Governance
Peter Thompson
Board President
Peter Thompson brings extensive business experience in tourism, manufacturing and fashion. He currently owns a men’s fashion business with operations in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada, and his work regularly takes him to China where he has travelled extensively. Career highlights include receiving the NSW government’s highest achievement award for services to Tourism NSW and the establishment of the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse.
Peter is a former student of Huntingtower and has four children who are either students or past students. Family contact with Huntingtower goes back to the 1940s. He is the current president of the Huntingtower Old Students Association (HOSA) and has produced, directed and acted in many HOSA theatrical productions.
Christopher Backman
Board Member
Christopher studied at The University of Melbourne and obtained bachelor degrees in both Property & Construction (Construction Management) and Commerce (Finance). His passion for building led him to forge a career in construction management and development management. During Chris’ career as a construction professional, he has been involved in both the commercial and residential sectors, working on projects ranging from $0.5m through to $300m in value. He has project experience from both builder-side and developer/client-side perspectives, having been employed by large commercial construction companies, development management companies and also as a Director of his own company specialising in small to medium property developments and construction projects.
Outside of work, Chris loves spending time with his wife and three boys. He grew up attending Christian Science Sunday School and now takes his boys along as well. He has a love for all sports and his hobbies include cycling, running and supporting his footy team.
Lynn Bruce
Board Member
Lynn’s background is in art and design. She trained at RMIT as a Textile Designer and more recently as a Graphic Designer creating brands, exhibitions and marketing material. Lynn has been moving into a caring role, currently training as a Christian Science nurse, and finding it very rewarding.
Lynn Bruce is a former student of Huntingtower whose daughter is now also attending. Lynn’s association with Huntingtower goes back two generations and she is always keen to see Huntingtower flourish especially in the arts, sustainability and wellbeing areas.
Neil Cochrane
Board Member
Neil has played a significant role in the Australian superannuation industry for over 35 years. He has held many senior executive and non-executive positions in the industry including Chairman of Aware Super, Australia’s third largest super fund; CEO of Rest Super and Deputy CEO and Global Head of Business Development at Colonial First State Global Asset Management. He is currently investment advisor to MineSuper.
He is an executive coach and has also held a number of senior advisory roles where he was able to lend his experience and perspective to regulators, government and the super industry on a range of matters.
Neil was a past Board member of the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia (ASFA); Chair, Superannuation Complaints Tribunal Advisory Council and a board member of the Huntingtower Foundation.
He emigrated to Australia from South Africa in 1989, is a life time Christian Scientist and delivered the Commencement Address to the school in 2020.
Amanda Dunsmore
Board Member
Amanda Dunsmore is the Senior Curator of International Decorative Arts and Antiquities at the National Gallery of Victoria. She was educated at Huntingtower before studying for her BA (Hons) and MA (Research) at Monash University.
Trained as an Egyptologist, she worked for 16 years on archaeological projects in Egypt where she specialised in ancient Egyptian ceramics.
Amanda now works in the field of European decorative arts and when she has the time, she is a keen gardener and cellist.
Amy Haynes
Board Member
Amy is the Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer of the HelloFresh Group in Australia and New Zealand. Amy grew up in Brisbane and was educated at Brisbane Girls Grammar School, the University of Queensland, Lund University and Harvard Business School.
Amy started her career as a business consultant at McKinsey in Melbourne, and worked for an early-stage startup in New York City before joining HelloFresh. She has worked for HelloFresh for nearly seven years, across operations, product development, strategy, marketing and analytics across three continents. While she has spent most of her career in business, Amy has had a long term interest in education, and as a university student, enjoyed teaching science, mathematics and engineering subjects to primary, high school and university students. She is the daughter of a former Huntingtower student. In her spare time, Amy enjoys traveling to new places, yoga and board games.
Nigel Hutchinson-Brooks
Hon. Treasurer
Nigel Hutchinson-Brooks was educated at Huntingtower’s sister school, Claremont Fan Court, and at Reading University. He held senior executive positions in the State Government and in the Transport, Banking, Property and Aviation industries.
Nigel served as a Councillor at the City of Waverley and as Councillor and Mayor of the South Gippsland Shire Council. He has run his own property consulting business since 1992. He joined the Huntingtower Board in 1987, serving as Chairman from 1999 – 2002. He has served as the Hon. Treasurer since 2003.
James Younger
Board Member
James Younger is a group executive with a background in Technology Programs, Financial Services and M&A Consulting. He was educated at Brisbane Boys' College and QUT. He has many years’ experience in leadership roles at a number of leading international organisations, leading teams across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, China, Philippines and the United States. Currently his focus is on digital strategy, supply chain process improvement and technology program delivery.
James has three children currently attending Huntingtower and he is married to Gabriel, an ex-school captain. His parents-in-law are also retired teachers from the school, so Huntingtower runs in the family. James has been a boarding house parent and has served on the HOSA committee. Outside of Huntingtower and work, James plays basketball and drums.
