Advisory Board

Victorian Leaders has a nationally recognised Advisory Board, consisting of leading Australian executive and non-executive directors to assist in developing the ongoing strategic direction of the Victorian Leaders network.   The Advisory Board includes:



Vivienne Anthon

Vivienne is an experienced management consultant, professional facilitator and mentor to women in business. She was formerly CEO of the Australian Institute of Management and has held executive positions in private education, professional services firms and not for profits. Vivienne works with private companies to create the conditions and conversations in which people will contribute their best. She sits on a number of Boards including the Queensland Leaders Advisory Board and is Deputy Chair the La Boite Theatre Company. Vivienne holds a Bachelor of Law from ANU, a Graduate Diploma in Education from QUT and an MBA with Distinction from Griffith University.


Kim Lion

Kim’s career has been in the advertising and marketing industry, working for global media-communications agencies in Australia and internationally.   Her degree in Business Tourism with a PR major, took her to TIME Magazine where she discovered her love of the business side of media,  transitioning into agencies to lead major global and domestic clients.  

Throughout her career, Kim’s been a passionate believer in the power of leadership and culture for organisational health and change.  Now a decade into her People and Culture role responsible for strategic culture projects, DEI, learning and development to name a few, Kim’s on the Executive Leadership Team at Mediabrands, a certified Australian Human Resources alumni (CPHR), a Smith Family iTrack mentor, and becoming even more passionate about helping people find ease and engagement in their work.       



James Paulsen

James initially worked in investment banking and private equity for several years assisting private companies access new opportunities, capital and exit strategies. He also founded Enterprise Angels, one of the first cloud based business angel networks in Australia. In 2006 he founded Queensland Leaders, a platform based business initiative to work with leading private companies to assist them become national and international market leaders.  After the success in Queensland, he established the Leaders business platform across Australia, New Zealand and the UK through the International Leaders business. James studied accounting at QUT and then completed an MBA with Bond University. His focus for the last 25 years has been to assist private business owners achieve their best through access to expertise, experience and inspiration.


Matt Murphy

Matt is an accountant with over 20 years experience in Business, Accounting and Taxation Advisory services. He has gained his extensive experience by working with many facets of business, including Corporate, Government and the Public Practice arena.

Matt’s focus is to provide quality business, accounting and taxation services to small to medium size enterprises, with a particular focus on innovation and growth.


Mark J Stephen 

Mark Stephen is an authentic, dynamic and strategic leader with a proven background in growing successful integrated advisory businesses incorporating wealth management, financial planning, business advisory, SMSF’s, tax and accounting. He is an accomplished CEO and business development executive with over 30+ years’ experience in Financial Services that is highlighted by leading high performing advice teams and communities by focusing on strategic growth and strong business development & improvement. He is a leadership professional and strives to attain a high performance culture as well as creating stakeholder wealth.

He has a successful track record in strategic planning and execution within the wealth management industry and is a well-regarded thought leader on industry direction, particularly as it relates to fully integrated advice businesses. He is a passionate consumer advocate with a “client first” approach and assists with facilitation and strategic planning with some of Australia’s leading Industry bodies (SMSF Association, FAAA) as well as other funds management and financial services firms.


Expression of Interest

Victorian selects leading growth companies to become Members.

International Leaders