Chair

Editor in Chief, Small Enterprise Research

Dr Tanya Jurado
School of Management
Massey University
New Zealand
Email: T.R.Jurado@massey.ac.nz

Bio: Tanya is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Management. Her research focus is on the role of SMEs amidst the global challenges faced by economies worldwide. A secondary interest is in gender inclusion in IT professions.

She is currently working on projects on SME internationalisation and trade policy; indigenous entrepreneurship; and public policy support for SMEs. Tanya is also part of a research team researching the participation and retention of women in information technology professions. She has taught undergraduate and postgraduate level courses on entrepreneurship, strategy, management and organisational behaviour.

Vice Chair, Policy & Governance

Mark Brennan
GPO Box 9839
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia
Phone: +61 423 024 157
Email: mapbrennan@yahoo.com.au

Bio: Mark Brennan is the former Australian Small Business Commissioner (ASBC). He held this position in from January 2013 until March 2016. Mark has a strong track record of achievement in the small business area. Prior to his appointment as ASBC, Mark was the Victorian Small Business Commissioner for seven years. This was the first such appointment in Australia.

​In 2011 he was named “National Small Business Champion” by the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) for his work in guiding and developing the small business commissioner role in Victoria. Mark has owned and operated his own small business and has held a range of positions for the Victorian and Federal Governments. This included the Executive Director of Small Business in the former Department of State Development. In 2010 he was appointed Director of Liquor Licensing in Victoria, a position he held following his term as Victoria Small Business Commissioner. Mark is a qualified barrister and solicitor and has worked in private practice in these capacities. He is highly respected across all levels of government and the wider business community

Vice Chair, Practitioners & Business

Dr Barbara Maidment
​Margaret River Business Centre
PO Box 328,
Margaret River,
Western Australia
Cell: +61 437 800 489
Email: yuri2au@gmail.com

Bio: Barbara is the owner and Director of Margaret River Business Centre where she uses her extensive prior experience to help new clients with everything from small business exploration, feasibility and development and existing business with training, stability and expansion; also assisting not-for-profit organisations with good governance and strategic planning; and assisting local government with strategic planning, community assessment, good governance and economic development.

Her business experience is drawn from around the world and has seen her travel from the US, to Africa and eventually brought her to Australia. Apart from running her own businesses, she has worked as a District Home Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and as a Qualified Mediator in the Conflict Resolution Centre.

Vice-Chair, Academic and Industry Engagement

Bio: Antje Fiedler is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management and International Business at the University of Auckland. She is also the Associate Director of the New Zealand Asia Institute.

Fiedler’s current research focuses on SME growth, innovation, and internationalisation, specifically how SMEs collaborate and compete with legacy firms to achieve their goals. Fiedler is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Small Business Management, and a member of the Editorial Review Board of Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal (SBEJ) and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Critical Perspective on International Business Journal. She is also serving on the Advisory Board at the Institute of Development Strategy (Indiana University, Bloomington).

She is passionate about conducting research relevant to practice. Her research has informed courses at the Business School (University of Auckland) and practitioner workshops around New Zealand. Her work has been published in international journals such as International Small Business Journal, Small Business Economics, and Entrepreneurship & Regional Development. Fiedler has received three Excellence Awards for Teaching at the University of Auckland Business School.

Outgoing Chair, Director

Associate Professor Tui McKeown
Department of Management,
Monash Business School
Monash University
Melbourne VIC 3800
Australia
Phone: +613-9905-2347
Email: tui.mckeown@monash.edu

Bio: Tui McKeown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management within the Monash Business School at Monash University, Australia. Her research focuses on an active examination of the changing world of work and the role that nano-business (the smallest of small businesses) play in reframing our understanding of what constitutes work.

Tui works actively with academics, practitioners and contractor/ freelance organisations in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the EU and has published widely in high level academic and practitioner publications, journals and books.

She is passionate about making a difference and ensuring that the four streams of practitioner, academic, policy and education work together through SEAANZ to create a real voice for small businesses in Australia and New Zealand.

