About Us

Fiona started her career as a registered nurse in Brisbane. She has taught bioethics, clinical communication and preparation for professional practice in schools of nursing and medicine at various universities for a number of years, as well as working as a perinatal counsellor supporting families whose baby was likely to die shortly before, during or after delivery. Fiona completed a PhD in 2006 examining the construction of risk and sources of influence when contemplating pre-natal screening. From her PhD work, Fiona was fortunate enough to be awarded the Bob and June Prickett Churchill Fellowship to undertake an extensive study tour of the UK and USA investigating how a perinatal palliative care service may be developed for Australia. Fiona has worked as the Clinical Ethicist for a large metropolitan Australian hospital and in the healthcare context in Queensland, primarily in the area of adverse events and clinical incident management.

Currently, Fiona is the General Manager of Hummingbird House, Queensland’s only children’s hospice.

In 2018, based upon her work with Hummingbird House, Fiona was awarded an opportunity to participate in the Global Leadership Practices Program in India. This program, offered by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia, and Yellow Edge – Performance Architects, is designed to expose globally minded leaders to what’s going on behind the scenes in China, the USA and India. She is also a member of the Churchill Fellows’ Association of Queensland. Outside of work, Fiona sings loudly in her car and is trying to convince her husband and two children to worship her as a living goddess.

Paul is a lawyer and CFO with an extensive background in corporate governance, equity markets and complex commercial transactions.

Alongside his current role as co-founder and Managing Director of Brick Lane Brewing, one of Australia’s largest independent breweries, Paul has held executive level roles in ASX listed companies, regulatory bodies and worked as a lawyer internationally for major law firms.

Paul has a passion for music and the arts and through his current executive role supports a number of music and arts initiatives across Australia. Paul is also involved and a supporter of the hospitality and events sector and as a side interest is currently completing a Diploma in Wine.

Mellissa is a non-executive director with a keen interest in health and the arts and more than 20 years’ experience as a doctor in leadership and executive management roles across the health and insurance industries.  Values and purpose-driven, Mellissa is committed to working towards improved health outcomes and equity.  She has a passion for the arts and its role in individual and community health and wellbeing and, as a thought leader in her field, her background, commercial and industry experience, stakeholder engagement and specialist skills in governance and risk management, brings a unique combination of skills and diverse perspective to the board.

In addition to her role with Metro Arts, she sits on the University of Queensland Senate and is a board member with Multicultural Australia and the North West Hospital and Health Service.

Kim has over 25 years’ executive, Board, and Board advisory experience in the profit-for-purpose, public, private, and government sectors across a range of industries including superannuation, life insurance, funds management, financial planning, and health. In addition to her role on the Board of Metro Arts, she is a Board member of Volunteering Australia, and has extensive Board advisory experience providing trusted advice to the Boards and Sub-Committees of the complex, highly regulated businesses of QSuper, QInsure, QInvest, Suncorp Public Offer Superannuation Fund, Suncorp Staff Plan, Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), and Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC). As a Theatre student in a prior life, Kim has always maintained a passion for the arts, and recognises the important role that the arts play in our community.

Kylie is a passionate ambassador for the arts with over 20 years of experience in delivering partnerships, stakeholder engagement, philanthropy and sponsorship.

Through a strategic focus within the cultural sector, Kylie has connected the industries broader economic outcomes to ensure the continued development of revenue generation to support and celebrate the significant stories of our region.

In championing the cultural outcomes of our sector, Kylie has ensured that connecting artists and audiences through memorable and transformative experiences remains at the forefront of all stakeholder engagement.

This experience has seen Kylie undertake positions at British Council, Brisbane Festival and QAGOMA where she is currently employed as Head of Business Development and Partnerships.

Trent is a First Nations lawyer, lecturer and consultant. Trent’s ultimate goal is to change the face and operation of corporate Australia and the legal profession by embedding key cultural considerations through platforming lived experience as expertise.

In bold pursuit of this goal, Trent has been the first in many of his professional roles, but he ensures he won’t be the last. Writing is his personal creative outlet, as he recognises the pivotal role art, in all its forms, plays to platform societal issues.

Naomi Blacklock is an artist based in Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia whose practice maps the nexus of embodied performance, cultural heritage and gender identity. Working across a range of media, from experimental sound and video installation to performance and sculpture, her work creatively examines the mythologies, archetypes and harmful histories of gender and cultural identity through an intersectional feminist lens.

In 2019 Naomi was awarded her Doctorate of Philosophy from Queensland University of Technology for her thesis Conjuring Alterity: Refiguring the Witch and The Female Scream in Contemporary Art. Her work has been presented at Hobart’s Art Festival, Dark Mofo and in numerous Galleries and Artist-Run Initiatives both locally and nationally. With broad experience in the Visual Arts sector, Naomi is a current Board Member of Metro Arts and has served as the Director of Boxcopy Contemporary Art Space and a Founding Co-Director of Clutch Collective ARI (2016).

Peter is an HR leader, business executive and lawyer with specialist skills in organisational culture, strategy, learning and leadership development. He is Chief People Officer at BDO and has served in a range of Board and Committee roles in both commercial and purpose-driven organisations. He has also been a member of BDO’s Global People Committee for over 10 years, providing an international outlook and lens to his work.

Committed to social justice, inclusion and wellbeing, Peter believes that engagement with the arts is integral to the development of good citizens, effective communities and a thriving society.