Meet our
Executive Team

Lynne joined Data Action in March 2022 as Chair of the Board.

Lynne is an experienced board member and chair, with an executive background in the finance sector, including positions at ANZ, ING Australia and GIO Australia.

Her previous leadership roles include banking technology, organisational transformation and commercial delivery of technology and data services. As founding partner of Strategy&Data she helps leaders bring complex data and digital decisions to board and executive agendas.

Lynne is currently also Chair of Geoscape Australia Limited.

Marcus Thompson AM, BE(elec), BBus, MDefStud, MA, PhD, FIEAust, GAICD

Marcus joined the Board of Data Action in June 2024.

Marcus is a retired Major General who served 34 years in the Australian Army. Graduating from the Royal Military College in 1988, Marcus was allocated to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals. He served in a variety of command, regimental and Special Operations appointments including: Command of the 3rd Combat Signal Regiment; secondment to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as the Senior Advisor Defence Policy and Operations; Director General Special Operations Capability; Commander 6th Brigade; and deployments to East Timor, Iraq, and Afghanistan. His final appointment was as the inaugural Head of Information Warfare for the Australian Defence Force.

Since leaving the Australian Army, Marcus has founded Cyber Compass Pty Ltd, an independent advisory focused on improving cyber security and developing sovereign Australian capability. He is a Non-Executive Director of Penten, and a Non-Executive Director of Bank Australia.

Joh joined the Board of Data Action in April 2021 and chairs the Risk Committee.

Joh is a highly experienced executive in the banking, technology and service industries.

Her background includes IBM, ANZ and Consulting with leading Australian companies. In addition to several Board appointments, Joh has also served with Government and Statutory authorities, leading industry transformation and major technology realignment.

Paul joined the Data Action Board in March 2020 and was subsequently appointed to the Risk Committee.

Paul brings twenty-five years of senior leadership experience in banking and finance, professional services, biotechnology and defence, having spent the past eighteen years working with banks, credit unions and digital banks across Asia Pacific in the areas of strategy, architecture, software engineering, core systems integration and consolidation, offshore software development, and cyber security. Before moving into banking, he worked in the United States for several years where he led the delivery of large-scale business initiatives for S&P 500 companies spanning North America and Europe.

Paul currently also holds directorships for Credit Union SA Limited, Digital Resilience and My Security Adviser.

Wendy Thorpe BA, BBus (Accounting), Grad Dip Applied Finance & Investment, Harvard AMP, FFin, GAICD

Wendy joined the Board of Data Action in October 2022.

Wendy is an experienced board chair and member. As a former financial services executive, she has over 30 years’ experience in ASX listed companies (AXA, ANZ, AMP) leading technology and operations, including in CIO and COO roles.

Wendy is currently also chair of Epworth Healthcare, chair of Online Education Services, and a director of Heritage and People’s Choice, and Tower. She is a former director of Ausgrid, AMP Bank and Very Special Kids, and a former member of council of Swinburne University of Technology.

Steve joined DA in November 2021. He has an extensive history in senior executive-level finance roles, in diverse commercial settings such as defence, agribusiness and financial services. He holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Graduate Diploma of Accounting and is a graduate of the AICD and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants ANZ.

After almost a decade with KPMG Audit, specialising in Financial Services clients, Steve transitioned to the corporate sector at defence contractor BAE Systems Australia. He then moved to agribusiness Elders, serving as Commercial Manager before undertaking several CFO roles.

Steve returned to the Financial Services sector in 2009 as CFO of KeyInvest, an APRA regulated, member owned mutual providing property, financial and retirement services. Here, Steve was responsible for management of legal matters, funding transactions, property development, commercial contract reviews, and much more.

Jarrod joined DA 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.

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.

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.

Over 20 years’ experience in Digital and Technology Management in business as diverse as defence, retail, high technology, resources, telecommunications, and financial services.

Roles have included technology executive, digital and user experience, behavioural science, customer service, consultancy, product management, security, and commercial. Qualifications include Bachelor of Business (eCommerce), MBA, CISM, CGEIT, PROSCI, NNG UX Certified, Interaction Design, Design Thinking, Agile, and Diploma of Project Mgmt.