Board of Directors
Doug Brown
Chairman
Mr. Brown is one of only a handful of globally recognized senior executives to have led multiple successful billion dollar exits in the water space. He was the founder, Chairman and CEO of AquaVenture Holdings, which he led to a listing on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) in 2016 and subsequently sold to Culligan Water for US$1.2 billion in 2020 while he was serving as Chairman. Mr. Brown was also CEO of Seven Seas Water, an AquaVenture Holdings business. He was previously CEO of NYSE-listed Ionics, Inc., which was acquired by GE Water for US$1.3 billion in 2005. Prior to Ionics, Mr. Brown was CEO of Advent International, a global private equity firm. Mr. Brown’s experience spans the US, Europe, South America, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Ross Haghighat
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
With over 20 years' in operating and strategic roles and a decade in the investment arena, he has helped to create a number of global enterprises in the private and public space in the US, China, Australia and Europe. Mr. Haghighat was Non-Executive Director of Emefcy Group Limited from 2015.
He serves as Chairman for Triton Systems Group - a Global Investment and Product Venturing firm. He serves as a Director at Aduro Biotech a clinical stage biopharma (Nasdaq: ADRO) and is Chairman of FRX Polymers, a specialty chemicals firm with operations in the US, Europe, and China.
Melanie Leydin
COMPANY SECRETARY
Ms. Leydin earned a Bachelor of Business degree in Accounting and Corporate Law from Swinburne University. She is also a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, an independent professional association for company secretaries, governance advisers, and risk managers in Australia, committed to promoting sound practice in governance and risk management.
Richard Irving
Non-Executive Director
Richard Irving is the Chairman of Fluence Corporation Limited. Previously Mr. Irving served as Chairman and CEO, Chairman and Executive Chairman. Prior to Fluence Corporation Limited, Mr. Irving served as Executive Chairman and Chairman of Emefcy Group Limited from 2010.
Based in Silicon Valley, Mr. Irving co-founded Pond Venture Partners in 1997 and brings over 30 years experience in technology companies in senior operating roles, as an investor and Board member. Mr. Irving has helped generate over $3 billion in shareholder value through IPOs, acquisitions, and private financings.
Past exits include LiveRail (Facebook), Gigle Networks (Broadcom), 4Home (Motorola Mobility), Transitive (IBM), Microcosm Communications (Conexant), Zoran (NASDAQ: ZRAN, acquired by CSR plc), and Brooktree (NASDAQ: BTRE, acquired by Conexant).
Paul Donnelly
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Donnelly is Chief Executive Officer of Flagstaff Partners, an independent corporate advisory firm.
Previously, Mr. Donnelly was an Executive Director at Macquarie Capital, where he worked for 25 years in various roles, including President & CEO of Macquarie’s Canadian operations, and Global Head of Equity and Debt Capital Markets.
Mr. Donnelly has a broad range of investment banking experience, in Australia and internationally, with particular skills in capital markets. Over his thirty-year career he has gathered deep transactional experience advising on significant and complex transactions for leading Australian and international companies.
Samantha Tough
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Samantha is currently Chair of Horizon Power, Chair National Energy Selection Committee and Director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, VHM Ltd and 3D Metal Forge Ltd. She has been Pro Vice Chancellor Engagement at the University of Western Australia since 1 July 2019, leading the Innovation and Industry Engagement group.
Dr. Rengarajan Ramesh
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dr. Ramesh has held senior management positions at GE Water and Process Technologies, including Chief Technology Officer (CTO), a role which he held for more than four years. As CTO, Dr. Ramesh played a key role in the development and implementation of the strategy that led to the creation of GE’s $2.5 billion global water platform. While at GE, he also led the technology and engineering organisations for GE Sensing, GE Security, and GE Fanuc. He also served on the board of GE’s Asia Pacific American Forum.
In addition to his role at GE, Dr. Ramesh served in numerous senior management roles over a two-decade career with A. Schulman, Inc., a global multi-billion-dollar specialty chemicals manufacturer. He also served on the International Advisory Board for the Ministry of Environment and Water, Government of Singapore from 2006-2016.
He currently serves on the board of Students2Science a non-profit organisation serving inner-city schools by proving hands on lab training to teachers and students.
