Angela Skandarajah
Chief Executive Officer
With over 25 years’ experience in the real estate sector, Angela has broad based expertise in property development, urban renewal and infrastructure projects. She previously headed up MinterEllison's National Real Estate, Environment and Planning team and has been a long term contributor to various industry bodies.
Since joining Development Victoria in 2017 she has been part of the leadership of the organisation in various roles and was appointed CEO in February 2019.
Angela is passionate about creating a learning environment at Development Victoria, where people are encouraged to develop and maximise their potential, whilst achieving great outcomes for the community.
Geoff Ward
Group Head, Precincts
Geoff’s team lead the long-term urban renewal of some of the State's priority precincts. The group provides advice to support strategic planning, undertakes master planning, and provides delivery advice to balance policy and commercial outcomes.
Geoff has more than 30 years experience in planning and delivering precinct, civic and infrastructure projects. He has broad local and international experience within the private sector and government organisations.
Most recently, Geoff led the Fishermans Bend Taskforce and was responsible for the strategic planning of one of Australia’s largest urban renewal precincts. Prior to that he spent a decade in the Middle East delivering a range of major precinct projects.
Penny Forrest
Group Head, Property Development
Penny is an experienced property development professional, with over 20 years’ experience in the industry, including over 12 years with listed residential property developer Peet Ltd, most recently as the State Manager for the ACT and NSW.
A strong advocate for the property industry, Penny has been a member and Chair of the Property Council Australia’s Victorian Residential Developers Committee and a former member of the Surveyors Registration Board Victoria.
Penny is passionate about building and leading high performing and engaged teams and leads with a focus on role modelling and coaching behavioural styles to develop and maximise the career potential of her team members.
Manny Bikakis
Group Head, Strategy
Manny heads up our Strategy group, which includes our advisory and acquisition teams. The group leads our corporate strategic direction and a broad range of strategic advice to support large Civic & Precinct business cases, property development pipeline opportunities and pilot projects.
Manny has a wealth of executive experience in finance & operational roles across high profile organisations, with his career spanning Australia, Europe & Asia. Previously Manny was CFO for PPG Industries (Asia Pacific) a global manufacturer & marketer of coating products, CFO of Incitec Pivot’s fertiliser business, and had a long and distinguished career with BP (petroleum) in both their European and Australian businesses.
Since joining Development Victoria, Manny has held executive roles including CFO & Group Head Operations, accountable for all finance, planning, commercial support, risk management, IT, HR, and health, safety and environment functions. In 2020, Manny lead the Property Development group and the Development Victoria COVID-19 Taskforce.
André van Baalen
Group Head, Operations
André leads the delivery of finance, technology, human resources and risk services at Development Victoria. With more than 20 years’ experience gained in large corporations across a range of industries, André has extensive experience in operational and financial management.
Prior to joining Development Victoria he held various group finance, decision support, corporate services and business transformation roles at Energy Australia, Commonwealth Bank and Hutchison Telecommunications.
Hannah Clement
Group Head, Civic Infrastructure
Hannah leads our civic infrastructure delivery group, which is responsible for managing major project delivery on behalf of government clients. With more than 20 years experience in planning and delivering major civic and infrastructure projects, she has led some of the state's most significant redevelopments including Margaret Court Arena, Geelong Arts Centre, State Library Victoria as well as the $1B+ Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation.
Prior to joining Development Victoria, Hannah delivered complex and challenging major projects across Australia, the Middle East and South-East Asia. With a background in civil engineering, she spent more than 10 years in the engineering consultancy sector, with a specialisation in the delivery of major sporting, event and social infrastructure.
Hannah also maintains an interest in the fields of international development and is passionate about the role urban built form plays in promoting social equity, cohesion and reducing communities’ vulnerability to natural disasters.
Julie Browning
Executive Director, Corporate Affairs and Engagement
Julie leads the Corporate Affairs and Engagement team for Development Victoria. The team provides support to the organisation and its work across a broad range of communications, including branding, community and stakeholder engagement, media, government relations and reputation management.
Julie has extensive executive experience built across the public and private sectors, including Infrastructure Victoria, the City of Melbourne and the Royal Children’s Hospital. She is passionate about community engagement, leading engagement for development of the masterplan for the Queen Victoria Market Precinct renewal, engagement for the state’s first 30-year infrastructure strategy as well as deliberative processes for difficult policy reforms in areas such as density, planning and transport.
As a consultant, she has worked extensively across a broad a range of clients, particularly in the health sector, more recently working with the Victorian Government and stakeholders to develop a 10-year strategy for the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct in Parkville.
Caroline Monzon
Executive Director, People and Culture
Caroline leads the People & Culture function, bringing over 20 years of experience in human resources across property, software development and professional services industries. She joined Development Victoria in 2013 and in that time her primary focus has been on leadership & organisational development, cultural transformation and change management programs, including the program that was undertaken to support the establishment of the organisation.
Caroline is a certified member of the Australian HR Institute and a committee member for IPAA’s People Community of Practice.