AMC congratulates Simon McKeon as Australian of the year 2011.   Simon is a good friend of AMC and ILG and was instrumental in the formation of this Christian ministry. Simon's support and encouragement brought together the initial leaders who followed the vision to develop a ministry that would contribute to extending the Kingdom of God in the marketplace.   Simon hosted the initial launch of Integrated Leadership Groups at Macquarie Bank in Melbourne on 9 June 2005 with the following mission:   ILG’s purpose is to create an environment where motivated Chief Executives and Company Directors can develop professional and personal capacity through facilitated mentoring and peer interaction.   Since then AMC has grown to a staff of five (three part time) with six professional facilitators and some twenty volunteers supporting ten groups that are tiered to different company and organisational capacities in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast.

Simon's Australia Day citation reads:

"Simon McKeon is a prominent investment banker and world record breaking yachtsman, but it’s his efforts to support multiple Australian and international charities which has earned him great admiration. While enjoying a successful corporate career, Simon decided that he didn’t want to put off the idea of serious engagement with the community sector until his most productive years were behind him. So he joined the board of World Vision Australia in 1994 and subsequently transitioned into a part time role with Macquarie Group as Executive Chairman of its Melbourne office. Simon is Chairman of CSIRO as well as Business for Millennium Development, which encourages business to engage with the developing world. He recently retired as Founding Chairman of MS Research Australia and the Founding President of the Federal Government’s Takeover Panel. His association with World Vision International continues and he is also involved with the Global Poverty Project and Red Dust Role Models, which works with remote Indigenous communities. Together with crewman Tim Daddo, Simon has held the World Speed Sailing Record for most of the last two decades. As a leading social entrepreneur, Simon demonstrates how business and philanthropy go hand in hand, giving tremendously of his time and energy to many organisations".

Thanks Simon for the example and inspiration you have set in Melbourne, Australia and overseas.

Peter

Peter Kentley, on behalf of the AMC and ILG team.

Australian Marketplace Connections

Office: (03) 9816-7114

Mobile: 0414 622-633
peter@marketplaceconnections.com