Leadership team

MAICD

Wendy Caird was first appointed to the Icon Water Board in December 2009, was appointed as Acting Deputy Chair of the Icon Water Board from 1 July 2013 and reappointed as Deputy Chair again in March 2014. Ms Caird’s appointment term was extended in March 2017 and promoted to Chair of the Icon Water Board due to her extensive knowledge of Icon Water’s business and experience on the ActewAGL Partnerships Board. Ms Caird is also the Chair of Icon Water’s Remuneration Committee, Chair of Icon Distribution Investments Limited and Icon Retail Investments Limited and is Deputy Chair of the ActewAGL Partnerships Board and Chair of ActewAGL’s Safety, Audit and Risk Committee.

BCom, FCA, CIA, CGAP, GAICD

Carol Lilley was first appointed to the Icon Water Board in April 2013 and to the boards of Icon Distribution Investments Limited and Icon Retail Investments Limited in March 2017. She is Chair of Icon Water Board’s Risk and Assurance Committee and a Member of the Remuneration Committee. Ms Lilley was appointed as Deputy Chair of the Boards of Icon Water Limited, Icon Distribution Investments Limited and Icon Retail Investments Limited in March 2017. Ms Lilley’s appointment term was extended in October 2020 due to her specialist financial expertise and extensive knowledge of Icon Water’s business. 
Ms Lilley was appointed as a Member of the ActewAGL Partnerships Board in February 2023. 

Ms Lilley is a full-time independent board director and Audit Committee Member. She was a Partner of an accounting firm and a financial statement and internal auditor for nearly 20 years. Her experience is in governance and assurance including financial statement audit, internal audit and project and risk management, with a particular focus on government. 

Ms Lilley is currently Chair of the Audit Committee for Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate and she also has various governance roles for Commonwealth Government entities (including as a Member of the Audit & Risk Committees for Services Australia and Chair for the Department of Home Affairs amongst others). 

Ms Lilley is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, was a registered company auditor and is a certified internal auditor.

BEng (Civil), DipPM, MBA

In November 2018 Ray Hezkial was appointed as a Member of the Boards of Icon Water Limited, Icon Distribution Investments Limited and Icon Retail Investments Limited.  Mr Hezkial is also Member of the Icon Water Remuneration Committee.

Mr Hezkial was appointed as a Member of the ActewAGL Partnerships Board and the ActewAGL Retail Investments Board in April 2019.

Mr Hezkial joined Icon Water in 2003 and commenced as acting Chief Executive Officer in October 2018 and was appointed as Managing Director in November 2018. His role as Managing Director was confirmed in April 2019. In his previous role as General Manager, Infrastructure Services, Mr Hezkial was responsible for managing Icon Water’s capital works program, provision of network operations and all aspects of day to day maintenance relating to the ACT’s water and sewer reticulation systems. Prior to this, Mr Hezkial was the Project Manager for the Enlarged Cotter Dam.

Mr Hezkial has a Master of Business Administration, Diploma in Project Management, and Bachelor of Engineering (Civil). Mr Hezkial is a Member of the Institution of Engineers Australia and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Assoc DipBus, BBus (with Distinction), BSc (Hons), MGeogSc

Geoffrey Buchanan was appointed to the Icon Water Board in July 2023 and as a Director of Icon Retail Investments Limited and Icon Distribution Investments Limited in August 2023. Mr Buchanan is also a member of the Icon Water Remuneration Committee.

Mr Buchanan has more than 20 years of community engagement experience on cultural heritage, natural resource management, and energy issues, involving extensive experience working with First Nations communities. In July 2022, he commenced in his current role as Research Fellow at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University, where he had previously worked on community-based and collaborative research projects from 2004–2012. From 2013–2015, he worked in the Native Title Research Unit at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies with a focus on supporting the native title governance by Prescribed Bodies Corporate.

From 2015–2022, Mr Buchanan was a Senior Policy Officer at the ACT Council of Social Service where he led community and consumer engagement on energy issues as manager of the ACT Energised Consumers Project. In this role he represented ACT community members’ and energy consumers’ interests on a number of ACT and national committees, including the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission’s Consumer Consultative Committee. Mr Buchanan is the ACT representative on Energy Consumers Australia’s Board Reference Committee and the Council on the Ageing’s National Energy Advocates group. He remains engaged in the ACT community sector as a Director on the Board of Council on the Ageing ACT (since 2022) and as a member of ACT Shelter’s Executive Committee (since 2023).

Mr Buchanan has an Associate Diploma of Business (Management), a Bachelor of Business (with Distinction) majoring in Management, a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Australian Environmental Studies majoring in Environmental Policy and Economics, Indigenous Australian Studies, and Social Policy and Development, and a Masters in Geographical Sciences.

