Meet the GECA team

Michelle joined the GECA team two years ago, bringing a passion for creating solutions and offering pathways for businesses to choose a more sustainable future for the people and planet.

Having worked in fundraising, marketing, and sales throughout her career, she has a wealth of business experience that she now uses at GECA to drive positive change. Michelle values her abilities to negotiate and collaborate and sees genuine working relationships as crucial to building robust and lasting sustainability strategies.

Her career was established in the UK before relocating to Australia in 2011. She has been fundamental in creating, building, developing and nurturing partnerships with clients, suppliers, and staff. She has exceptional management skills; a mentor leading and developing strong teams from the front with a hands-on approach.

With a keen eye for detail, she is well versed in business process improvements and developing strategies to drive best practice and increased value to all partners.

Paula is a creative, marketing professional with extensive experience in business strategy, communication and project management.

She has worked in various sectors (including corporate health, advertising, marketing, print, design and hospitality), that involved delivering creative direction, management and marketing, whilst pursing to market with purpose and inspiring people to take action.

Her interest in health and environmental issues saw Paula working in corporate health for ten years, in a mix of management, marketing and editorial roles and playing an integral part in corporate health change. She also extended her project management skills across to facility management, building maintenance and landscape design. Paula draws on her experience, skills, qualifications and passion to market GECA’s vision for a society in which people demand sustainable products and services.

Kendall is a communications specialist and sustainability advocate who has driven campaigns for a range of non-profit organisations on issues such as sustainable consumption and production, environmental philanthropy and biodiversity conservation.

She has over a decade’s worth of experience working in the field of environmental conservation and holds a Fellowship with the Centre for Sustainability Leadership. Kendall is also a member of the Fashion Revolution team in Australia, an international movement advocating for a fashion industry which values people, the environment, creativity and profits in equal measure.

Having worked in France and the UK for many years, Marlene brings GECA her expertise in project management, marketing, sales and customer relations.

Marlene has studied logistics, supply chain management and marketing, followed by several years working in the corporate world as a project manager. Marlene has decided to concentrate her time and skills to help build a more sustainable future for the people and the planet. She has since undertaken further study in environmental management and sustainability.

Marlene has a keen interest in new technologies, renewable energy and sustainable designs. She believes that the key to a more sustainable world is education and has been delivering educational programs and events for many years. She uses her spare time volunteering in a community garden, playing soccer and exploring nature.

With her background in social sciences, Jess has always been drawn to roles that promote the health and wellbeing of people and our surrounding environment.

Jess started her career working for the Australian Red Cross, managing local food security programs. She has worked for other not-for-profit organisations and state government agencies, obtaining skills in program management, community engagement, research, training, policy development and analysis, consumer advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and business development and strategy.

She recently completed her SA8000 Standard Auditor Training with Social Accountability International in her quest to improve supply chain transparency via mechanisms that support human and labour rights and environmental justice.

Jess’ role at GECA focuses on working with industry, government, universities, consumers, and other organisations to identify collaborative opportunities for sustainability action.

Judith has extensive experience in green building and sustainable construction materials. She has always been inspired by holistic sustainability concepts.

As an environmental engineer, she combines expertise in low carbon solutions in the built environment and a profound background in life cycle assessment. She has previously worked for European green building labels and is a Green Star Accredited Professional.

During her time as a university researcher and throughout her whole career, she has collaborated with various architects, civil and building services engineers, councils and state departments. In her opinion, engineering is as much about finding the best technical solutions as it is about creating an equitable and just society.

Rodrigo is a sustainability advocate with over six years of experience in international trade, renewable energy and sustainable development.

Previously, Rodrigo worked in the renewable energy sector as a Senior Trade Officer at the British Embassy in Mexico. He has also worked as a natural resources advisor in the Trade & Investment department at the German Chamber of Commerce (CAMEXA) based in Mexico.

His expertise is related to developing international projects regarding clean technology, industry 4.0 and renewable energy in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Federal German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA).

In 2019 he completed a Masters of Sustainability at the University of Sydney, focusing his capstone research project on developing standards for carbon reduction and solar energy.

Joel is a chemical engineer with eight years of experience in hazardous waste management services and environmental and water technology research and development. He currently serves by providing rigorous standards development, research, and technical expertise at GECA.

Joel started in the waste industry in 2009 and has provided ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and OSHA 18001 compliant waste management solutions for various industries including transport, food and beverage, petroleum, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing in the Asia Pacific region.

He received his Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from UNSW, Sydney, in 2021 for his thesis titled “Development of Membrane Distillation for the Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds from Industrial Trade Effluents”. Joel is now working at GECA to help Australian industries achieve sound, sustainable and economically viable practices.

Shahin brings a diverse range of skills to GECA, including a degree in Mechanical Engineering, a graduate diploma in Design, and masters degrees in both Sustainability and Environmental Engineering.

Her main areas of focus have been Sustainability Assessments, Environmental Impact Assessments, Environmental Modelling and Environmental Auditing. At GECA, Shahin assists with creating Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). She also supports developing and revising GECA’s lifecycle ecolabel standards.

With a background in design and media, Raven brings a creative eye to GECA.

Having had a passion for the environment from a young age, Raven decided to bring her skills from sales and consumer experience to the field of sustainability. Raven’s role focuses on supporting the GECA team, as well as spreading our key messages via digital platforms and educating those who are on a journey of continuous improvement for people and planet.

Karina is passionate about environmental conservation, diversity, sustainability and looks for impactful change. At GECA, Karina uses her marketing expertise and project implementation skills to contribute to lasting change for a more sustainable Australia. Karina will manage and support a range of projects in Marketing, Communications and Sales.

Karina is a marketing and communications professional who has extensive experience developing insight-driven marketing and engagement strategies, creating digital marketing campaigns and project management.

She has previously worked in the higher education sector in Australia and for large corporations in the telecommunication sector in Brazil. Karina possesses vast experience in marketing strategy development and implementation. Her focus areas include digital marketing, content creation, project management, campaign management, events, and sales and marketing partnerships.

Karina holds a Master of Business degree with a major in Marketing at the University of Sydney and has recently taken further studies in Environment.