Meet our
Executive Team

Nicola was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Data Action in 2019. Nicola joined DA after six years at Australia Post, where her roles included leading its innovation agenda and delivery of new business services for medium and large corporate organisations and Government enterprises.

Her 25+ year career also includes four years working with British Telecom’s retail business in the UK where she led commercial business units and strategic programs for its customer service operations employing large teams in the UK and India. Nicola has also led innovation and transformation programs for global organisations, working with Deloitte’s UK Consulting business.

Outside of work you can find Nicola tackling weeds in the garden and chasing her dog along the beach after her morning coffee.

Jarrod was appointed Chief Risk Officer in September 2020.

He is an accomplished, adaptive and collaborative senior leader, with over 20 years’ experience in financial services. Specialising in Insurance (Life and Health) and Banking (Institutional and Commercial), he is an exceptional team builder with deep knowledge in the areas of risk management, operations and projects, and has achieved great success in driving transformational organisational outcomes.

Before joining DA, Jarrod was at AIA Australia where he served first as Chief Risk Officer and then as Head of Enterprise Delivery.

Jarrod lives in Melbourne and is married with 3 children. He holds bachelor’s degrees in both Commerce and Arts from the University of Melbourne and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Brett joined DA in July 2018. He is a highly accomplished, business professional with significant experience performing strategic roles in Australia and the USA.

Brett has a proven history of providing strategic leadership and making a difference across a broad range of areas including IT management and operations, cybersecurity, governance, risk management and control.

This experience has been gained working across industry sectors such as financial services, utilities, government, manufacturing, and energy and natural resources.

Based in Adelaide, Brett is a self-confessed Middle-Aged Man in Lycra (MAMIL), enjoying the physical and mental benefits that cycling offers. Brett also has an interest in home automation much to the chagrin of his wife, daughter and son.

Melanie was appointed General Manager People & Culture in December 2019.

She has over 20 years’ of global experience in IT as an ERP Consultant, specialising in best of breed HR systems and program management. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in Labour Relations and has held many roles within HR functional domains, from HR generalist to HR people and business strategy formation. Prior to joining DA, Melanie was a Senior HR Business Partner at Westpac where she oversaw a Group Operations division.

Having worked in various major international cities overseas, Melanie now calls Adelaide home, where she raises her 3 children alongside her husband, on a rural property in the Adelaide Hills. Outside of office hours, Melanie has a love of design and architecture, where she moonlights as an interior stylist and supports her husband with his property development portfolio.

Andrew was appointed General Manager Growth & Customer Experience in April 2020.

He is an innovative, digitally minded strategic executive with over 20 years’ experience across Financial Services, Advisory, Technology and Digital Automation.

Andrew has proven leadership and performance in executive roles in financial service organisations, global program roles developing and launching multiple successful digital business start-ups and executive leadership roles in SaaS businesses scaling across domestic and international markets. Andrew is passionate about innovation, wine, Liverpool Football Club and lives in Melbourne with partner Fiona and daughters Emily and Grace.

Rebecca joined DA in January 2020 and is responsible for transformation activities and the enterprise Project Management Office and implementation teams to manage execution risk across the portfolio to ensure excellence in delivery for clients and stakeholders.

Rebecca is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, is an experienced chartered global management accountant and Lean Six Sigma black belt and is passionate about working with companies to help transform and optimise operational performance using Lean processes and engaged leadership practices.

Rebecca has held senior finance and management positions in many industries including aviation and defence, manufacturing and property, where she has rolled out continuous improvement frameworks and ways of working to support transformation initiatives and organisational change.

Megan joined DA in January 2020 and has more than 20 years’ experience in strategic planning, market intelligence, and advisory services. Megan was based in Asia for 14 years, managing commercial licences and providing market insights for firms such as Factiva, Thomson Reuters, and PwC. Megan also held a Director role with KPMG Singapore as part of an Economic Development Board (EDB) supported initiative to drive strategic advisory services across the broader Asia region.

Megan lives in Melbourne with her two children and holds bachelor’s degrees in both Commerce (Economics & Marketing) and Arts from Deakin University. She also holds a master’s degree from Monash University (Economics, Banking and Finance). She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).