Maria Joyce
Chair
Committee member since 2016
Maria brings over 14 years’ experience in leadership, operational, technical and business improvement roles across the mining industry. Her experience in a multitude of organisations, projects, and working environments, has enabled her to be highly adaptable, creative and nimble. She understands the importance of strong stakeholder and team engagement to successfully deliver the right results in the toughest situations. She is a strong believer in creating an environment that builds team capability and trust while fostering collaboration. Maria is also an AUSIMM Chartered Professional, Registered Professional Engineer Queensland (RPEQ) and a Competent Person for various open pit deposits. She was recently appointed as the Women in Mining & Resources Queensland (WIMARQ) Committee Chair and a WIMNET committee QLD representative. Over the past three years, she has supported both the WIMARQ/QRC and UQ Business School mentoring programs. Maria acknowledges the unique qualities and strengths that a diverse workforce brings to businesses and believes it is vital to ensure every individual has a meaningful work purpose, contributes to a common goal and is nurtured in their role. She is extremely passionate about helping and mentoring others in achieving their full potential, no matter what obstacle is thrown in their way.
Jules Brown
Committee member since 2007
An environmental project manager and mining engineer with over 18 years’ experience. Experience includes managing large Environmental Impact Assessments, on-site environmental management, provision of strategic approvals advice, preparation of approval documentation, environmental support and advice for large multidisciplinary feasibility studies, and coordination of technical teams undertaking complex environmental studies. Industry experience includes mining projects, CSG projects, power stations, pipelines and transmission lines, throughout Australia, Asia Pacific and South America. Has also coordinated, prepared and presented at large stakeholder consultation forums and liaised with all levels of government.
Chartered Professional (Environment) with the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 for signing off on environmental and social components.
Committee member and past Chair of the AusIMM’s Community and Environment Society committee, and committee member and past Chair of Women in Mining and Resources Queensland (WIMARQ).
Caroline Morrissey
Committee member since 2005
Caroline has been a committee member since 2005 and provides support for WIMARQ through her role at the Queensland Resources Council. She has a background in journalism, having worked on newspapers and ABC and commercial radio in Broken Hill, Perth and Brisbane, as well as a number of government relations positions, including the Queensland Department of Mines and Energy. She began work for the Queensland Resources Council in 2001 and is currently Business Development Manager for Skills and Diversity. She manages the QRC's Women in Resources Action Plan, which she developed in 2006. The plan aims to increase the proportion of women working in the resources sector in Queensland, particularly in non-traditional roles to at least 20 percent by 2020.
Holstein Wong
Committee member since 2015
Holstein is a Customer Sucess Manager at RedEye Apps, a software start-up servicing the mining and resources sector. Using her experiences as a site-based process engineer and commercial analyst at BHP, she is passionate about understanding her stakeholders' needs and delivering the best cloud solutions for managing each client's engineering drawings and data.
In 2018, Holstein won the QLD Exceptional Young Woman in Resources Award, and was recognised as a Finalist for the Exceptional Young Woman in Resources National Award. She joined WIMARQ as a graduate while living in Blackwater, to influence the industry's attitude towards inclusion and diversity. Her aim is that current and future industry entrants are given opportunities to excel at their careers, and are supported in their advancement as their careers and personal lives develop.
Holstein has a Bacholer of Engineering (Materials Science and Engineering) from UNSW with the University Medal and 1st Class Honours.
Jennifer Purdie
Committee member since 2015
Jenny is an experienced executive with a track record of success in technical, leadership and senior corporate roles within the resources, energy and renewables sectors.
Jenny is passionate advocate for change, and believes that Australia’s energy future should be diverse, creating a long-term sustainable mix that works for all Australians. In her roles with Adani Renewables and leadership positions with WIMARQ, the Australian Industry Group National Advisory Council and board directorships, Jenny has consistently worked towards ensuring that our citizens and businesses have access to affordable, clean and reliable energy.
Previously she worked with Aurizon in the role of Executive Vice President – Enterprise Services. In this role her key areas of accountability are Information Technology, Group Legal and General Counsel, Office of the Company Secretary, National Policy, Enterprise Risk Management and Safety, Health and Environment.
Jenny began her career as a Process Engineer at the Altona Petrochemical Company. She then joined Rio Tinto Aluminium and filled a number of technical and operational roles including Senior Research Engineer at Comalco’s Research Centre and Superintendent roles at both Boyne Smelters and New Zealand Aluminium Smelters and Boyne Smelters. In 2000 Jenny moved to Alcoa and worked in a number of senior operational roles at Alcoa including as General Manager of Alcoa’s Point Henry Smelter, where she was accountable for the safe operation of a 190,000 tpa primary aluminium smelter together with the Anglesea coal fired Power Station and mining operations.
