Jeff Ironside - FAICD
AECL chairman
Jeff Ironside has been a non-executive 'elected' director and the Chairman of AECL since its incorporation on 18th November 2002.
Jeff has been a medium-sized egg producer in North Queensland since 1976 investing technology and innovation into his egg production system. Jeff was elected to the Board of Sunny Queen Limited in 1993 became Chairman in 1996, and resigned in 1999.
Jeff was elected President of the former Australian Egg Industry Association (AEIA) in November 2000, a post he held until June 2003 when the functions of the AEIA were subsumed by the Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL).
In 2008 Jeff was awarded The Lindsay Bell Australian Egg Industry Award for his tireless effort in bringing about the formation of AECL and his leadership as Chairman of the AECL Board – work which has directly benefited the Australian egg industry.
Jeff is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Past President and Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club of Port of Townsville and a member of the Defence Reserve Support Committee (North Queensland)
Russell Ware - LL.M. (Hons.)
AECL deputy chairman
Russell Ware is a non-executive 'specialist' director of AECL, Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Finance & Audit and Governance & Risk Committees, fulfilling the requirements of the corporation's agreement with the Commonwealth that "the board specifically include a director who can demonstrate from his or her experience that he or she is highly skilled in corporate governance".
A former Sydney commercial lawyer and now living on a farm, Russell is a professional company director who was chairman of three publicly listed companies over a twelve year period. Currently he is a non-executive director of the Greater Building Society Ltd, one of the largest building societies. Russell also consults to and advises business owners, specialising in succession and strategic planning for family-owned businesses, particularly in the agribusiness sector.
John O'Hara - BBus (Comm)
AECL director
John O'Hara is a non-executive specialist director of AECL and is the Chief Executive Officer of Sunny Queen Pty Ltd, one of Australia's largest egg marketers.
Before joining the egg industry John had accumulated over twenty years management, marketing and sales experience in the food industry. He has worked with some of the largest food companies, including Nestle, Dairy Farmers and National Foods.
In August 2004, John and his team won four gold and one silver award in the 2004 Australian CREAM awards for advertising effectiveness. John then won the International Egg Commission's 2004 Crystal Egg Award for marketing excellence, followed by two gold awards in the Marketing Effectiveness Awards held in New York. In 2005, the company won the prestigious Campaign of the Year Award from the Australian Marketing Institute.
John is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is currently a Vice Patron of Surf Life Saving Queensland.
Frank Pace
AECL director
Frank Pace is a non-executive 'elected' Director of AECL and is the founder and Managing Director of Pace Farm Pty Ltd - the largest producer, marketer and distributor of eggs in Australia.
Frank is the Chairman of the International Egg Commission (IEC) and was awarded the Denis Wellstead Memorial Trophy for International Egg Person of 2004.
Frank Pace was previously the chairman of the Seven Hills branch of the Livestock and Grain Producers Association (LPGA) and a member of the NSW Farmers' Association Egg Committee. He was also a previous committee of management member and Vice President of the former Australian Egg Industry Association (AEIA).
Frank has also made an active constribution to the Sydney community and was honored by being named a life member and Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club of Mount Druitt.
Zelko Lendich, B.Ec (Hons), MBA
AECL director
Zelko Lendich is a non-executive ‘elected' Director of AECL and is the Managing Director of Farm Pride Foods Limited, the only publicly listed egg producer in Australia.
During his 15 years experience in the egg industry, Zelko has held several directorship positions including the W.A. Egg Marketing Board, West Coast Eggs, NOVO Foods as well as Executive Chairman of Farm Pride Foods Limited.
Zelko also offers wide ranging experience in commerce, government and the education sector both within and internationally. He has held senior positions at the University of Western Australia 's Management Development Institute, Australian Leather Holdings, Jennings Industries Ltd, Wilson Parking International Pty Ltd, McKinsey and Co and with Asea Brown Boveri in the UK, Sweden and Canada. Whilst with the Western Australian Government he was the principal advisor to the Minister for Transport and a key economic advisor to the Premier of Western Australia.
Zelko has an Economics Degree and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Western Australia.
James Kellaway - B App Sci (Agr), GDMM, MBA, GAICD, AFAIM
AECL managing director
James Kellaway is the executive director of AECL and has extensive experience in rural commodity and product marketing with industry organisations including Horticulture Australia Limited, the former Australian Horticultural Corporation, Meat & Livestock Australia, the former Australian Meat & Livestock corpoation and the NSW Meat Industry Authority. James has been responsible for implementing industry based marketing communication programs and member services.These roles had a key focus on delivering commercial results to all company stakeholders.
James has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Technology Sydney , a Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from the Graduate School of Management at Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Agriculture from the University of Western Sydney . James is also a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.
He is also Chairman of the Animal Health Australia (AHA) Industry Forum, a director of the Australian Poultry Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) and the Australian Livestock Export Corporation Limited and on the board selection committees of AHA and the Primary Industries Education Foundation.