Shane Simpson AM, Chair
Shane is Special Counsel at Simpsons Solicitors, a firm specialising in the arts, entertainment, cultural property and copyright. He was the founder of the Arts Law Centre of Australia and Prelude (a national network of composer houses). He is on the Council of the National Library of Australia and is the independent director on several private foundations.

Shane was formerly chair of the Bundanon Trust; the Advisory Council of the Faculty of Art + Design, UNSW; the Aboriginal Benefits Foundation; the Peggy Glanville‑Hicks Composers' House Trust; the NSW Film and Television Office and Museums and Galleries NSW. He has also been a non-executive director on numerous boards in the cultural industries including: the Australian Maritime Museum; the New Zealand Film Commission; the Australian National Academy of Music; the National Association for the Visual Arts; the Crafts Council of Australia; the Music Council of Australia and the Copyright Agency.

He was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for “service to the law and to the arts through leading roles in intellectual property and entertainment law, and as a contributor to a range of cultural organisations.” In 2019 the University of New South Wales awarded him an honorary Doctorate of the University.

Steve Badgery 
Steve has breadth of experience across all functions of marketing, business planning and strategy as well as business development and project management. Steve has worked across various functions of marketing at Westpac and CBA as well as previous roles in Agricultural Investment Management with a focus on business planning, corporate advisory and asset management. Steve has recently changed industries and now works in the renewable energy space with a company investing, building and owning community solar farms in regional Australia.
 
Steve first became connected to Studio A as their mentor on the Social Traders “Crunch” program. Steve worked closely with the team to test and develop a business and marketing plan that would allow Studio A to compete in the corporate sector. Steve is also passionate about of building the profiles and forging sustainable career paths for the artists but also ensuring that they gain professional development along the way.
 
Steve is lover of the arts having studied art throughout secondary school with a particular interest in modern art and sculpture.

Evan Lowenstein, Treasurer  
Evan is a Melbourne-based Certified Practising Accountant and the Director of Lowensteins, an accounting firm that specialises in the arts.

He holds Bachelor of Economics (Accounting) from Monash University and has a long history of advocating and supporting the financial needs of artists. In 2002 he started Lowensteins Arts Management with this father Tom and colleague Adam Micmacher. Core to the firm was a commitment to serve the specific needs of artists. Today the firm manages the financial affairs of approximately 3000 artists in all creative fields. Evan was also involved in the Save Super Art campaign that was set up to fight the recommendations of the Cooper Report on Superannuation and the adverse effects it would have on Artists.

Evan has also served on the Board of the Resale Royalties Art Market Professionals Advisory Panel and National Association for the Visual Arts, and has been Treasurer at Gertrude Street Artist Spaces, Westspace Artists Spaces, Theatreworks, Q44 Inc., Embraced Inc., Southern Disability Advocacy Inc. and more recently Southern Disability Advocacy Ltd., Sunshine Print Artspace Inc and Genesis Baroque Inc.

John McCabe
John McCabe is Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of LSM Asia Pacific, based in Sydney.

Since joining LIU in 1999 John has held several positions including Chief Financial Officer and LIU’s Global Chief Risk Officer based in Boston. 

John’s current responsibilities include focusing on day-to-day management of 9 regional offices in 5 countries.  He is also responsible for LSM Asia Pacific enterprise risk management, capital, legal & taxation structure and evaluation of new business opportunities. 

In addition to his role on the Studio A Board, John is currently an executive Director on 4 LSM company boards and has held the position of Independent Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee of Tennis NSW. John is a Chartered Accountant (ANZCA); Is a Fellow of ANZIIF and a Graduate Member of the AICD. 

Douglas Spencer OAM Doug is the Principal and Director of Miller Noyce Lawyers and sits on the Board of Studio Artes, where he was Chair 2009 to 2019.

Doug joined Miller Noyce & Doust in November 1973 and became a partner in 1976. Since that time he has handled matters in most areas of law with a particular focus on business, commercial, property, deceased estates and estate planning matters. Doug was in the first group of solicitors in this State to be accepted (in 1993) as an Accredited Specialist in Business Law and has been re-accredited every year since.

Over the years, Doug has handled a wide range of legal matters for many people in many circumstances. He has extensive experience in acting for "people” in most areas of the law, whether it is in relation to their personal lives or in respect to their business and commercial affairs. This extends from assisting people in buying and selling their homes and preparing Wills, Powers of Attorney and handling estates for them to advising and assisting on the sale, purchase and restructure of businesses and in acting for them in difficult commercial litigation in all jurisdictions. Doug also has extensive experience in advising people on estate planning and the re-structuring of their business and commercial affairs.

Kim Spinks
Kim Spinks is Director of City People, a new company devoted to culture-led placemaking.

She was previously at Arts (now Create) NSW for twenty years where she worked in a variety of positions including Manager Arts Strategy and Planning, Director Arts Development and Director Strategy & Capacity and for 9 years managed the state funding for theatre and dance. In her last position as Manager Strategic Initiatives she led the team responsible for strategic programs such as the Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Strategy, the Arts and Disability Partnership with FACS, the NSW Health and Arts Framework and Western Sydney. Her responsibilities included policy development and implementation and fund raising.

Prior to working at Arts NSW Kim spent twenty years in the performing arts in many different professional capacities including co-founding Urban Theatre Projects. 

Barbara Ward
Barbara Ward is the founder and Managing Director of Impact One an international strategy, capital raising and advisory company. Her vast experience in the above areas and particularly in healthcare range from small to large. Barbara has been awarded several awards for her outstanding contributions to corporate, not for profit and charity sectors. She was also awarded NSW Government Local Woman of the Year 2017, Paul Harris Fellow and NSW Volunteer of the Year 2019. 

Barbara is the President of Rotary Club of Sydney, Immediate past President of Australia India Business Council NSW, fellow and former President of Fundraising Institute of Australia. She sits on a number of corporate and charity Boards and is the President of four.