Directors
Glenn Fenton, President
Managing Director of Nationwide Trees Pty Ltd, Piedmont, Victoria
Glenn has a Bachelor of Social Science and a Graduate Diploma in Strategic Management. He is a 26-year veteran of the Australian Army and has 16 years industry experience and deep understanding of the supply chain. Glenn served on Nursery & Garden Industry Victoria (NGIV) Board including as President from 2010 to 2012. From 2010 to 2013 he served time as a Director and Vice President for the NGIA Board and sat as the Board representative on the Nursery Industry Advisory Committee with Horticulture Australia. Glenn has represented the industry with MIFGS since 2010, and currently sits as Chairman.
Ben Grange, Vice President
National Sales & Marketing Manager, Grange Growing Solutions, Ebenezer NSW
Ben has over twenty years’ experience in the industry and currently oversees the National Sales and Marketing for the family business, Grange Growing Solutions. He has been presented with multiple community and industry awards for outstanding service and spent six years as a Director of the Nursery & Garden Industry of NSW and ACT Board which has helped lay the foundations of professional corporate governance. He was appointed to the National Nursery & Garden Industry Australia Board in November 2017 and currently sits on the Governance Committee for the National Farm Management System.
Dr Josh Byrne, Director
Director, Josh Byrne & Associates, Fremantle, Western Australia
Josh is an environmental scientist, landscape designer, author, television presenter and research academic with 20 years’ experience in the industry. He holds a PhD, a Bachelor of Science with Honours, and Diplomas for Landscape and Amenity Horticulture. Josh has held multiple advisory roles with both government and industry including on the Industry Advisory Committee with Horticulture Australia (now Hort Innovation).
Brian Acworth AM, Director
Director, Loganholme Nursery & Landscape Centre, Queensland
Brian is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia with 30 years industry experience. He serves as a Director and Chairman of the Finance Committee on the John James Memorial Foundation. Brian has been Chairman and member of a range of government & community committees & organisations. Brian was Head of Government Business for Westpac Bank (1996-2011) and has considerable governance experience. He is acknowledged for his integrity and his personal, government and business networks in the ACT and Qld and is a long term mentor for Indigenous Business.
Dr Davina Boyd, Director
Research Fellow, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia
Davina is an applied social researcher and development practitioner with broad experience working on development projects internationally and in Australia. Currently, her focus is on agricultural development projects in Cambodia, Laos and Bangladesh to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farming communities through sustainable intensification, small enterprise development and improved food security. She is committed to projects that have practical outcomes and thrives working cross-culturally and collaboratively, and is adept at managing complexity. She is active in her community, and chairs her local community garden.
Nick Hutchinson, Director
General Manager, Fernland, Yandina, Queensland
Nick has been working in horticulture since 1989, when he and his father ran Oakwood Flower Wholesalers in England. Nick and his father started out buying flowers from a local wholesaler, before importing flowers from the Channel Islands and then Kenya. Nick has held various roles across the globe including Winchester Growers, the Dutch Flower Group in Holland, one of the biggest flower companies in the world, Butters Group, Ceder Hill group and now as the General Manager for Fernland in Queensland. Nick is committed to building stronger relationships with the state associations and to improve shipping times and costs for those businesses importing products into the country. As a self-described horticultural all-rounder Nick has visited all corners of the globe from Holland to Kenya to Ecuador seeking or selling cut flowers and plants.
Dr Penny Measham, Director
Director of Subtropical Fruits and Genetic Improvement, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Penny has extensive experience in horticultural and agricultural science and biosecurity across the country; experience which has led to her recent appointment by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.as its Director of Subtropical Fruits and Genetic Improvement.
Penny’s work has taken her from the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture to Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Penny hopes to bring her horticultural skills to her new role as a Director of Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA), particularly as the association seeks to reduce biosecurity threats to and develop career pathways for industry members.