BSc (Earth Science), MEnvSc (Environmental Science), PhD (Civil Engineering), GAICD

Dr Helen Locher was appointed to the Icon Water Board in May 2020. She is a member of the Icon Water Remuneration Committee and a Director of the Icon Retail Investments Limited Board as well as a Director of the Icon Distribution Investments Limited Board. Dr Locher also sits on the Risk and Assurance Committee.

Dr Locher is currently a non-executive director of the Tasmanian Water and Sewerage Corporation (TasWater), and a tribunal member of the Resource Management and Planning Appeals Tribunal (Tasmania). She has had previous board roles with the Environmental Protection Agency (Tasmania) and the Resource Management and Planning Commission (Tasmania).

Dr Locher has 18 years of experience working in senior roles for Hydro Tasmania, more than 30 years doing international consulting work, and 13 years serving on boards. She has considerable experience working with the water and energy industries, focused on environmental, social and sustainability challenges arising with major infrastructure development and operations across a variety of contexts. She has worked in more than 30 countries and on all continents, and as an independent consultant has delivered assignments for clients including the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Mekong River Commission and the International Hydropower Association. Dr Locher has received several international awards recognising her significant contributions to better addressing sustainability issues in the global hydropower sector.  

Helen has a Bachelor of Science (Earth Science), a Masters of Environmental Science, a PhD in Civil Engineering, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

B.Eng, M Environmental Studies, Dip Mgmt, FIEAust, CPEng, NER, Int PE (Aus) MAICD

Peter Dennis was appointed to the Icon Water Board in May 2020. He is a member of the Icon Water Remuneration Committee and a Director of the Icon Retail Investments Limited Board as well as a Director of the Icon Distribution Investments Limited Board.  

Mr Dennis is currently the Managing Director of HunterH2O, one of the fastest growing professional engineering services firms in the Australian water industry; a Director of the NSW Local Government Procurement Board; and a Director of the Australian Water Association.

Mr Dennis has over 30 years’ water industry experience in Australia and overseas.  Peter has been the Chief Executive Officer of Seqwater (Bulk Water Utility for South East Queensland); Chief Executive Officer of the Armidale Regional Council; as well as senior executive roles with Hunter Water Corporation. Peter has extensive experience in water industry management and is widely recognised as one of the leading water industry strategists. Peter has been involved in all aspects of water utility management including strategy development and execution, customer/community consultation, operational leadership, regulator engagement, policy development, infrastructure delivery, ongoing asset management and workforce planning. He has taken a strong advocacy interest in sustainable urban water management and in ensuring the water industry is resilient against the impact climate variability. He has also been actively involved in supporting our Pacific neighbours to meet the challenges of sustainable water management.

Mr Dennis was included in the Top 100 most Influential Engineers in Australia (2014 and 2015) and awarded the Newcastle Division of Engineers Australia ‘Professional Engineer of the Year (2009).  

Peter has a Bachelor of Engineering in chemical engineering, Masters of Environmental Studies, a postgraduate Diploma of Management, a Corporate Directors Diploma with high distinction, and is a Conjoint Professor in Engineering at the University of Newcastle. He lectured in Environmental Process Technologies for over 15 years.

LLB (Hons) FAICD ANZIIF

Ms Julie-Anne Schafer was appointed as a non-executive director to the Icon Water Board, Icon Retail Investments Limited Board, and Icon Distribution Investments Limited Board in November 2021, Ms Schafer is also a member of the Icon Water Remuneration Committee.

Ms Schafer is currently a non-executive director of urban Utilities in south-east Queensland and chair of the audit and risk committee and member of the people and safety committee for Urban Utilities. She is also a non-executive director of CS Energy, an electricity generating company owned by the Government of Queensland, and chair of the culture and remuneration committee and member of the audit and enterprise risk committee for CS Energy. In addition Julie-Anne is also a non-executive director for Av Super and President of the National Competition Council.
 
Ms Schafer was previously a partner in a Brisbane professional legal service firms for 25 years, specialising in commercial and insurance matters. She has been Deputy Chancellor of QUT, an Adjunct Professor in law at the University of Queensland and a member of Law Faculty Advisory Committees at Griffith and Bond Universities, QUT, and the University of Queensland.

Ms Schafer has an Honours in Law from the University of Queensland, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD), a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course (GAICD) and a member of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF).

BSc (Hons UNSW), DipEc(Syd), MPhil PhD(Cantab), GradCertAppFin(Macq), MEnvLaw(Hons, ANU) FAICD FRAeS

Warren is the Managing Director of Bluestone Consulting that has provided regulatory, strategy and policy advice to investors, regulators, providers, and users of a wide range of infrastructure services since 2004. He currently serves on the boards of the Queensland Competition Authority and the Transgrid group of companies.  

