CCIQ welcomes two new board directors

Wednesday 5 August, 2020

The Chamber of Commerce & Industry Qld (CCIQ) has welcomed two new directors on to its board to position the organisation for resilience and future growth.

Jennifer Nielsen, founder of Australia’s biggest eco community and information platform, ekko.world, brings expertise in governance and marketing, as well as new thinking regarding how businesses can adopt sustainability as a competitive advantage.

CCIQ President Tony Schiffmann said Jennifer’s experience will bring insightful perspectives to the Chamber’s public policies and services.

“Just like technology, businesses need to start seeing sustainability as an opportunity,” he said. “Jennifer has founded several successful businesses on the fact that more and more people are supporting businesses who care about the long-term impacts of their operations, and we believe she will help governments and our members adapt to these rapidly changing consumer expectations.”

Nielsen has had a multifaceted career, having built and led businesses in Finance, Human Resources and Advertising prior to creating  ekko.world.

”I am particularly pleased to join the CCIQ Board as I have been watching the Eco Biz programme with a keen interest for some time and CCIQ are in a unique position to expand on it, and working with both the government and SMEs to make Queensland a centre of sustainable business leadership, workplaces and jobs of the future,” Nielson said.

Sarah Kirk is Director Relationships with Judo Bank, an SME challenger bank and one of Australia’s fastest growing small business funders. Sarah has almost 20 years of investment and banking experience with Macquarie Group and Westpac Banking Corporation, supporting clients of various sizes within Corporate Advisory and Business Banking divisions.

Schiffmann believes the Chamber will benefit from Sarah’s commercial acumen and absolute focus on the customer.

“CCIQ’s membership has doubled in the past few months due to COVID-19, and we want to make sure that we can continue to provide the same level of personal, professional service to all our new customers without missing a beat,” Schiffmann said.

“Sarah’s team is rapidly expanding nationally because they’re gaining insights into small business needs and using technology to provide creative and flexible solutions at scale. We believe there are strong parallels here and we expect many of Sarah’s learnings will directly transfer to our business.”

“I’m thrilled to be a part of CCIQ and its future growth. I’m passionate about supporting business in Queensland and I am looking forward to being part of a movement that is focussed on making Queensland the best place in Australia to do business,” said Kirk.

Nielsen and Kirk join Schiffmann who is Chief Executive Partner of BDO Brisbane, QUT Vice President Professor Mark Harvey, and social enterprise entrepreneur Simon Lockyer to round out CCIQ’s board of directors. Over the past two directorship terms, CCIQ has worked its way back into ongoing profitability and has become the fastest growing state chamber in the country.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Qld is the peak body for business in Queensland. CCIQ’s vision is for Queensland to be the best place for business in Australia, where businesses’ success provides prosperity for all.

 

Media comment: Faith Jarvis, CCIQ Media & Communication Manager,

Acknowledgement of Country

Business Chamber Queensland respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners and custodians of the lands from across Queensland and the Torres Strait. We acknowledge the Jagera and Turrbal people as the Traditional Custodians of Meanjin (Brisbane), the lands where our office is located and the place we meet, work and learn. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.