Emerald & District Co-op Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Emerald & District Co-Operative consists of 6 local residents elected by the membership of the Co-Op.
Ray Spencer - Chairman of the Board
Ray has been involved in the Emerald community for almost 30 years as well as running his own specialised electrical installations and machinery importing business. He is a prominent member of Emerald Lions Club and has been instrumental in establishing the Emerald Lions “Grow it Bake It Make It” Market that has been operating monthly for the past five years, along with many other community service activities.
Ray puts his commitment to the betterment of our community down to the satisfaction he gets from making a difference, making new friends and working with others.
He has been on the Board of the Emerald Co-Op for 6 years, the past two as Chair. Ray’s leadership skills in both business and community relations have helped guide the Co-Op to the success it is today.
Len O’Donnell - CEO - BCom, Dip Acct, Cert.Real Est.& Building Practices, Officer in Effective Control
Len assumes multiple roles within Emerald Co-operative, those being Secretary to the Co-operative Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer of Emerald & District Co-operative and Officer in Effective Control of Emerald Barry Plant Real Estate.
These multiplex roles within Emerald Co-operative are not only very demanding but provide a huge workload, which Len thrives on with enormous passion knowing that the community and member benefits are paramount with the success of Emerald Co-operative.
His experience spans 40 years’ in the Real Estate industry opening three family offices along with Commercial real estate experience. He was also engaged by Mitre 10 (Aust) as project manager, implementing new green site format stores throughout Victoria & Tasmania.
Len has become a well-known and respected member of the community with a wealth of knowledge of the local area as he has been a long-time resident of the Dandenong Ranges. This, along with honesty, integrity and strong ethics provides the calibre of service provided by the staff throughout Emerald Co-operative.
Community involvement is high on Len’s agenda, via President of township committees, Council appointed to consultative committees, life membership of Belgrave Cricket Club, Cricket & Football Coach, President of A&F Golf Club and volunteers his time for community events/fundraisers and is dedicated to sponsoring many local organisations, charities, events and the Monash Hospital Childrens Cancer Foundation.
Len has a strong zest for life and in his spare time has ticked many things off his bucket list, he’s played V.F.A football, hiked the Kokoda Trail which was life changing, ocean diving, flying small aircraft and travelled extensively throughout the world, the list goes on.
Len’s experience, work ethic, dedication and passion for the community has seen remarkable changes within Emerald Co-operative, making it far more customer, client and member friendly.
Peter Maloney
As a Vietnam veteran and long term Emerald resident and Co-Op Director, Peter has been a contributor to both his country and his community for many years. Peter is involved in the Emerald Village Association as well as having been President of Rotary (Cheltenham), Footy Clubs (Beaumaris), even the local Kinder in Beaumaris. He has also been involved in the local radio station, 3MDR, helping bring them to Emerald many years ago.
Peter’s main business experience was in the plastics industry being CEO of Injectapak P/L and Gardena Plastics in the 80’s.
But Peter is most widely known in Emerald as Past President of the Emerald RSL leading the team that built Anzac Walk and the man who leads the community commemorations of our now famous and very moving Anzac and Remembrance Day ceremonies.
Peter has a strong interest in DIY and has renovated many homes throughout his life in Beaumaris and Emerald.
Peter is the early morning manager of the Emerald Newsagency and is also responsible for promoting and building their local stationery business.
He not only brings considerable marketing experience to the Emerald Co-op board but also a fire and a passion to see our community grow and prosper.
Ric Holland
Ric has a lifetime of experience of working at a high level within the corporate and community sector. He has had five CEO appointments with a range of multi million dollar organisations both in Australia and overseas. He has also sat on dozens of Boards of Directors including some prestigious organisations like the Committee for Melbourne, VCOSS, and Progressive Business. He has been appointed to a number of Government Advisory bodies and is a full member of AICD.
Ric’s driving force is his commitment to social justice and he has been responsible for creating many new organisations and companies with this as a central philosophy.
Additionally Ric has worked for many years within the Media, print, radio and TV. With a national responsibility he has developed hundreds of programs in all forms of media across the UK using that communication force of social good.
Ric is also an ordained Minister of Religion with the Uniting Church in Australia and has graduate and post graduate training in Theology, Business Administration, Counselling, Ethics and Sociology.
Ric is married with three adult children and lives in Macclesfield.
Christine Weller
Christine Weller was elected a director of the Emerald & District Co-op in late 2018. In 1983 her family lost their home in the Ash Wednesday bushfires in Cockatoo and moved to Avonsleigh where they’ve lived for the last 28 years.
Her background is in advertising and communications and for the last 15 years has run her business from home.
Christine and her partner Matt have always been into DIY and built a new house a couple of years ago.
She is a firm believer in social justice and a fair go for all and through her work filming in poor and developing countries and communities in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, she has witnessed what can be achieved when communities work together. .
Christine carried that belief through to her work as a board member of Fernlea House, member of Emerald RSL and now as a member of the Co-op Board. She has seen first hand the wonderful work Emerald & District Co-op has been part of in our community and shares their vision and belief, that when our community thrives we all thrive.
Christine would recommend to any local to join the Co-op. She believes it’s not just about getting member discounts and expert advice, it’s about joining like minded people who want to make a difference in our community and to be a part of making it grow and prosper.
Neil Gibson
Neil has decades of experience in sales and managerial positions in retail and trade builders hardware and later in manufacturing, in both New Zealand and Australia. His expertise and hands on experience saw Neil and his wife build a pole and mud brick home for themselves and their two daughters on a block they bought in Avon Road, Avonsleigh in 1977, where they still live today. Neil retired in 2003 but continues to remain active, renovating houses and sharing his business acumen with colleagues near and far.
Neil and his wife have been shareholders of the Emerald & District Co-Op since 2006. As a board member, he is passionate about using his considerable retail and trade hardware business experience to help the Emerald Co-Op grow and prosper, as a sustainable enterprise that benefits our community, both socially and financially.