Advantage Foundation Ltd Directors

Tracey Hodgkins - Founder and Chair

Tracey Hodgkins is a passionate and dynamic social and business entrepreneur. Over the past 10 years she has spent a significant amount of time working on the development of social entrepreneurship programs and entrepreneurial education within the university system.

Using the “Pay it Forward” philosophy, Tracey has developed a range of international award winning projects as part of her experiential education methodology that have benefited communities world-wide. Tracey is the founder of Advantage Foundation.

Tracey's education company the Australian Experiential Learning Centre focuses on the development of her three passions, Gen Y, women and entrepreneurs both social and business. She is also on the board of several companies including the “Advantage Foundation”, Whiplash Theatre and is Chair of Truck Inn a national long haul driver safety initiative.

As a consultant she works with companies to develop innovation and is a working towards creating an idea generation centre to support WA's blossoming innovation sector. She supports emerging entrepreneurs with coaching, mentoring and hot desk incubation facilities.

Tracey has many award distinctions including:

• 2008 Veuve Cliquot Awards Finalist for Australia's most inspirational woman
• Awarded Rotary Paul Harris Fellow for significant contribution to humanity
• Winner Telstra WA Business Woman of the Year 2005
• Winner Hudson Community and Government Award 2005
• Winner everywoman of the Year Award 2005 for Education
• Winner BHERT Entrepreneurial Educator of the Year 2003

Ann-Marie Docherty

Ann-Marie is the Managing Director of Australasian Executive Coaching Pty Ltd. She is a dynamic, passionate woman who is committed to making a lasting legacy to both business and our community through her passionate love of people. By touching the hearts and minds of those she meets and coaches, Ann-Marie enables others to follow their dreams.

She encourages them to achieve their visions and heart's desire through a journey of self discovery, raising awareness of the power within us all and by inspiring positive actions which lead to peak performances.

Ann-Marie has extensive experience in Corporate Professional Services. As a leader in business, she has 20+ years of operating across Australia and Asia. She has delivered strong value add Corporate and Business infrastructures whilst coaching and enabling Senior Executives.

A 2001 winner of the Telstra Business Woman of the Year in WA for the Private & Corporate Sector category, Ann-Marie has also been recognized for her contribution to Australian Business leadership, in the Award of the Prime Minister's Centenary Medal in 2003.

Ann-Marie has passionately championed equal employment opportunity for both men and women by advocating Best Practice strategies for all employees and has brought successful recognition in these endeavours to the organisations for which she has worked. At the same time, Ann-Marie has also found the time for a successful marriage of 35 years and to have two beautiful children Nicola and Carrie who are now 29 and 27. Ann-Marie is also a very proud Grandmother to 4 year old Lily.

Morgan Solomon

Morgan Solomon is a partner of the firm Bowen Buchbinder Vilensky Lawyers. He is in the commercial and corporate section of the firm dealing with an extremely wide variety of general commercial legal matters, commercial litigation, contract negotiation and drafting and the vast array of matters that business law entails.

He also has an interest in intellectual property and arts law which stems from his years studying fine art at the University of Western Australia where he graduated with an honours degree in fine art.

Morgan sits on the board of FORM Contemporary Craft and Design Inc and when not consumed by his two young children, is trying to find the time to finish writing his second novel.

Brett Lane

Brett works in media and communications and is Editor Business Development with The West Australian, WA's only daily newspaper. He is also a Chartered Secretary.

He has been involved in an advisory capacity in aspects of tertiary entrepreneurial education since 2003 and was appointed a director of Advantage Foundation Ltd in 2008.

He has a Bachelor of Commerce from Curtin University, is a member of Chartered Secretaries Australia and Australian Institute of Management and is a graduate of the Royal Australian Navy Staff College.

As a journalist he worked in country WA, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth before assuming editorial and management roles with The West Australian. His current position includes responsibility for commercial and community engagement activities in the newspaper's award-winning events, editorial products marketing and education units.

He is a member of Chartered Secretaries Australia's national communications committee, an actively-serving part-time RAN officer and a member of the Defence Reserves Support Council's WA committee. He is a former director of a medium-large superannuation fund and former member of the WA Local Government Association's State panel for best practice in local government.

Tony Friday

Tony Friday is the Director of Strategy for Blue Zoo, an Australian strategy and governance consulting firm. He is responsible for coordinating the strategic growth of the company. In addition to local growth, this has also involved commercializing various aspects of the company intellectual property for delivery in the UK, France and Canada.

He also sits on the Board of Directors for Interchange (a not-for-profit Disability Services Agency), Advantage Foundation (a not-for-profit Entrepreneurship Incubator), and Global Village (a commercial Import/Export company).

Tony has been involved as an equity Partner and Director with a variety of companies - ranging in operation from Information Technology to Import/Export and Property Development. During this time, he has acquired business interests, shares and property in Europe, Africa, and Australia.

With specializations in corporate strategy and growth management, he has consulted to both Government and the private sector; guiding them through aggressive expansion activities. In this capacity, he was recently responsible for assisting a Japanese technology company as they extended their presence throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Tony is a well-recognized public speaker and has addressed public forums covering a wide range of topics including marketing and brand management, strategic growth, business etiquette, financial frameworks for entrepreneurs, customer relationship management, and raising venture capital.

He loves to travel - visiting more than thirty countries in the last five years for both business and pleasure. He and his wife recently backpacked in mid-winter from Romania all the way through to Russia via many of the Eastern bloc countries. He describes this as his most challenging travel experience so far.

Roz Baker

Roz Baker has been an entrepreneur since the age of 14 when she bred ducks to sell to her parent's hotel in Zimbabwe. Having become a Real Estate Licensee, she founded a highly successful Real Estate company, which emphasised a personal service to corporate clients and Foreign Diplomatic Missions. With an American partner she also established a significant export company concentrating on increasing International interest in African art and sculpture in particular.

Moving to Australia in 1995 was a huge lifestyle change. Roz became a business broker and commenced her first property development project in Perth. Thanks to Rotary, and after joining many other business and social networks, Roz has enjoyed much business and personal fulfilment in her adopted home of Australia.

Roz is rich in life and business experience after trading and living overseas. A diploma course in Counselling has helped her to pursue her natural enjoyment of assisting others. She gives appraisals of businesses, mentors those expanding or having difficulties, and encourages people to have training before going into their own business, also to take on-going advice, to make sure that they stay in a positive cash flow situation.

Whilst representing Rotary on the Shell Livewire Committee, Roz met Tracey Hodgkins, became involved with the Advantage Foundation and is one of the founder members.