In 2008 Jenny re-joined Rio Tinto, working first in Aluminium based in Brisbane and later in the Diamonds and Minerals business, based in the London office. In 2012 she returned to Brisbane as Global Practice Leader for Technology Delivery in the Innovation function, where she was accountable for safe delivery of Rio Tinto’s Mine of the Future™ technologies into Rio Tinto’s businesses.
Sally Rayner
Committee member
Sally works as General Manager – Group Assurance Programs at Rio Tinto. She commenced her career as an environmental scientist and has broadened her focus to include Health, Safety, Environment and Community, and management system and assurance design, implementation and performance. Sally has worked across mining operations, projects and most recently providing business support on a Group wide basis. Sally is responsible to Management and Rio Tinto Board Committees for the provision of independent and objective assurance over the adequacy and effectiveness of the Group’s systems for risk management, internal control and governance. Sally is passionate about developing capability, building and retaining talent and actively supporting diversity, inclusion and flexible working arrangements.
Susan Mallan
Committee member
Susan is an experienced executive manager with extensive operational and project management experience combined with strategic and commercial capabilities.
Susan has more than 20 years’ operational and project management experience in ASX and NYSE listed companies, government owned corporations and privately owned firms, consulting, service providers and owner-operators. She worked with Schlumberger for 10 years in Australia, UAE and Indonesia, starting as Field Engineer and moving into project management, and then management, finishing as the Middle East IT Manager overseeing service provision to 6000+ Schlumberger users in 28 countries. Susan is a highly effective communicator, networker, public speaker, stakeholder manager, leader and mentor with experience building and managing teams from 3 to 300.
Monan Zhang
Committee Member since 2017
Monan Zhang is a Grid Connection consultant at APD Engineering, responsible for grid connection management of multiple renewable energy connections to the electricity grid. She has previously worked at BHP’s Maintenance Centre of Excellence and government-owned electricity transmission system operator Powerlink Queensland, specialising in the areas of project management, network planning, engineering design, and network operations.
Monan emigrated to Australia from China in 2007. She graduated from the University of Queensland in 2013 with First Class Honours in Electrical Engineering, having spent half a year living in the Netherlands on a university exchange program.
Living abroad in China and the Netherlands has allowed Monan to develop a keen sensitivity to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Monan is passionate about contributing to the development of a continuous pipeline of diverse talent in the mining and resources industry.
Kelli How
Committee Member since 2017
Kelli began her career as a lawyer, graduating from QUT with Honours in 2005. After graduating, Kelli worked in private practice as a resources lawyer in a top tier firm supporting clients from various mining and gas projects throughout Australia. Kelli joined QGC (which was subsequently purchased by Royal Dutch Shell) in 2012 as a lawyer in the QGC legal team with a focus on land, environmental, safety and operational /regulatory compliance. Kelli is currently part of the extended leadership team at QGC in the role of Manager Access, leading a large team of land access negotiators, permits and tenures advisors, surveyors, asset engineers, groundwater and P&A advisors and geomatics experts located across Brisbane, Chinchilla and Wandoan. Kelli has over 11 years’ experience working with a variety of stakeholders including lawyers, landholders, joint venture partners, industry bodies and various government departments and regulators. She is a passionate advocate of providing opportunities for the development and mentoring of more junior female staff to create greater opportunities for gender diverse successors in leadership roles.
Emelia Chalker
Committee Member since 2018
Emelia is a passionate, talented and versatile marketing and communications specialist armed with over 15 years’ industry experience within the resource sector.
Emelia is results-driven, with the proven ability to ensure that brand messages, standards and communications are both well-understood and effectively implemented. She specialises in all internal and external communications, working closely with stakeholders to implement key marketing strategies to propel the sales strategy and create top of mind brand awareness for the company.
Emelia’s high-level experience in the resource sector across advertising, media buying and planning has also seen her build a reputation for being a highly skilled all-rounder in the marketing and communications industry. Her passions include strategy, project management, content management, digital marketing and event management.
Rob Jackson
Committee Member since 2020
Vice President Operations – South32 Cannington
Rob brings with him over 25 years of experience across many diverse operations within the resources sector. Currently heading up South32’s Cannington operation in North West Queensland, Rob has recently been appointed to the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Board of Directors and won the QRC 2019 Gender Diversity Champion Award.
Rob has worked across most parts of the resources value chain, having multi-commodity and country experience. He has played key leadership roles in strategic, cultural and business planning transformations necessary for businesses to thrive within the ever-changing external environment. Passionate about diversity within the workplace, Rob is driven to create the inclusive culture necessary for teams to flourish and for businesses to succeed. Under his stewardship, Cannington has seen a step change in engagement and inclusion scores and the operation was recognised with the 2019 QRC Excellence in Diversity Programs and Performance Award.
Rob holds a Bachelor of Mining Engineering degree, a Master of Finance and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He also mentors future female leaders through programs internal and external to South32.
Away from work, Rob enjoys hitting the mountain biking trails around Brisbane, cooking gourmet feasts for family and friends and spending quality time with his wife and three sons.