Our Board
Our Board is comprised of people from across our region with a variety of backgrounds and skills, from local government, business and the community - each sharing a commitment to regional development.
Every committee meeting, the team ventures into the region to explore one of our local towns or areas. conducting the meetings outside of the office and on the ground, allowing us to meet businesses and organisations, to better understand the issues they are facing and how we can assist.
Find out more about our members below.
Rowena Abbey OAM
Chair
Rowena Abbey OAM was appointed as Chair of our Board in January 2021. Rowena was also awarded an OAM in 2023 for her service to local government and to the community of Yass.
Rowena Abbey has over 35 years’ experience in finance, risk management, governance and leadership in various industries in both the public and private sectors.
Rowena is the former Mayor of Yass Valley Council and the former Chair of the Canberra Region Joint Organisation (CRJO). She currently also holds the Chair position of SELX, which runs saleyards in Yass Valley NSW and Mortlake Victoria.
Rowena has previously been Treasurer at Ampolex Ltd and Optus Vision Ltd and was the Director of Syndications at ANZ Investment Bank.
Mrs Abbey has also held a number of Directorships throughout her career, including with Essential Energy, Cue Energy Resources Ltd, Australian Inland Energy and Water Infrastructure, Emmlink Pty Ltd, Yass Valley Aged Care Ltd and Optus Superannuation Fund.
Rowena and her husband run their sheep and cattle operation in Yass and she is passionate about regional NSW and Australia
Suzanne Gearing
Deputy Chair
Suzanne offers over 30 years of experience working in senior roles across a variety of organisations including SME’s, Corporations and NFP’s, where her career focus has been on supporting strong business growth by providing organisational leadership, strong strategic management, and positive stakeholder engagement.
Passionate about supporting regional NSW and creating sustainable, resilient and inclusive communities, she is currently the Deputy Director of the Canberra & Region Food Collaborative, Chair of the Braidwood Business Chamber, and Chair of fledgling rural mental health charity, Wagging Tails Community Inc.
Suzanne and her husband live on their bush farm in Mongarlowe on Yuin country, where they run a social enterprise bush farm with a focus on acclimatising bush food plants, including from her home region of K’gari, for both commercial production and sale of seedlings.
Claire BremNer
Board Member
A communications and public affairs specialist with over 20 years-experience, Claire brings an in-depth knowledge of the intersection between business and government to our Board.
Claire’s strategic communications and public affairs expertise has seen her work across diverse sectors - including agriculture, infrastructure, health, education, tourism, and the creative arts – to support business and organisations identify opportunities and achieve growth.
Having grown up in Yass, Claire returned to the district with her husband 15 years ago to raise their family.
Actively involved in the community, Claire has been a strong advocate for the local Montessori pre-school and is now patron of the community-based organisation.
Claire is passionate about the value of local communities and regional businesses and committed to driving opportunity and growth for the region through RDA.
Fay steward
Board Member
Fay’s career spans some 40 years developing strategic land use policy and strategy for NSW Government land planning and management agencies, as well as entrepreneurial roles with Vodafone, and venture capital firms in the telecommunications industry.
She has held executive management roles in the private and public sectors, most recently as Executive Director Land Planning and Management for the ACT Government. Here, Fay was responsible for Canberra’s urban services, National Arboretum Canberra, commercial forests, and national parks. Fay was previously Director of Planning at Rockdale and Wollongong City Councils and Deputy Regional Manager with the NSW Department of Planning.
She has also worked with many community organisations to establish co-operative agreements managing public land for community benefit. Now retired, Fay is a small-scale beekeeper, RFS volunteer and Director of the SE Region Local Land Services Board.
Stephen Wentworth
Board Member
Stephen is the principal of Feeding the Future Consulting & Research. Collaborating with an extensive network of contacts throughout the Australian agricultural industry he has gained a deep understanding and knowledge of issues effecting todays’ farmers.
Stephen is the current Agribusiness Member of the Regional Advisory Council TAFE NSW – Southern Region and a former Director of Agribusiness Australia. Stephen has a keen interest in sustainable agriculture and food security in the Asia Pacific region.
Stephen has more than 20 years-experience in the Agri-sector, including as:
a consulting agronomist for one of the leading private independent resellers on the Liverpool Plains in northern New South Wales
an advisor and research manager for one of the leading private agronomic and advisory consultancy firms in South Australia
a senior research manager for the largest global provider of market research to the agricultural industry
Stephen has over 15 years of experience conducting market research studies in crop protection, animal health, pest control and turf markets, agricultural machinery, banking, and the Agri-sector in general across Australia and New Zealand. His experience encompasses both the government and private industry sector, including multinational companies and grower organisations.
Stephen holds a Master of Science in Agriculture (Research Agronomy) and Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (majoring in Agronomy) from The University of Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Regional Development from The University of Western Australia.