Board of Directors

Mrs Kay Hull AO
Chair
Appointed 02/08/16 until 01/08/19. Reappointed 02/08/19 until 01/08/22.
Kay Hull is a Riverina personality, award-winning business woman, much lauded community leader and former Federal Member of Parliament, representing the Riverina for 12 years.
She has led, contributed to and been influential in a broad range of sectors in the community – from motor vehicles trades and services to local council, tourism, education, health, cancer support, and alcohol and drugs.
Having grown up in regional Australia, Kay has a passion for food and fibre production, and during her time in parliament, ensured the agriculture sector had a strong voice particularly in relation to water access for irrigation. Today she continues her staunch support of regional Australia’s agricultural sector as Chair of the AgriFutures Australia Board.
Taking on the Chairs role in 2016 Kay believes AgriFutures Australia is uniquely positioned to lead the way for Australian agriculture and deliver benefits to the entire nation by investing in people, forging new frontiers of learning, fostering an environment that prizes collaboration, entrepreneurship and real commercial outcomes, and investing in new and emerging industries to ensure the productive and competitive future of Australia’s rural industries.

Mr John Harvey
Managing Director
Appointed 03/05/2016.
Mr John Harvey joined AgriFutures Australia (formally RIRDC) in May 2016 as Managing Director. He accepted the challenge to set a new, more commercial direction for the organisation.
Mr Harvey aims to make AgriFutures Australia a change agent for transforming existing industries with new technologies and seeding new, high value industries that ensure Australian agriculture continues to grow.
Prior to this appointment, Mr Harvey held various positions at the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) spanning 18 years, including five years as Managing Director.
A graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Mr Harvey was a Director of Australian Crop Accreditation System Limited and a Director of the Value Added Wheat Cooperative Research Centre.
He has served on the boards of Pulse Breeding Australia, Barley Breeding Australia and the National Soybean Breeding Program. He was also a member of the Australian Winter Cereals Pre-Breeding Alliance and the CRC for Plant Based Management of Dryland Salinity.
BSc (Rural) Hons (University of New England), Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr William Ryan
Appointed 11/10/14 until 30/09/17. Reappointed 1/10/17 until 30/09/20. Reappointed 1/10/2020 until 1/10/2023.
Experience with his grandfather and wider family who developed farms from virgin bush in the wheatbelt of WA, inspired Dr William Ryan’s interest for agriculture and he has worked in agriculture throughout his career.
He describes successfully implementing early weaning on extensive cattle stations in northern Australia as one of the proudest moments in his career. The program significantly increased branding rates and also illustrated to him the tremendous impact that both research and development can have in a commercial cattle production system.
He joined the AgriFutures Australia Board because of its unique role in research and development across Australian agriculture.
“Innovative research and development is vital to the development and growth of a vibrant and diverse agricultural sector. In a rapidly changing world, AgriFutures Australia has a significant role to play in developing and empowering the people of Australia’s rural industries who, in turn, build strong and resilient regional communities.”
Dr Ryan joined the Board in 2014 with a professional record that includes revitalising and leading the Kondinin Group, one of Australia’s largest independent research groups. He is currently Chair of the Agricultural Produce Commission of Western Australia, Chair of the Guildford Grammar School Foundation and an independent agricultural consultant. He has previously been a member of GRDC’s Western Panel, a senior executive in the Heytesbury Group and a director of Vasse Felix Pty Ltd.
Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (UWA); PhD (UWA), Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Diana Gibbs
Appointed 1/10/2020 until 1/10/2023.
Diana Gibbs is a resource economist with an established career who has worked throughout Australia, and also in the Middle East and Africa, for wide range of corporate and public sector clients. She holds degrees in resource economics and environmental economics, and a Graduate Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
In addition to her role as Principal of Diana Gibbs & Partners (strategic planning and economic development consultants), Diana has held part-time positions with various Government agencies involved in regional economic and community development. She has been a Member (Director) of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, a Director of the NSW Rural Assistance Authority, and Chair of the Regional Development Australia – Riverina committee, as well as Chair of the Industry Advisory Panel for the Graham Centre at CSU. She was a member of the team led by Percy Allan to conduct an independent inquiry into the financial sustainability of NSW local government, and of the Wilkinson Inquiry into the recruitment and retention of medical practitioners in regional Australia.
She is currently a Director of LLS Riverina, and of the Australian Forest Products Association, and serves as Economic Adviser to the SW Slopes Forest Industry Hub.
She received the Rural Women’s Award for NSW in 2000, is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, and is a partner in her family farming enterprise located on the Murrumbidgee River near Wagga Wagga, NSW.

Prof. Andrew Harris
Appointed 1/10/2020 until 1/10/2023.
PhD, BEng, BSc, CEng, FIChemE, CPEng, FIEAust, FICE, NER, RPEQ, MAICD
Andrew is a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The University of Sydney, and the Australian director of Laing O’Rourke’s future engineering and innovation consultancy, the Engineering Excellence Group.
Laing O’Rourke is Australia’s largest private engineering and construction business, with local turnover of ~$3 bn p.a. Throughout his career he has worked at the interface between industry and academia. He is an expert in disruptive innovation, with deep expertise of digital, the internet of things, advanced materials, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, big data, the future of work, biomimetics, smart cities and disruptive technology incubation and acceleration applied to traditional infrastructure, engineering, energy, resources and manufacturing sectors.
Andrew was recognised as one of Australia’s 50 most innovative engineers by peak body Engineers Australia in 2016. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and Engineers Australia (IEAust).

Danny Le Feuvre
Appointed 1/10/2020 until 1/10/2023.
Danny Le Feuvre is the founding and current managing director of Australian Bee Services (ABS), an apicultural company based in South Australia. He holds a B.app.Sc from University of Melbourne, M.Agribus from University of Adelaide and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Danny has been involved in the primary industries his whole career, with a background in agricultural science, R D&E experience and agribusiness consultancy experience and most recently creating the apicultural business ABS.
He volunteers in a number of industry roles including an executive member of Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) and a member of the Hort Innovation Expert Advisory Panel.
He is passionate about rural industries and creating a stronger more vibrant rural Australia and brings to this role a deep and practical understanding of the levied industries.

Emma Robinson
Appointed 1/10/2020 until 1/10/2023.
Emma is an enthusiastic advocate for family farming and is interested in exploring how technology, farmer collaboration and consumers can come together to reshape supply chains.
A beef producer from North Queensland, Emma founded The Beef Collaboration Project, to future proof family farming through producer collaboration.
Emma was named the Queensland 2016 RIRDC Rural Women of the Year and in 2015 undertook a Winston Churchill Trust Fellowship to research farmer cooperatives and beef supply chain innovations in the UK, US, and Canada.
Emma has previously worked in the Queensland Department of Agriculture and is a former director of Beef CRC Limited. She has formal qualifications in agricultural science, rural extension and strategic foresight, and in 2019 completed a Certificate in New Ventures Leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Emma is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, (Course 11) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Cindy Cassidy
Appointed 1/10/2020 until 1/10/2023.
Cindy is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and she has graduate and post graduate qualifications in science and agriculture. Her 25+ year career includes research and business management at some of Australia’s largest agribusinesses along with working in regional NSW as CEO of a not for profit farming systems group – Temora based, FarmLink Research.
In 2015 Cindy received the RIRDC (Agrifutures) NSW/ACT Rural Women’s award and used the award to explore national and international approaches to agricultural innovation and on farm adoption of change.
Cindy was recently appointed as the Director of the Southern NSW Drought Resilience and Innovation Hub, where her extensive networks and long history in the agriculture are being called on to help shape this next phase of innovation in the sector.