In February 2009, 40K recognised the need for better governance and created its first board.  Hugh Anderson, who has had extensive corporate governance experience, assisted 40K's management in thinking about what skills the Foundation needed at this period of growth. In true 40K spirit, we punched above our weight by handpicking a new board  of directors who excelled in the areas of expertise Hugh helped us identify.

The role of the 40K board is to:

• Ensure that 40K is operating in compliance with the laws of New South Wales and Australia;
• Ensure that 40K is a model for best-practice corporate governance in the non-profit field;
• Hold management accountable to successful project management and growth targets;
• To mentor 40K management and volunteers.

We want to ensure that our board is very active. Beyond meeting collectively every six weeks, different members of the board meet regularly with 40K staff and volunteers to provide advice and guidance.

Chairman: Hugh Anderson

Hugh Anderson is an experienced Company Director. Clary sought him out when he decided it was timely to move 40K to the next stage and to put it on a professional footing.

Hugh has 35 years experience as a Director of both listed and private companies, and has been Non Executive, Executive and Chairman. He has conducted in house Board workshops, presented extensively for Australian Institute of Company Directors, and authored material for their programs.

He has also been a funds manager and is intending to retire to Orange in the near future.

Founding Director and CEO: Clary Castrission

Clary attended Knox Grammar School on Sydney's North Shore before undertaking an Arts/Law degree in which he graduated with Honours at the University of Technology, Sydney in 2007.

Being always interested in international affairs, he was given a piece of advice by one of his Professors (who now sits on our board!) early in his degree. He was told that if you want to get involved in poverty eradication, don't do it from Geneva or New York: Roll your sleeves up and spend extensive time in the developing world.

Since then Clary has been dividing his time between Sydney and Bangalore, and in 2005 founded the 40K. In 2008, Clary formed a partnership with UTS and conceptualised and directed the Intervarsity Summit on Australia's Role in Ending Extreme Poverty, which hosted 400 students from 26 universities across Australia and the Pacific Islands and worked actively with the Australian government, High Court, and leading Australian corporations and overseas aid organisations.

CFO: Hamish Griffin

Hamish went to school at Knox Grammar before undertaking a degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Sydney during which he published articles in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. During the final year of his undergraduate degree he became concerned with environmental and global issues and proceeded to undertake further study completing a Masters of Environmental Engineering with Honors in 2008.

Hamish has had a close association with the 40K Home Foundation since its inception in 2005 and became the systems consultant and financial operator for ISAREEP '08. He joins Clary as a full-time volunteer with 40K in our Sydney office.

Director: Sam Blay

Law Professor, University of Technology Sydney

Professor Sam Blay works at the University of Technology, Sydney in the Law Department. He is a former Dean of Law, University of Tasmania, Director of the Faculty's China Program and a part-time Member of the Refugee Review Tribunal. Professor Blay graduated as the first PhD in Law at the University of Tasmania in 1985 and has served as a UNDP consultant in Somalia and Vietnam. He has also worked as a consultant to the governments of Vanuatu, Nauru and more recently Laos and Sudan on self-determination and related international issues.

Sam has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and at the China University of Politics and Law in Beijing (2005). He is currently a Research Scholar at the Southwestern University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing in China. He has also been an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow (Max Planck Institute for International and Comparative Law in Heidelberg, Germany (1992-3; 2003) and maintains an active interest in academic exchange programs with leading German institutions.

Professor Blay is also co-editor of Public International Law, Australian Perspectives (OUP 2005) and co-author of Torts in Principle (LBC 2005).

Director: Andrew Hipsley

Group Marketing Officer for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa

After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) UNSW, Andrew spent 10 years in sales and marketing roles with CSR in Sydney and Melbourne, before joining McDonald's for a career which has spanned several areas of the business and many areas of the world.

He began his career with McDonald's Australia as Director of Purchasing and has responsibility for Supply Chain, Quality Assurance, Product Development, Restaurant Systems and Operations Development. During this time Andrew was actively involved with establishing the supply chain across many parts of Asia. He then headed up Marketing in Australia for a number of years and also managed McDonald's global sponsorship of the Sydney Olympic Games.

In 2001, Andrew transferred to the McDonald's Corporation in Chicago where he worked in the Global Marketing Division until 2004 before moving back to the region as the Group Marketing Officer for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. In this role Andrew oversees the marketing and communications functions in the 37 markets and 7800 restaurants that McDonald's operates in the region.

Andrew has been married to his wife, Evelyn, for 29 years and has 5 adult children. He lives in Wahroonga, Sydney.

Director: David Nathanson

Managing Director of Apex Capital Partners

David is currently a Managing Director of Apex Capital Partners, a boutique corporate advisory and principal investment firm based in Sydney. He has 14 years of experience in investment banking, new business formation and law. Prior to joining Apex, David worked in the Merger & Strategic Advisory department at Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York.

He previously worked as an investment banker at Macquarie Bank in Sydney and prior to that was a corporate lawyer at Freehills. David has an MBA from Stanford Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce and LLB from the University of NSW.

Director: Les Szekely

Former Partner, Tax Growth Solutions, Deloitte

Les worked as a solicitior before teaching commercial and revenue law at the University of New South Wales and then at Sydney University. Les joined Horwarth in 1984 as a Senior Tax Manager and became a Tax Partner in 1987. Following the recent merger between Horwarth and Deloitte, Les became Director of Taxation, Deloitte Growth Solutions.

Les has been extensively published in CCH, Rydges, IBFD and Information Australia on both domestic and international issues. He is regularly quoted in relation to tax issues in the Financial Review, BRW and other financial media. He also acts as Managing Editor for the Monthly inTAX journal published by Thompsons.