Our Leadership
Founder and Chief Executive
Anna Kiousis: is an internationally respected practitioner in international and community development and has worked with humanitarian agencies for over 14 years on programs to assist the disadvantaged in developing countries.
Specialising in economic development, she has established sustainable development programs in the poorest communities in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines and in the Pacific Island region.
In 2004, Anna founded Barefoot Economy, Australia after years of witnessing first hand the social and economic inequity that exist in the developing world. She recognised that social development in developing countries is limited by the lack of true and sustainable economic development initiatives.
Anna is the Chief Executive of Barefoot Economy, Australia which was incorporated as a non profit organisation in 2005 in order to meet the social and economic needs of the poorest communities through innovative social entrepreneurship models to poverty reduction.
Anna is shown here with the model of the Barefoot Economy Essential Oil Manufacturing Plant.
Board of Directors
Christine Kanellakis: Christine is a consultant in the public policy arena. She has extensive business, commercial and legal experience, having held senior management positions in the services, construction and legal sectors. Her previous roles have included General Manager Strategy at Bilfinger Berger Services and Senior Associate at Clayton Utz. Christine has a long involvement in multicultural and women’s issues in Australia, and has led and worked with various community and arts organisations. She has an Arts Law degree from Sydney University.
Celine Cheng: is a management consultant specialising in organisational implementation of Application and Information Technology. She currently works for Oracle Consulting and has previously worked for leading consulting firms including Accenture, Deloitte Consulting and Price Waterhouse Coopers Consulting. She also has experience in the not for profit sector, having worked as Executive Officer (Finance & Operations) and held the office of Treasurer Board Member for Mercy Works Inc, Australia. Celine holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA, 1998) from the Australian Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Commerce – Accounting and Information Systems (1989) from the University of New South Wales.
Vince Choy: is a Managing Partner of Auswild & Co, Chartered Accountants. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Robyn Cornford: is a Director of the MPC Group International. She is a Chartered Accountant, and has an MBA from Georgetown University. She specialises in micro-finance and small enterprise development. Robyn has worked as a Senior Associate with Price Waterhouse Coopers, and as financial controller and director of a number of firms in Australia and overseas. Her financial, accounting and management experience encompasses commercial, non profit and government sectors. More recently Robyn was a senior program officer with the Foundation for Development Cooperation where she worked throughout Australia and Asia on micro-finance and small enterprise development projects, policy development and research studies.
Harris van Beek: has long been involved in establishing and supporting local community initiatives and in upholding human rights. With a background in Arts and Management (Bachelor of Arts and Masters in Community Management) Harris has held the position of CEO of Amnesty International Australia from 1982-1995. From 1996 to 2001 Harris was CEO of ASTF, a Government funded agency which established local school-business-community partnerships. A member of the Human Rights Council of Australia, he now works as a consultant on projects pertaining to human rights, community development, Indigenous education and employment.
