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ARV Board

Aquatics & Recreation Victoria is governed by a Board of Directors with key knowledge and experience in many aspects of the aquatics and recreation industry, and expertise in business areas such as planning, marketing, finance and legal matters.

The ARV board consists of up to 9 directors. The composition of the board includes the CEO, 4 elected positions (Independent Chair, Finance Director, Facility Management Standing Committee Convenor and Learning & Development Standing Committee Convenor) along with up to 4 co-opted directors. Each elected director serves a 2-year term and each co-opted director is co-opted on an annual basis.

ARV Board Members

	Andrew Hocking Chair Andrew’s first involvement with ARV was in a VICSWIM Summer Program back in the 1980s. From that time he has combined his career as a secondary school teacher with his involvement with ARV. He was appointed to the VICSWIM Council as the Independent Schools Victoria Representative and continued this involvement on the board as the convenor of the Professional Development sub-committee. He was elected independent Chairman of ARV in 2004. Beyond ARV, Andrew is the Deputy Principal and Head of Senior School at Yarra Valley Grammar. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, photography and supports Collingwood in the AFL
	Kathy Parton Chief Executive Officer Kathy joined ARV as CEO in November 2019. Kathy has over 30 years’ experience working within the Community services sector in Not for Profit, Federal Government, State Government and Local Government sectors. Kathy is currently the Manager Community Wellbeing at Knox City Council and is responsible for leading Councils strategic planning, policy development, research and provision of programs and services to support Council’s goals to promote and protect the health and wellbeing of the Knox community. Kathy has a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA), is a member of the Local Government professional Association LGPRo and associate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
	Ben Tudhope Co-opted Director Ben is a veteran of more than 14 years in the health and fitness industry. Having worked in Local Government, University and Not For Profit sectors, he is currently the Business Development Manager of Aligned Leisure. In this role, Ben is responsible for developing strategic partnerships with key stakeholders across Government, Industry and Private sectors to benefit local communities in which Aligned Leisure work. Immediately prior to this role, Ben worked for YMCA Victoria in various roles from Centre Manager through to General Manager positions responsible for a range of facilities under management. Previously, Ben worked for the City of Melbourne and RMIT University within their in-house operated facilities. Ben is a proven leader having led large teams across a range of facilities and operations with strategic foresight and a focus on continuous improvement. Ben joined ARV as a board member and the Facility Management Standing Committee convenor in late 2016 and is responsible for ensuring ARV’s work within industry is relevant with learnings and feedback sought via the Facility Management Standing Committee on behalf of industry
	Ben Walker Co-opted Director Ben Walker has over 20 years’ experience in the Aquatics & Recreation Industry starting as a Membership Consultant and Learn to Swim Instructor at Monash Aquatic & Recreation Centre. Before becoming the Centre Manager at Active Monash, Ben gained experience in roles including the Health & Fitness Manager and Sales & Marketing Manager. Ben has been with Belgravia Leisure since 2014 as the Area Manager- Mornington Peninsula.
	David Le Page Finance Director David is a results-oriented leader with a successful record of achievement in significant business improvement, organisational development, cultural change and innovation. In 2012 David set up as an independent Consultant focussing on People and Performance and has primarily been involved in engagements with National Australia Bank (NAB), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and SSP AsiaPacific. David spent ten years with IBM Global Business Services transforming and managing their internal learning functions across Australia/NZ, Asia Pacific and Japan. Having spent 10 years as a corporate transformation consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) prior to his organisational development roles, David has a deep level of commercial experience, coupled with an ability to fully understand the commercial realities and challenges faced by organisations which has enabled successful engagement with business stakeholders to gain endorsement for proposed strategies and execution plans to develop and grow. David has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and spent six years in accounting and finance-related roles within the transport industry with Allied Pickfords Moving, where he was Financial Controller for their Household Removals Division, London Underground and the Docklands Light Railway (London). David’s passion is supporting business growth through assisting organisations and individuals to develop and grow in a manner which is aligned to the culture and strategic intent of the business.
