MEET OUR BOARD
Our board is composed of visionary leaders, driving impact and innovation with diverse expertise and a shared commitment to our mission. With their strategic guidance and unwavering dedication, we are poised to advance our goals and amplify our impact.
Máire Ruane
CEO & Director
Máire Ruane, the new CEO of FREO2, is an experienced leader in entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategy. Committed to preserving FREO2's legacy, her personal encounter with hypoxia's devastating effects fuels her dedication to FREO2’s mission. As an energetic entrepreneur, Máire excels in delivering complex change and addressing global injustices in the not-for-profit sector. Her expertise in design thinking and portfolio management offers a fresh perspective to purpose-driven organisations. A fervent advocate for global health, especially children's health, Máire believes in uniting courageous leaders to tackle audacious goals.
Dr David Peake
Co-founder & Director
David is Co-founder and Director at FREO2. Dr Peake completed his PhD in Accelerator Physics in conjunction with the Australian Synchrotron in 2012, and shortly afterwards began his work at DETECT Australia, a high-tech startup providing specialised instrumentation for industry and research institutions. He is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, leading the FREO2 SOLAR project.
Dr Bryn Sobott
Co-founder & Director
Bryn, FREO2's Co-founder and Director, started the organisation in 2010 to address the global impact of pneumonia on child mortality. With a background in Physics, he invented technologies and built partnerships to combat the scarcity of medical oxygen in low-resource settings. Currently leading FREO2's scaling program in Uganda, Bryn combines technology and service delivery through a social enterprise model to increase sustainable access to oxygen, driven by the belief that child mortality, especially due to pneumonia, starkly reflects global inequity.
Marcus Fazio
Director
As a board member, Marcus, with a background in investment banking and strategic consulting, brings extensive experience to our team. Since 2008, he has served as a Trustee of the Planet Wheeler Foundation and holds director positions in various organisations, including Text Publishing, The Wheeler Centre and is a director of Partners for Equity. Marcus's expertise in strategy, transactions, and philanthropy, coupled with his leadership roles, greatly contributes to our mission.
Dr Tamara Kwarteng OAM
Chairperson, Board of Directors
Dr Tamara Kwarteng, Chair of the Board of Directors for FREO2, is a Ghanaian-born expert with a PhD in Molecular Biochemistry and a Graduate Diploma in Epidemiology. With extensive international experience in health promotion, education, and project management, Tamara served as Deputy Director of the Centre for International Health of the Burnet Institute and the Team Leader of the Pacific Regional HIV & AIDS Program. Recognised for her contributions, she was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll for Women in the “Change Agent” category in March 2020 and awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia. Currently, Tamara is a member of the Board of the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, a Melbourne-based not-for-profit organisation that promotes the health and well-being of migrant and refugee women. She is also a a member of the Mental Health Ministerial Advisory Committee in Victoria. Tamara’s commitment to health equity underscores her passionate support for the mission of FREO2.
Rob Moodie AM
Director
Rob Moodie AM is Professor of Public Health at the Melbourne School Population and Global Health and at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences in Malawi. He was trained as a physician, then worked in France, and later in refugee camps in Eastern Sudan for Save the Children Fund and Medicins sans Frontieres. Moving back to Australia he worked for Congress, the indigenous health service in Central Australia. He worked for many years on HIV prevention for the Burnet Institute, WHO and was the inaugural Director of Country Programs for UNAIDS. He was CEO of VicHealth from 1998-2007 and from 2008-2011 he chaired the Australian Preventative Health Taskforce which brought in tobacco pack plain packaging. He chaired GAVI’s Evaluation Advisory Committee for many years and in 2015-2017 he moved to Malawi to assist in their MPH program. He led the recent Lancet series on the Commercial Determinants of Health.
Dr Isiye Ndombi
Director
Isiye is a highly experienced global health development and public policy professional with over 40 years of senior management experience in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. He has worked with the Government of Kenya, the University of Nairobi (as a Lecturer) and the United Nations. His last position with the UN before retiring in December 2015 was UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific (covering strategic program delivery 27 countries).
He currently supports human development work in Africa; is a member of the Iodine Global Network (IGN); and a Board Director at FREO2.
A recipient of the 2019 International Leadership Excellence Alumni Award from the University of Newcastle, Australia, Isiye has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, thematic manuals and books.