Meet The UYCE Board of Directors

Melbourne born, Michael has lived in Three Bridges on a small farm for the past 25 years with his wife Leonie. He currently runs Shortlist Private Tours for visitors to Melbourne and Regional Victoria, specialising in Day Tours in the Yarra Valley. In the heady 1980’s he built a flourishing St Kilda Road Advertising business working for major national food and beverage companies. From 1995 till 2015 he ran a National Marketing and Publishing business and consulted to the tourism and hospitality industry Australia wide. He also sat on the Board of the Banksia Environmental Foundation at this time.

Locally and more recently he has been a Board Member of Yarra Ranges Tourism and WV CEDA, was Executive Support Officer for YR Councils’ Tourism Signage Committee, sat on the ECOSS Committee and managed the Warburton Golf & Sporting Club for a period. He is passionate about his community in the Yarra Valley, and values the opportunity to live in an environment that offers clean water, fresh air and natural beauty.

He is a keen sportsperson having played professional football in Queensland, sailed numerous Melbourne to Hobart yacht races and remains a Member of the Warburton Golf & Sports Club.

Having travelled widely and seen much throughout his business career, he now brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Board of the UYCE Ltd.

Garry settled into the Upper Yarra area in 1979 with his wife, Glenys. They have three adult children who are still in the Yarra Ranges area. Garry, recently retired, had been with the Department of Education for 37 years actively involved in a number of teaching roles, local Upper Yarra Primary Schools’ Sports Association and other responsibilities. These included Assistant Principal at Gembrook Primary School and Healesville Primary School and Principal at Gladysdale Primary School.

During this time he has been actively involved in a number of local sporting clubs in both playing, coaching and administrative roles. He is a Life Member of the Warburton-Millgrove Football & Netball Club, Wesburn Junior Football Club and Warburton-Millgrove Cricket Club. He is very passionate about local junior sport and community participation. Garry is a playing member and the current Secretary of the Warburton Bowls Club.

Garry, with his wife Glenys, are involved with an organisation called AHVISE, which provides volunteer teaching and assistance to Australian Outback Families mainly on remote Outback Stations. They provide their services to tutor and teach the children on these stations as part of their Distance Education Programs. This enables the parents to focus upon the work on the station during particularly busy and hectic times.

Gordon is a born and bred Warburton resident. Born at the Warburton Hospital, primary education at Warburton East Primary school and secondary education at Warburton and Lilydale.

He has three adult children educated in the valley along with eleven grandchildren.

As a volunteer Gordon has been involved in many forums and committees for more than 50 years, starting with the Upper Yarra Police and Citizens Youth Club and the Warburton Search and Rescue Squad during the 60s. His enthusiasm continues and today Gordon serves as Chair of the Upper Yarra River Reserve Committee and also Chair of the Upper Yarra Community Recovery Committee (a Yarra Ranges Council initiative).

Gordon also served as a Councillor with the Upper Yarra Shire for 14 years, prior to amalgamation to form what we know today as Yarra Ranges Council. 

Since 1968 Gordon has owned and managed many successful businesses in Warburton and the Yarra Valley. Commencing with radio, tv and home appliances businesses; Gordon then moved to various transport industry businesses. Currently Gordon is a part time Manager of Yarra Ranges Gas Heat and Cool servicing the Yarra Valley.

Elizabeth currently works at Tintern Girls Grammar School in Ringwood coordinating the Education Support Department. For the past 14 years Elizabeth has undertaken further tertiary studies in Behavioural Science and Psychology and has recently completed a Master of Teacher in Special Education.
She previously worked for 18 years at the Upper Yarra Secondary College (UYSC) in special education support and as a Student Wellbeing Counsellor. Prior to this Elizabeth worked in a number of local primary schools assisting students with special needs.  She still enjoys a strong connection with our young people and is committed to advancing their learning and wellbeing.
Elizabeth has lived in the local area for 35 years; her two sons grew up in Warburton and attended Warburton Primary School (WPS) and UYSC.
She was secretary of the WPS Council and was also one of the original organisers of the local Basketball Association acting as secretary for a number of years. During this time she undertook a coaching role and helped form a new basketball club which fielded a number of teams.
Elizabeth has been involved in various volunteer groups in the local community.

Sally was born in Yarra Junction and has lived in Gladysdale for most of her life. Her working life has been devoted to community building, particularly in education, training and community services. She was the CEO of Cire Services formerly Upper Yarra Community House for twenty two years, and represented the community education sector on a range of peak bodies and government boards. She now works as an education consultant.
She has tertiary qualifications in education and community development, including a Masters in Education. Sally has been the Secretary of the Yarra Junction Football Netball Club for nine years, and is also a member of the Upper Yarra Secondary College School Council. She is married to Tony Aulich, ex policeman from Warburton, and she has four adult children of whom she is extremely proud.

Neil, recently retired, had been with the Department of Education for 43 years undertaking a number of teaching roles, building project management and other responsibilities. This included Assistant Principal at Badger Creek Primary School; Principal at Wesburn Primary, Bayswater West Primary, Woori Yallock Primary and Warburton Primary Schools.
In addition to school based activities, Neil worked within the district managing the School Support Services program and spent time as chairperson of the local Principals group.
During this time he had also been heavily involved with a number of sports clubs, presented professional development programs in wide range of sport and Physical Education areas and operated as a volunteer for Royal Life Saving Society, training staff and working as an examiner for RLSS qualifications.
Currently Neil continues to be involved with the community through the Redwood Community Centre, their Second Bite program and maintenance work, and is a trainer at the Warburton Football Club.

Ric has been living in the Yarra Valley for 47 years. In 1989, after studying Interior Design, he started his own business in the field of office design, stationery and office machines in Bayswater. He was a founding director of a national dealer-owned franchise group (Office National).
Ric has served on the Gladysdale Primary School Council, was on the Upper Yarra Community Buses Committee for 20 years, was Treasurer of the Yarra Junction Football Club for several years and recently resigned as a director of Cire Services (formerly Upper Yarra Community House), after a commitment of 27 years where he saw the organisation grow from 3 employees to a workforce of approximately 150 people. While involved with Cire he participated in a Youth Mentoring program and also the L2P driving program.
Currently Ric is a member of the Yarra Valley ECOSS Committee of Management which reflects his commitment to raising environmental awareness. In the last two years he has developed a Tiny House construction business with three local people. One of the focuses is the possibility of tiny houses as a social housing model.
Ric has a strong commitment to good business governance and practice. He also prioritises grass roots community engagement and development.

Louise and her partner Bruce, a computer scientist at the Bureau of Meteorology, are originally from Adelaide, and moved to Melbourne in 1996. With their two children now at university, Louise and Bruce decided to resettle in the beautiful environs of Warburton. They are thoroughly enjoying all that the local community and Yarra Valley has to offer.

With a thirty-year career in healthcare and life sciences Louise has held senior leadership positions at GSK, INC Research, Heidrick & Struggles and Korn Ferry. Across this time she had wide ranging responsibilities including corporate strategy, business development, marketing and talent management.

Currently she is Managing Director of ZRG Partners, a global talent advisory company that supports large and medium size companies with their people and talent requirements.

Holding a Master of Business Administration from Adelaide University, and a Bachelor of Science (Clinical) from the University of South Australia Louise has also completed the Company Directors course with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Louise has previously been a Committee Member for the Melbourne String Ensemble Committee and coached at Caulfield South Netball Club.