Director

Tui Rutherford
Head of Small Business Services
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment MBIE

Bio: Tui brings a deep understanding of small businesses in New Zealand and has spent the last 30 plus years working to support and grow them. This has included running several of his own businesses in the past but has more recently involved supporting a wide range of businesses as part of the management teams. Tui has also supported thousands of businesses to identify and engage with innovation opportunities, through several business support roles.

In early 2019 Tui joined Auckland City Council’s economic development agency – Auckland Unlimited in the role of Manager, Business & Enterprise – supporting the region’s small businesses.

Towards the end of 2021 he joined the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) as the Head of Small Business Services, leading a team who deliver advice and support to businesses to help them grow, be more innovative, raise their capability and do business more easily through a range of services, across all levels of engagement.

Director

Dr Robyn Morris

Corporate and Regional Enterprise (CARE) Consulting
PO Box 2130,
Bunbury,
Western Australia, 6230
Phone: +61 417 986 038
Email: robyn@careconsulting.com.au

Bio: Robyn is a recently retired academic and has a background in secondary and tertiary education as well as having served as an Economist in the public sector and established and owned a small consultancy business. She has a strong interest in SMEs and entrepreneurship, regional development, community engagement and local government issues.
Her extensive academic background includes having been a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer with the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia, Head of the Business Program at ECU’s South West Campus, a Research Advisor to ECU Postgraduate Business students, and a lecturer at Miami University in Ohio USA. She has also been a Senior Researcher with ECU, the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) and Westrail the WA state government railways. She has held several Board and Advisory positions including Chairperson and Acting Executive Officer of BSW Connect-Business South West a not-for-profit small business advisory organistion, Regional Development Australia (South West), ACELG’s Research Advisory Committee and its Rural-remote and Indigenous Local Government reference group, and the Bunbury Wellington Economic Alliance. In her retirement she undertakes voluntary work conducting workshops for small businesses applying for local business excellence awards and being a judge for local and regional business awards programs in the SW region of WA.

Director

Professor Stephen Kelly

Bio: Stephen is currently Professor of Strategy and Innovation at Massey University after stepping down as Pro Vice-Chancellor of Massey Business School in 2023, a position he held for 6 years. He initially joined Massey University in January 2016 as Head of the School of Management and Director of Massey Executive Development. He is also currently a Trustee of the Manawatu Housing Trust, a charitable organisation providing public housing options, and a Director for two New Zealand based startups.

Professor Kelly commenced his academic career in 1998 following 12 years working in the building materials and construction sector. His initial period in academia was for 14 years culminating in his appointment as Dean of Business at Southern Cross University, Australia. After leaving Southern Cross, and prior to joining Massey, he was the Academic and then Managing Director of a start-up enterprise in Singapore for 3 years.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Administration, Master of Business, and a Doctor of Philosophy. He has published widely in the areas of small business, collaboration, innovation, and strategy and secured more than $2M in grant, project, and research funding. Professor Kelly also has extensive experience establishing and growing business partnerships in Melanesia, Southeast Asia, and China. Refer to: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-kelly-787aa29/

Director

Denise Hall

Bio: Selling businesses is where Denise’s time is spent. Critiquing Business Sale-Readiness and Pricing (wrapped in market reality) is informed through the lens of completing 100+ Appraisals annually on businesses of all shapes, sizes, and industries, in addition to facilitating and finalising a number of these as Business Sale transactions. Working up close and personal with Business Sellers, Buyers, Advisers and Liquidators ensures both the Saleability work and the actual Sale transaction process runs as smoothly and as timely as possible. Previously, Denise successfully built and operated her own 7-figure consulting business over 14 years, which was strategically acquired in 2011 by similar business in the same industry. Prior to that she had a professional career, including a 5-year stint as an international management consultant.

Business Value Analyst, Exit Strategist and Business Broker

BTD CPBB(AIBB) CAR(REIV)

au.linkedin.com/in/denisehall/