AVJennings and RPS appoint new CEOs Philip Kearns AM and Meegan Sullivan. Meanwhile Laura Pratt joins CBRE to drive diversity initiatives, Turner makes senior appointments hires and sustainability specialist Caimin McCabe joins Stantec.
Philip Kearns AM will take over from Peter Summers as chief executive officer of AVJennings. Summers is retiring in March 2022 and Kearns will transition into the role from 10 January 2022. Kearns has been a non-executive director of AVJennings for the past two years and has had a relationship with the company going back over a decade. Former captain of the Australian Rugby team, the Wallabies, Kearns has 15-plus years’ experience leading financial services organisations, including seven as managing director of InterRISK Australia. Summers joined AVJennings in 1984, taking up the role of CEO and managing director in 2009. Summers’ contribution to AVJennings, which enters its 90th year in 2022, leaves a strong legacy.
International consulting firm RPS has appointed Meegan Sullivan as chief executive officer for its Australia Asia Pacific business. Sullivan has been a member of the company’s executive team for more than eight years, and takes over from Ross Thompson, who will soon be chief executive for ASX-listed workforce management and staffing company, PeopleIN. Sullivan has more than 25 years’ consulting experience on projects including Western Sydney Airport, Melbourne’s Level Crossing Removal Project, Sydney Desalination Plant, and others. She was a member of the executive leadership team at infrastructure-focused consultancy Manidis Roberts for nine years, and also held senior positions at Sydney Water. Most recently, Sullivan has led a 170-strong team as RPS’s executive director of advisory for Australasia.
Laura Pratt is joining CBRE as diversity, equity and inclusion manager for Australia and New Zealand. Pratt was most recently inclusion and diversity portfolio lead for Qantas. CBRE’s Australian CEO Phil Rowland is a member of the Property Champions of Change coalition, which was established in 2015 to drive greater gender equality in the Australian property industry and increase the number of women in leadership roles.
CBRE has made another key promotion in its retail asset management team, with Steve Luby elevated to state manager for retail property management in Victoria. This follows recent promotions of Lee Lawler to lead retail property management in WA and SA, and Guy Washington to head up Queensland. Luby joined CBRE in 2019 as a portfolio manager in Melbourne, after an extensive career in shopping centre management including 14-plus years with Vicinity Centres.
Design practice Turner has made two new senior appointments: Gemma Bainbrigge as business development manager and Monique Franklin as senior associate and head of interiors. Bainbrigge has previously worked for Mirvac and Bates Smart, and will expand Turner’s client base and partnership network. Franklin has spent the last three and half years working in Hong Kong and on developments throughout Southeast Asia, and will draw on her diverse skills to translate these into opportunities for Australian clients. Turner has also promoted Claire Mallin and Carolina Álvarez Arellano to associate directors. Mallin and Álvarez Arellano have been with Turner for eight and 10 years respectively, spearheading projects, including George & Allen Waterloo, West End Residences Glebe, AMG Sydney, 85 Macquarie Street Parramatta, and the RFS Headquarters at 4 Murray Rose Ave in Sydney Olympic Park.
After more than 17 years with Cundall, Caimin McCabe has joined Stantec. A member of the Property Council’s Sustainable Development Committee in Victoria, McCabe set up Cundall’s Melbourne office in 2004. McCabe joins Stantec as principal sustainability consultant as the firm doubles in size in Australia after acquiring Cardno for US$500 million. The acquired assets represent around two-thirds of Cardno’s business by revenue and around 2,750 employees. This cohort will be added to Stantec’s 22,000-strong operation. Stantec also acquired Wood and Grieve in mid-2020.
The workplace consulting arm of Dexus, Six Ideas, has hired Kirsten Brown as principal workplace consultant. Brown was national workplace insight manager with Herman Miller for more than seven years and recently submitted her PhD study investigating health in the workplace. Six Ideas is working on hybrid workplace strategies for a range of organisations. Brown joins fellow principals Chris Alcock and Daniel Quinn.
The City of Melbourne’s new Homes Melbourne, which aims to improve housing access and affordability, has appointed City of Yarra chief executive Vijaya Vaidyanath as its inaugural CEO. Vaidyanath will help the City of Melbourne deliver on its commitment to improve city-wide housing accessibility and affordability. Under Vaidyanath’s leadership, the City of Yarra was recognised as Victoria’s first carbon neutral council.
The International WELL Building Institute has secured the services of Devan Valenti, who joins as a manager in the Asia Pacific team and will work closely with WELL vice president for Asia Pacific Jack Noonan. As manager of the Green Building Council of Australia’s Future Focus program, Valenti oversaw the development of the Green Star Buildings rating tool and the biggest update to the rating system in almost a decade. Valenti moves to IWBI from his role as sustainability consultant with ADP Consulting.
Property advisory firm Charter Keck Cramer has revealed a new executive leadership team and organisation structure. New state managing director roles have been created, with Nick Ashton (Victoria), Shaun Golden (Queensland) and Bennett Wulff (New South Wales) appointed in an expansion of the role Wulff has undertaken since 2014. Aarti Raniga takes on the role of chief legal and risk officer and Heidi Moore’s duties have been redefined as head of people and culture. The firm is overseen by CEO Peter Hutchins.