Tasmanian Advisory Board

The National Heart Foundation of Australia values the commitment of the Tasmanian Advisory Board, which forms an essential component of our national arrangements, allowing the Heart foundation to connect strategy, local community engagement and external stakeholder expertise.

Ms Jane Bennett (Chair)

Jane Bennett has over 30 years of experience working in agrifood businesses across Tasmania and the UK. As the founding Managing director of both Ashgrove Cheese and TasFoods Jane has extensive experience in building and nurturing premium Tasmanian food brands including Ashgrove Cheese, Pyengana Dairy, Meander Valley Dairy, Betta Milk, Nichols Poultry and Shima Wasabi. Jane has worked as a Non Executive Director in a number of companies that currently include Chairing the Board of Hop Products Australia and director of Nuffield Australia. Previous board positions include the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CSIRO, Food Innovation Australia Ltd, Tasmanian Ports Corporation, Van Diemen’s Land Company and Australian Farm Institute.

Jane was named 2010 Tasmanian Telstra Business Woman of the Year, 1997 Australian ABC Rural Woman of the Year, 1998 Regional Development winner in the Young Australian of the Year Award and 1994 Tasmanian Rural Achiever of the Year.

Mr Harvey Lennon

Mr Harvey Lennon is the Chief Executive Officer of Hobart City Mission. He has a demonstrated history of leadership in the tourism and member services industries.

Mr Bruce Neill

Bruce Neill is a Tasmanian Businessman and Philanthropist. From a Financial Services grounding he has a built as series of highly successful companies. He currently operates a Family Office and Foundations which, amongst other community needs, supports Medical Research, Homelessness and the Vulnerable, and the Arts. In recent years he served as Chairman of the medical research institute, Menzies, and for his leadership and generosity, in 2021 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from UTAS and a highly commended award by Research Australia.

Dr Paul MacIntyre

Dr Paul MacIntyre is a Staff Specialist in Cardiology at Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania.

Professor Tracey Dickson

Professor Tracey Dickson is neuroscientist specialising in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly determining the cellular mechanisms underlying Motor Neuron disease and Parkinson’s disease. In January 2022, she was appointed as Director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, at the University of Tasmania – the first Tasmanian to be appointed into this prestigious role. Tracey grew up on the NW coast in Burnie and completed her BSc (Hons) and PhD at the University of Tasmania, investigating the neuropathological changes that characterise early Alzheimer’s disease. She undertook post-doctoral training at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City. Tracey has held both early and mid-career national Fellowships, and has an extensive track record in securing research funding through the NHMRC and ARC as well as through organisations such Motor Neuron Disease Australia, and Fight MND. She has held the roles of Deputy Director at Menzies and Associate Dean Research within the College of Health and Medicine. Through her research Tracey has worked closely with many community organisations throughout Tasmania, and has shown a strong commitment to community engagement.

Mr Paul Lupo

Mr Paul Lupo is the Chief Executive Officer for St Luke’s Health. Paul has extensive leadership experience across a number of industry sectors including financial services, aquaculture and agriculture.

Mr Peter Smith

Peter Smith brings ‘lived experience’ to the Board having undergone two open heart surgery procedures to replace faulty aortic valves. Peter worked in public broadcasting for many years.

Jenny Donovan

Jenny is a planner and urban designer. She works for the Cradle Coast Authority as the Built Environment Projects Co-ordinator and, before that, the UN in Afghanistan where she managed a major human development and security program.

Jenny is passionately interested in the social outcomes made more likely by the places we build. Throughout her professional life she has been fortunate enough to work in roles that have focussed on helping people to overcome disadvantage, meet their needs, thrive and fulfil their potential.

Jenny is the author of books on socially responsible urban design, most recently “Designing to Heal” (2014) (CSIRO), “Designing the Compassionate City” (2017) and “Recipes for Urban Happiness” (2024) (Routledge). She has previously co-authored Food Sensitive Planning and Urban Design for the Heart Foundation (2011).

Dion Lester

Dion is the Chief Executive Officer, Local Government Association of Tasmania and a member of the Premier’s Health and Wellbeing Advisory Committee.  He is a graduate of the AICD and qualifications include Masters of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development, Master of Environmental Planning and a Bachelor of Applied Science.

Dion has 25 years’ experience across advocacy, policy development, project management, and stakeholder engagement. Prior to joining LGAT in 2015, he spent the previous 10 years focused on strategic land use planning and project approvals.  This included the development of the first Tasmanian Health by Design Guidelines. In 2020 Dion was awarded a Churchill Fellowship on Food Systems Planning and Urban Agriculture.