RSA Oceania
Board
The RSA Oceania Board is responsible for overseeing the affairs of RSA Oceania and making decisions on its behalf.
It consists of the Board Chairperson, appointed by the RSA, and an equal number of elected trustees, voted in by RSA Oceania Fellows, and appointed trustees, who are elected by the Board. Members have a term limit of three years, which is renewable for one term.
Mark Strachan, RSA Oceania Chair
Mark is a passionate designer and educator, committed to interdisciplinary, collaborative design and strategic development. His expertise draws upon over 35 years in industry, academia and consultancy where he has extensive experience in systems, services and product design & development.
Mark’s association with the RSA began in 1989 when he won a Royal Society of Arts Design Bursaries Competition. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1995 and has been actively involved with the RSA ever since, including the Victorian Chapter, serving on the RSA A+NZ Board for 10 years and presently as Chairman of RSA Oceania. Mark is engaged in social change issues and the means by which to bring about change. He is also Chair of Slavery Links, an organisation that highlights issues on modern day slavery through education, research and policy development.
Erica Myers-Davis
Originally from the UK, Erica has worked in financial services, telecommunications and in the not-for-profit sector. Currently she works as a fundraising consultant providing strategic advice and support to charities across Australia and New Zealand. Outside of work she is a professional DJ having performed across the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia playing British dance music and hosting radio shows on both pirate and legal stations. Erica also sits on the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League and represents the interests of Jamaican veterans and the Jamaica Legion. She is an alumna of Swinburne and Victoria Universities, holding a Master of Business (Marketing) degree and Doctor of Business Administration. Erica has been a Fellow since 2008.
Scott Phillips
Scott has 30 years’ experience in public policy, academic and business sectors. He has worked with boards, executives and community groups to understand their needs and facilitate participatory planning, evaluation and business development. Scott is Director of Kershaw Phillips Consulting, which provides stakeholder engagement, service planning and evaluation research services to health, social sector, manufacturing and educational organisations. His expertise includes multicultural and youth policy; social impact assessment; community engagement; integrated community services; and program evaluation. Scott is an Honorary Fellow of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, and a Delegate to the House of Laity of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia. His doctorate, from Oxford University, looked at the changing nature of people’s local identity and sense of belonging in the context of increasingly national and global connections.
Tom Stratton, RSA Chief of Staff
Tom leads the robust analysis of the RSA’s productivity and strategic initiatives to ensure optimum organisational impact. Tom ensures effective cross-organisational project and programme management and develops the strategy for our data and our global presence and impact in line with our vision and values. Prior to joining the RSA, Tom was the Senior Economic Advisor to the Levelling Up Taskforce in the Cabinet Office, leading the cross-Whitehall negotiations of UK Government’s twelve levelling up missions. He was previously the Deputy Head of Research at the Industrial Strategy Council and worked as an economist at the Bank of England from 2011 to 2020.
Shaista Shameem
Professor Shaista Shameem is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Fiji and Dean of the JDP School of Law. A lawyer by profession, she has worked in the areas of human rights, justice, social change and international law for the United Nations, as well as in the Fijian context. A graduate of the University of the South Pacific, she holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Waikato and a Masters in Law from the University of Auckland. She also holds a Doctorate in Juridical Science. Shaista has been a Fellow of the RSA since 2018.
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