu, a company which is focused on community, environment, sustainability and affordable housing.

Derek holds a Bachelor of Business, is a Graduate of the Institute of Company Directors and is a long term resident of Castlemaine.

Committee nomination form.

Staff:

Events Coordinator Project Officer: Helena Read
Senior Project Officer: Dean Bridgfoot
Adminstration Manager: Jill Bryan
Renewable Energy Project Officer: Jayson Burhop

Sub Committees:
The Mount Alexander Sustainability Fund (MASG’s Public Fund under federal legislation)- Tony Smark (chair), Peter Sansom, Heather Barrett, Rev Gordon Bannon

To ensure the correct operation of the fund

Finance – Treasurer (chair), Tony Smark, Michael McCartney.

To ensure that the organisation is able to pay its debts and maintains proper records, necessary audits and reports are carried out

Membership – to be announced shortly.
To service and promote membership

Renewable Energy - Dean Bridgfoot, Michael McCartney

To ensure the aims of the Strategic Plan and project plans are fulfilled and to negotiate on behalf of the organisation, subject to final Committee approval

Governance - Peter Sansom (chair), others to be announced shortly.
To ensure that the organisation is fully compliant with legal requirements and that governance is as effective as possible

Project Review and Employment

To review projects against project plans and deal with matters relating to employment, including decisions about new staff

Funding, fundraising - Heather Barrett (chair), others to be announced.

To apply for funding from a wide variety of sources and to organise innovative fund raising events.

Communication and publicity - Peter Sansom (chair), Dean Bridgfoot, Jayson Burhop. To coordinate communication strategies