Phillip Adams BalletLab Board

Phillip Adams BalletLab's Board is a vital part of the company, bringing specialised skills to augment the management team and providing oversight and governance across all company operations. 

Phoebe Dunn - Co-Chair (1st)

CEO, Amy Gillett Foundation

Phoebe Dunn is the CEO of the Amy Gillett Foundation. She has extensive legal, policy and strategic advisory experience in the private, public and not for profit sectors.  Phoebe has held senior legal roles with leading international law firm Ashurst (formerly Blake Dawson), and with the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments.  Phoebe has also held senior leadership positions and strategic advisory roles in the not for profit sector, most recently in the visual arts as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Commercial Galleries Association and as a Director of the Melbourne Art Foundation.

Caroline Dever - Co-Chair (2nd)

Partner, Odgers Berndtson

Caroline is a partner at the global executive search firm Odgers Berndtson where she focuses on government, education and the arts and cultural sectors assisting clients with the appointment of senior executives. Previously, Caroline had an extensive career in public relations and corporate communications. She spent ten years in the arts industry, predominantly in film distribution and exhibition before moving into public relations where she consulted to government, corporate and retail clients on media relations issues, customer engagement strategies and reputation risk. Outside of the arts, Caroline has an interest in community sport and is President of the Collingwood Basketball Association.

Shadi Habash – Treasurer

Managing Partner - Paxinos & Habash Arts Tax

Shadi Habash is a qualified chartered accountant, member of CA and has over 15 years accounting experience in various sectors. Having a combined passion for numbers and art he feels lucky to be given the opportunity to work in the Victorian arts industry. Currently the managing partner of Paxinos & Habash Arts Tax, Shadi has been providing financial and technical advisory service to dozens of art organisations and artists around Australia.

Phillip Adams - Secretary

Artistic Director, Phillip Adams BalletLab 

Phillip Adams is the founder and Artistic Director of BalletLab, forming the company upon his return home from New York in 1998. Phillip is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and his performing arts background spans a 25 year career in contemporary dance. Phillip lived and worked in New York for a decade after being awarded the ANZ International Fellowship Award in 1988. He was a member of several leading dance companies and worked with many independent choreographers including BeBe Miller, Trisha Brown, Irene Hultman, Sarah Rudner, Amanda Miller, Donna Uchizono and Nina Wiener. He has since been commissioned by numerous companies in Australia and overseas.

Tony Harding - Board Member

Senior Production Manager, Arts Centre Melbourne

After graduating from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Tony has worked locally and internationally as an event, production and stage manager. He has a long association with Phillip Adams and Balletlab starting in 2000 with the international tour of Amplification to Manchester, Beijing and Mongolia. Outside of his work with Arts Centre Melbourne, Tony is currently co-producing a new theatrical work with Michael Lynch (Smartartists) and Robyn Archer.

Emily Westmore - Board Member

Manager Performance Reporting, Strategic Governance & Risk, Corporate Services - Museums Victoria 

Emily Westmore has extensive engagement, governance and strategy experience across public, private and creative sectors. Emily worked for over a decade in the screen production industry, including seven years with Film Victoria facilitating the attraction of international screen production to locate in the state and also with AusFilm, the federal screen production attraction agency in their Los Angeles office. Emily has also held senior advisory and corporate governance positions in the Victorian state government departments of Justice and Regulation and Education and Training, and for the professional services firm KPMG. Most recently Emily has joined Museums Victoria as Manager Performance Reporting, delivering their business performance and budget accountability functions. 

Nicola Stein - Board Member

Director, THIS IS NO FANTASY

Nicola is a Director of THIS IS NO FANTASY, a contemporary art gallery located in Fitzroy, Melbourne. She was previously a Director of Helen Gory Galerie and prior to entering the arts was a Senior Associate at Minter Ellison law firm. Nicola has successfully developed strategies to navigate a rapidly changing art market, expanding the gallery’s reach and building its international profile, including through participation in key international art fairs. She is active in the not-for-profit visual arts sector and has served as a Voluntary Guide at the National Gallery of Victoria and on the Visual Arts Committees of Bialik College and the Jewish Museum of Australia.