	Janelle Falkingham Facility Management Convenor Janelle has been working in the aquatics industry in Victoria for 20 years. Initially within the private swim school sector until commencing with The Y in 2011. Janelle has managed aquatic programming at many of the Y’s largest facilities along with leading transition projects where new contracts were entered into. More recently, Janelle’s role as the Aquatic Product Manager enables her to lead programming specialists to develop initiatives in learn to swim and water safety while executing The Y’s Aquatic Product Strategy. In 2017 and 2019 Janelle attended the World Conference on Drowning Prevention where she presented to aquatic experts from around the globe. Janelle is currently a member of Life Saving Victoria’s Play It Safe by The Water steering committee, along with holding a position on AUSTSWIM’s Victoria/Tasmania advisory committee and was a member of the Victorian Aquatic Industry Alliance that came together to respond to COVID-19. Janelle is also the current chair of ARV’s Swim school networking committee. Janelle is driven to continue working alongside aquatic industry groups and leading bodies to strengthen work in drowning prevention and the swimming and water safety competency of all Australians.
	Leonie Shaw Learning and Development Convenor Leonie brings to a high level of experience and expertise in facility and event management, working for over 25 years within both the leisure and events industry. After completing a Bachelor of Applied Science - Human Movement & Nutrition, Leonie worked Essendon Football Club then as the Nutrition and Assistant Fitness Coordinator at Geelong Football Club. Leonie also held the Nutritionist role at Werribee Football Club for many years, before moving onto the club board as a Director. Leonie is currently certified as an AFL/AFLW Player Development Manager. As a leisure professional Leonie has worked in various roles including Health Club Coordinator, Assistant Manager, Centre Manager and Area Manager at a variety of Aquatic and Leisure Centre’s, Stadiums and Golf Courses west of Melbourne. Her current role within the industry is the National Workforce Planning & Development Manager for BlueFit. During this time, she have developed skills and expertise in the following areas: Program development Stakeholder management Financial and business management Facilities & asset management OHS and risk management Workforce leadership and culture management As an events professional, Leonie has worked at the State Netball Hockey Centre, Wyndham Leisure & Events Centre and GMHBA Stadium, with the responsibility of the end-to-end management of a diverse array of events across several genres including community arts and culture, function management and large scale international and national sporting events within both event venues and sporting stadiums.
	Ray Smith Co-opted Director Ray has over 27 years senior management experience in the aquatics and leisure industries within the commercial, not for profit and local government sectors. As a manager, owner and CEO he has successfully operated aquatic & leisure centres in regional and remote areas including Northern New South Wales, Western Queensland, Regional South Australia, South West Victoria and the Northern Territory. Ray also has had involved as an educator in the fitness industry in The TAFE and University systems. Ray’s facilities have received accolades including the South Australian Recreation Facility of the Year, Brisbane’s Small Business Hall of Fame and Life-Saving Victoria’s Swim & Survive School of the Year. Ray has a strong commitment to the industry with representation on peak industry bodies including, a member of AUSTSWIM South Australia’s industry advisory panel, and is a current member of ARV’s Board of directors.
	Ros Holding Co-opted Director Ros has over 25 years’ experience in the industry with an in depth of knowledge and experience in HR, recruitment/talent acquisition, career management, skills and capabilities assessment, facility operations and management, training design and learning/education. Ros has developed a number of support tools, resources and systems for businesses she has worked with over her career. People development and creating positive organisation culture to engage and retain employees are two of her personal passions. Ros has a Graduate Diploma in HRM Management, Bachelor of Applied Science (Human Movement) and a Certificate in Recreation Management Practice. Ros has recently completed an Entrepreneurial business course with the Australian Sports Technologies Network, is a member of AHRI and has worked with NSO’s/SSO’s. Ros enjoys keeping active, reading interesting biographies and watching/playing competitive sport. She has three children.