Meet our Foundation Board

The St Margaret's Foundation was established to bring together a committed group of individuals passionate about St Margaret's, its future and its students' futures to assist the school to promote and steward a philanthropic culture to help raise funds for the school to carry out its mission, now and into the future. Our Board members give their time voluntarily and bring skills from many different fields of endeavour to assist the school.

Penny Wolff ('92) - Chair

BA (Drama), Grad DipEd(Preservice), ExecGradCertBus (Leadership Coach & Mentor), MEd (ECE), MAICD, MFIA

Penny’s long allegiance to the school is one of commitment and enthusiasm, as a St Margaret’s Old Girl and past parent, with her daughter Xanthe finishing in 2018. Penny values that St Margaret’s effectively combines a love of tradition and its legacy with the excitement of innovation to enrich and enhance learning. Penny has a strong background and extensive experience as an educator, having working across multiple sectors, including the arts, early childhood, university and most recently today in business and entrepreneurial studies.

She pours her heart into everything she touches. Well known as the “Brisbane Coffee Lady” Penny has also crafted a niche in the realm of Specialty Coffee in Brisbane and beyond, co-founding Wolff Coffee Roasters with her husband Peter. In addition, she has also created many distinct retail coffee brands, including popular Dandelion & Driftwood Café and Big Bad Wolff Espresso Bar. A career highlights for Penny includes judging at the World Barista Championships and the World Latte Art Championships.

Alongside her entrepreneurial drive, Penny is also an accomplished agile leader, board member, writer and ambassador, continuing to provide value and energy across numerous industries. As a community focused individual and enabler, Penny has a genuine drive for helping others through listening, kindness, mentoring and giving. She gives heavily to others through her engagement, time, fundraising and philanthropic developments. Penny believes no matter what you do, a little bit of kindness and gratitude goes a long way.

Heidi Cooper - Deputy Chair

BA (Govt), LLB, GradCert Management, GradDip Legal Practice, LLM (Commercial), GradDip Environmental Law, GAICD

A senior executive with over 20 years’ experience, Heidi Cooper is a qualified solicitor and corporate affairs professional who has specialised in leading strategy in Top 20 ASX companies with strong growth agendas and significant customer and community relationships. Her work has focused on achieving the best outcomes by working collaboratively with all stakeholders, leading ESG initiatives and fostering community trust and acceptance. Heidi has a broad perspective on business issues and has gained a reputation as a strategist and trusted advisor in the Corporate sector. Heidi has worked at a Board level for many years and is experienced in corporate governance and business strategy development. She is currently a member of the Jobs Queensland Board and the Committee for Brisbane and has previously held board positions in the resources, agricultural and not-for-profit sectors. Throughout her career, Heidi has had a longstanding commitment to diversity and social inclusion. Heidi was the Chair of a gender diversity initiative which received industry award recognition in 2016. Heidi has also been a member of the Brisbane Festival Giving Committee for over 5 years where she works to grow philanthropic support of the Arts. A passionate lifelong learner, Heidi holds several tertiary qualifications including a Master of Laws (Commercial). In 2016, Heidi was selected to attend Harvard University’s inaugural program on Climate Change and Energy and in 2019 was invited to the Global Rapid Switch Program at Princeton University. She is currently completing a PhD at UQ Business School.

Brendon Alford

BBus(ACC), CAAZ, F FINSIA

Brendon is a Director and Portfolio Manager at Whitehaven Private Portfolios, which he co-founded in 2008. Whitehaven Private Portfolios specialise in delivering customised financial outcomes for Advisers and their private clients through Managed Discretionary Accounts and direct equity portfolios.

Brendon has highly regarded operational and technical experience, with a diverse background in the accounting and investment sectors. Prior to establishing Whitehaven Private Portfolios, Brendon worked in accounting, management and investment roles within Deloitte, QSuper and Wilson HTM.