At the time Warren joined the Board he was undertaking an Independent Review of Australia’s National Legal Assistance Partnership for Australia’s Attorneys General. He was a Commissioner at the Australian Productivity Commission from 2009 to 2015 and also served as the Australian Competitive Neutrality Commissioner. He has held executive roles in airport companies in Australia and Europe.

Warren served on the board of Airservices Australia for over five years from 2008, over four of which he was the Deputy Chair. He was a member of the Steering Committee for the joint NSW-Commonwealth Governments’ Sydney Aviation Strategy that led to the decision to build Western Sydney Airport. He has also been a director of the Sydney Desalination Plant, Vicforests, the Western Community Legal Services, James Watt College for Higher and Further Education, the United Kingdom Airports Operators Association and the National Health Co-operative.

MBA, DipPM, B. Eng (Civil) 

Ray Hezkial is a civil engineer with over 18 years’ experience in civil construction and road design, as well as water and sewerage operational management. Mr Hezkial joined Icon Water in 2003 and commenced as Managing Director in November 2018. In his previous role as General Manager, Infrastructure Services, Mr Hezkial was responsible for managing Icon Water’s capital works program, provision of network operations and all aspects of day to day maintenance relating to the ACT’s water and sewer reticulation systems. Prior to this, Mr Hezkial was the Project Manager for the Enlarged Cotter Dam. Mr Hezkial has a Master of Business Administration, Diploma in Project Manager, and Bachelor of Engineering (Civil).

BE (Civil), GradCert (Economics)  

Gerard Brierley commenced as General Manager Infrastructure Services in 2019. Mr Brierley has held various roles at Icon Water including Program Manager for the Icon Water Alliance (for capital works delivery) in 2012, Manager Program Management Office in 2015 and Manager Project Delivery in 2018. 
Prior to his recent return to Icon Water, Mr Brierley was the Program Manager for Downer Utilities where he was responsible for the establishment of a new program to deliver $400 million of water and sewer infrastructure in the South Logan region of Queensland. Mr Brierley has varied skills and experience in stakeholder engagement, program management, business strategy development and financial analysis and reporting. Mr Brierley holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and a Graduate Certificate of Economics.

BBus (Dist.), MBA, Cert. Public Participation, GAICD 

Prior to joining Icon Water as General Manager, Customer Engagement in June 2018, Davina McCormick was the Manager, Customer Experience Strategy at Queensland Urban Utilities. In this role Ms McCormick held organisational-wide responsibility for increasing customer focus and delivering positive experiences for over 1.4 million customers and community members. Ms McCormick has a diverse range of marketing, service design, customer and stakeholder engagement, project management and strategy skills. Her experience spans new venture start-ups, global companies and government corporations in a range of sectors including financial services, energy, education and utilities. Ms McCormick holds a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Business (Marketing and Management), a Certificate in Public Participation from the International Association for Public Participation and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

B.Ec, LLB (Hons), GDLP, GAICD

Alison Pratt, General Counsel, was appointed as the company secretary of Icon Water Limited, Icon Distribution Investments Limited and Icon Retail Investments Limited in March 2019, and held the position of alternate company secretary prior to this.

Ms Pratt worked in private commercial legal practice in Australia and the United Kingdom prior to joining Icon Water in 2013.

Her legal experience includes advising clients from both the private and public sectors on corporate governance, property, environment, construction and planning. 

Ms Pratt holds a Bachelor of Economics, a Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.

BA (Hons) CA, GAICD  

Joy Yau is responsible for the overall financial management and advisory services of Icon Water and its investment in ActewAGL. Ms Yau joined Icon Water in 2014 and has over 20 years of professional experience including extensive commercial and strategic financial management roles across the utility, retail and hospitality sectors in Australia and the United Kingdom. Ms Yau holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Accounting and Management Control, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

PhD (Engineering), BEng (Hons), BSc

Dr Tony Pollock is an engineer and business leader focused on improving business efficiency and customer experience through technology, innovation and digital transformation. He has 20 years’ experience in strategic planning, program management, business change, and ICT development and operations in both the public and private sectors. Before joining Icon Water Dr Pollock held several senior executive positions in Defence and National Security, initiating and implementing large scale digital programs and significant operational capability for the Australian government. Prior to this, Dr Pollock held a number of roles developing and commercialising emerging technologies across the telecommunications, health and energy sectors. Dr Pollock holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours, a Bachelor of Science and an Advanced Diploma of Project Management.

Masters (Mgmt), Cert IV Training and Assessment 

Mark joined Icon Water in 2022 and brings over 30 years’ experience with him in the Energy and Utilities sector. Mark’s areas of expertise include: risk management; workplace training; workforce planning; vendor contract management; business and strategic planning. Mark is passionate about accessible and inclusive workplaces and recently chaired the Australian National University’s Disability, Access and Inclusion Working Group for over three years prior to joining Icon Water. 

Mark holds a Master of Management, a certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Lead Auditor qualifications and is also an electrician by trade.