4 February 2022, Auckland New Zealand
Wych today announced the formation of an advisory board, with commercial strategist, Vanessa Ronan-Pearce and Director, Scaleups and Innovation Labs with ACS, Siobhan Casey, joining CEO Dermot Butterfield to create the board.
Vanessa Ronan-Pearce, has been working as Head of Corporate Partnerships for The Salvation Army – NZ, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, as well as consulting to The Objective to support startups and scale-ups with their investor discussions and fundraising approach. During 2020 she worked remotely for Antler, as Director of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement. With a career spanning continents, her extensive business skills support her work as an advisor and strategist with expertise in business and commercial strategy, marketing, communications and innovation.
In 2016 Vanessa was the second hire and supported the establishment of FinTech Australia to become the leading member-driven organisation building an ecosystem of Australian fintechs to advance the global economy and culture. In 2018, as a result of her work at FinTech Australia (founding the Finnie Awards and Intersekt FinTech Festival) Vanessa was identified as one of the top 100 Women in Fintech from around the world, by Miss Kaya in collaboration with LATTICE80.
Siobhan Casey brings a 25+ year career in logistics, retail, mortgages and fintech. She is a passionate supporter of Australia's innovation ecosystem and is currently Director, Scaleups and Innovation Labs + Acting Director, Professional Standards and Assessment Services at the ACS (Australian Computer Society) based in Sydney.
Siobhan is also a Mentor with Enterprise Ireland, helping Irish businesses successfully scale into Australia, an Innovation Mentor for Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) for their Capstone project, and an Advisor to SP Jain Global School of Management.
She has an MBA from Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM), a Diploma in Project Management and a Bachelor of Commerce, Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, and Associate Degree of Applied Science, Hospitality Management, as well as a Black Belt in HapKiDo.
“With 50 years of experience between them I am grateful to them for sharing some of that knowledge with us”, says Dermot Butterfield, CEO at Wych. “Since they have joined I have seen a significant shift, to the positive, in everything we are doing. Their skills and guidance are truly appreciated and I look forward to working with them in the future.”