Mikaeli Costello

BBusComm(Media&PR), MBA

Mikaeli is a proud St Margaret’s parent, with both her son and daughter attending St Margaret’s Pre-Prep; her daughter is now in the secondary school. She is Chief Community Engagement Officer at The University of Queensland (UQ), overseeing community engagement and events, marketing and communications, programming and events, as well as the annual fund and donor relations for the university’s 315,000+ alumni. Previous to this, Mikaeli held a fundraising role at UQ's Queensland Brain Institute (QBI). Under her leadership, QBI raised in excess of $35m as part of UQ’s $500m ‘Not if, when’ philanthropic campaign. In addition to her roles at UQ, Mikaeli has worked extensively in marketing, communications, fundraising and stakeholder engagement within both public and private sectors in Australia, the UK and Europe.

Ros Curtis

B.A.(Hons), DipEd, M.Lit.St, M.Ed, ASDA, FACE, FACEL (Q), FIML, GAICD
Principal, St Margaret's Anglican Girls School

In 2011, Ros was appointed to the role of Principal of St Margaret’s Anglican Girls’ School. She began her career as a teacher with Education Queensland with the teaching areas of History and Drama. Since that time, she has worked in five independent schools - Moreton Bay College, Brisbane Girls Grammar, St Hilda's School, St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School and St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School. For over 25 years, Ros has been in senior school leadership roles. Ros is also a director on the board of AHISA (Association of Heads of Independent Schools) and is currently the Chair of the Queensland Branch; she is a director on the Independent Schools Queensland Board and a member of the Faculty of Business Advisory Board at Bond University.

Dr David Lisle

MBBS(Qld), FRANZCR

David is a past parent with the last of his three daughters graduating St Margaret’s in 2020. He is a firm supporter of the school serving as President of the P&F Association for 3 years before joining the Foundation in 2021. David is a consultant radiologist at Princess Alexandra, Brisbane Private and St Vincent’s Northside hospitals in Brisbane. He trained in radiology in Brisbane and Aberdeen, and has worked in Southeast Queensland and New Zealand, in private and public practice, since 1991. David is the author of seven textbooks in medical imaging, and of numerous original and review articles. Other current appointments include Associate Professor in Medical Imaging, University of Queensland Medical School, and examiner in neuroradiology for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists. David is also passionate about outreach work to less well-resourced nations in radiology. He is an active member of the global radiology charity Radiology Across Borders and provides regular online teaching to colleagues in developing nations.

Steven Sorbello

BCom, LLB, FCA

Steven has two daughters in the St Margaret’s secondary school and is the Office Managing Partner of BDO in Brisbane.

Steven’s key responsibilities include guiding the firm as it strengthens its position as a leading provider of audit, tax, and advisory services. Drawing on an extensive corporate finance background and more than 27 years with the firm, he leads BDO’s agenda to ensure clients can navigate market conditions and leverage opportunities. High on his radar is the need for meaningful taxation reform at state and federal levels.

One of Steven’s key focus areas is ensuring BDO and its people have the right tools to adapt to developments in the professional services and finance industries. He works with the firm’s leadership team—locally and nationally—to create an environment where all team members have the opportunity to develop personally, play to their strengths, and support each other.

Georgia Mitchell (Ex-Officio)

BA, BBM, GCBus

Georgia joined St Margaret’s in 2022 as the Manager – Development and Community. She is currently Acting Director of Philanthropy and Stakeholder Engagement leading the school’s philanthropic fundraising, corporate sponsorship and alumni engagement initiatives with St Margaret's Foundation, Old Girls' Association, P&F and Professional Women's Network. Prior to joining St Margaret’s Georgia held roles in stakeholder engagement, marketing, event management and fundraising. She is an advocate for the transformative power of education having spent much of her career in the tertiary sector.

Georgia is a Committee Member of the Educate Plus Queensland Chapter. Educate Plus is a network of advancement professionals working in the fields of Admissions, Alumni & Community Relations, Fundraising and Marketing & Communications, within the educational sector.

Georgia holds a Graduate Certificate of Business (Integrated Marketing Communication) from Queensland University of Technology, a Bachelor of Business Management (Event Management) and a Bachelor of Arts (Spanish and German), from The University of Queensland.