Our executive leadership team

Andrew Hunter

Chief Executive Officer

Andrew was appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in April 2018 and has domestic and international experience in senior executive roles.

Prior to joining CPA Australia, he was Managing Director and CEO of Australia’s export credit agency, the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (Efic), for four years. Andrew developed and implemented a new strategy for the organisation that refocused it on its core purpose and dramatically improved relationships with all stakeholders.

Andrew has previously held senior positions with Macquarie Group including Head of Macquarie Capital’s Advisory business Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

He has a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and completed the Securities Institute of Australia course in 1991. Andrew is also an Associate member of CPA Australia.

Marissa Alley

Chief People Officer

Marissa has more than twenty years’ experience across all aspects of people and culture. She has worked internationally, cross culturally and across a range of industries including financial services, mining, property, FMCG, not-for-profit, technology, education and retail.

In her role as Executive General Manager People and Culture, she is accountable for the people systems and processes, partnering with business units and teams to develop capability and strengthen CPA Australia’s culture and employee engagement while building and maintaining a talented workforce.

Marissa has a Bachelor of Arts degree with the University of Melbourne, a Graduate Diploma in Visual and Performing Arts with RMIT, and has completed an Executive Development Program at the London Business School. She has multiple accreditations in organisational culture, leadership and team based tools. 

Rowena Buddee

Chief Member Experience Officer

Rowena has more than 15 years’ experience creating and delivering business development and marketing strategies, partnerships and programs across various industries, with significant experience in international markets including Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Rowena joined CPA Australia in 2009 and has worked in senior roles across public practice, member education, business development and commercial portfolios.

In her previous role as Executive General Manager Public Practice & Professional Standards, Rowena led a series of member-focussed initiatives to assist public practitioners to better service clients and maintain a sustainable practice.

She brings an equally sharp member focus to her role as Chief Member Experience Officer in which she is responsible for delivering personalised and engaging experiences that add value to CPA Australia membership.

Rowena holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Technology Sydney and a Bachelor of Science from Sydney University. She has also completed an executive education program at the London Business School and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

George Kapitelli FCPA

Chief Financial Officer

George Kapitelli joined CPA Australia as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in February 2023. 

George is a proven leader of Finance teams across a wide variety of cultures displaying both adaptability and agility and proven commercial acumen.

He began his finance career in 1987 as a 20-year-old graduate with General Motors Australian subsidiary – GM Holden. He enjoyed a 26-year career with GM, half of which was in international operations where he gained significant experience in establishing and turning start-up national operations (China Joint Ventures & GM Thailand) into successful long-term ventures and restructuring mature operations (GM Europe & GM Indonesia). He returned to Australia in 2012 as the GM Holden CFO and worked through the restructure of the local manufacturing and engineering operations as part of the closure of the Australian automotive industry. 

George joined the health sector in 2014 as the Chief Financial Officer at Melbourne Health. He then moved to Abu Dhabi Health Services in 2019 as the Group Chief Financial Officer and played a key role in the transformation of the largest health system in the UAE. 

He has a Bachelor of Economics from La Trobe University, an MBA from Deakin University, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA).

Claire Hopkins

Chief Learning and Innovation Officer

Claire was appointed to the role of Chief Learning and Innovation Officer in August 2023. Claire is a senior executive with a career that spans more than 30 years working in strategy, customer experience, business growth and risk management across Asia Pacific for leading organisations including ANZ, Telstra, and RMIT University. 

In her role as Chief Learning and Innovation Officer she is accountable for the delivery of a leading-edge, quality CPA Program and education offering to CPA Australia members. The role oversees Policy and Advocacy, Media and External Engagement, Program Design and Transformation, Program Delivery and Assessment Support, Strategy and Product, Develop and Deliver, as well as Public Practice and Professional Standards.

Claire has a Bachelor of Commerce from Griffith University and an MBA (Executive) from the Australian Graduate School of Management (University of NSW).

Rebecca Keppel-Jones FCPA

Chief of Member Operations

Rebecca is currently the Chief of Member Operations, where she has responsibility for the operations of our member divisions globally, as well as membership admissions, compliance and migration services. Prior to this role, Rebecca was Interim Chief Learning and Innovation Officer, responsible for the development of learning and content for members across all the member journeys, including the CPA Program and CPD. Rebecca first joined the executive leadership team in 2021 as Executive General Manager of Professional Standards and Business support, responsible for supporting the interests of CPA Australia members working in public practice and SME. Rebecca is passionate about diversity and inclusion, having founded the Families@ network at CPA Australia, as well as the Yarra Network, an employee-led network for neighbourhood diverse organisations along the Yarra River to connect, inspire and share.

Prior to working at CPA Australia, Rebecca spent more than 15 years working in Public Practice across multiple technical areas, including insolvency, forensics and management consulting. During this time, Rebecca has worked in the UK, Canada and Australia to build up a truly global view of the business world.

Rebecca is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) from Monash University.

Farid Jarrar

Chief Information and Digital Officer

Farid has more than 25 years’ experience in senior technology roles across a variety of global organisations, including as Global CIO for Stellar BPO.

He has considerable experience in digital transformation, customer-led innovation, change management, large scale systems integrations and program delivery, ecommerce, customer experience and digital transformation. He specialises in transforming organisational capabilities to better engage with digital consumers.

Farid holds a Bachelor of Computer Science and a Master of Technology Management from Swinburne University, and a number of credentials in innovation and digital transformation.