Benjamin Farinazzo  |  Chief Executive Officer

Ben is passionate about inspiring Australians to be better leaders in their families, organisations and communities in order to make a positive difference in the world.

He was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Australia Business Academy, a leading national education and training provider delivering education and employments pathways to empower Australian youth.

Formerly he enjoyed a successful career in several senior executive and advisory roles within Australia and offshore. He has diverse industry experience across education and training, security, banking and finance, recruitment, gas and oil, and mining with major Australian and multinational corporations. During his early career as an Officer in the Australian Army, his experiences included several leadership, staff and training positions both in peacetime and warlike environments.

Ben has tertiary degrees and qualifications in Political Science and Vocational Education and Training. He is a certified Master Performance Coach and Master Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner. He is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia. He was awarded the Australian Active Service Medal for East Timor. He was nominated by the University of New South Wales for a Rhodes Scholarship. He is an experienced keynote and motivational speaker in areas pertaining to leadership, organisational change and empowerment.

Marilyn Newport  |  Chief Financial Officer

Marilyn joined Outward Bound in January 2011 having previously been involved with establishing an independent, non-government, co-educational day school, with classes from kindergarten to year 12 in Geraldton, Western Australia.  Marilyn had roles with the establishment committee, as Treasurer of the Board, Business Manager and Board member during her 13 year association with the school.  Prior to that, her career involvement included accounting, computing, financial planning and small business.

Marilyn was involved with Outward Bound in Western Australia through accompanying students on courses at Walpole, being the school liaison and backup co-ordinator at the school and in Walpole, and serving on the WA Development Council in Perth.

Lucas Gamble  |  AOBDF Development Director

Lucas joined Outward Bound Australia in August 2009. Previously, Lucas worked as the state manager for a corporate training company as both a facilitator and team manager. This included managing the business, budgeting, meeting fiscal KPIs, client management and building a strong team. Prior to corporate training, Lucas worked in investment banking on the Sydney Futures Exchange for six years as a bond and bill trader for a number of different broking houses. Lucas also holds a degree in International Studies, with majors in International Relations and Spanish.

Lucas brings experience in building a small business, understanding the value of managing clients on a personal level and the passion and energy to see Outward Bound Australia grow into the future.

Mike Pigg  |  General Manager

Mike joined Outward Bound Australia in 2004, and after completing our Internship worked as an Instructor at numerous different bases around the country. In addition, Mike has served OBA in Western Australia as both the Operations Manager and Partnerships Manager, while more recently he has enjoyed the role of Quality and Risk Manager based at our National Headquarters in Tharwa.

Mike has an Honours Degree in Behavioural Science and before OBA worked within the Psychology Department  at UNSW for several years.

Along with his extensive Outdoor Recreation experience, Mike brings with him a wealth of knowledge in education and training.

Wayne Pitts  |  General Manager

Wayne joined Outward Bound in January 2005 as a Tango intern.  He graduated as an instructor and went on to become a Senior Instructor, Team Co-ordinator, Team Manager and East Operations Manager.  Wayne left Outward Bound in December 2009 and has returned as General Manager for the newly acquired Inter-Action business in northern NSW which he joined in 2009.

Wayne has a wealth of knowledge, experience, expertise and qualifications in Outdoor Recreation, Training and Assessment and is a qualified 4wd Instructor.  He also has vast experience and qualifications in management within the hospitality industry and small business.

Karen Howells  |  Business Development Team Lead

Karen joined Outward Bound at the end of 2012. She has many years of sales and client management experience. Most recently, Karen was the Director of Account Management at Active International and was a member of their Management Team. Karen has a varied background and originally trained as a nurse and spent some time nursing in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Karen has a passion for client relationships for both existing and prospective clients. She is excited to be able to bring her experience to the Outward Bound Team.

Freya Norman  |  Marketing & Communications Manager

Freya joined Outward Bound in 2011 as Public Relations Officer. Freya specialised in brand managment before moving into the Marketing and Communications Manager role. Previously Freya worked in a public relations agency, specialising in media relations, PR strategy and digital communications for healthcare clients.

Freya has a Bachelor degree in Communications and brings to Outward Bound a fresh approach to digital and social media and online strategy.

Amber Barnett  |  Learning & Development Manager

Sara Halbe  |  Manager, Outward Bound Professional

Sara joined Outward Bound Australia in 2009, after working in the USA with Outward Bound Discovery since 2007. Sara grew up in Colorado with a love of the outdoors and has completed two 27-day Outward Bound courses, one when she was 15 and the other when she was 23.

Sara has a varied background and before joining Outward Bound studied Communications at the University of Colorado. After completing her Bachelor degree in Communication, she worked as a marketing specialist, providing  corporate communications and marketing materials to small business clients.

Sara is passionate about Outward Bound, loves working with people and brings to the organisation a creative approach to corporate program development.

Ann Mayhew  |  Human Resources Coordinator

Ann joined Outward Bound in 2012 as the Human Resources Coordinator. Ann holds a Bachelor of Law and Business from James Cook University and a Certificate IV in Human Resources. She has experience in human resource roles across both the not-for-profit and commercial sector.

Ann brings to Outward Bound a love of  working with compassionate and committed colleagues and enjoys being part of a HR team that facilitates translating passion into performance.

Leigh Martin  |  Logistics Manager