Meet the Xero Beautiful Business Fund judges

Meet our global judges

Our global judges will select one winner for each of the four categories, from the pool of regional winners across the globe.

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy

CEO, Xero

As CEO, Sukhinder leads the growth and performance of Xero globally. With more than 25 years in Silicon Valley as a CEO, digital leader and board member, she has experience building and scaling global companies including Google, Amazon, Yodlee, Joyus and StubHub.

James Bergin

EGM, Technology Research & Advocacy, Xero

James is responsible for exploring and understanding technology trends, and providing insight and advisory to senior leadership teams across Xero, as well as our customers and partners. His role entails keeping an eye on the future, and helping others understand how technology can unlock new opportunities and capabilities for people in small business, their advisors and communities around the world.

Mike Cohen

Global Head of Partnerships, Square

Mike is the Global Head of Partnerships at Square. In this role, he oversees the business development, partner management, and partner operations teams that are responsible for growing an ecosystem of partners that enable Square to reach and serve businesses around the world. Prior to Square, Mike held senior product and partnerships roles at Facebook, InMobi, Qualcomm and Nokia. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science from UC Berkeley. Mike lives with his family in the San Francisco East Bay area.

Kate Dundas

Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network Australia

Kate is the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network Australia (UNGCNA), which is the Australian local network of the United Nations Global Compact. As Executive Director, Kate leads a team of experts across the fields of business and human rights, environment and climate change, anti-bribery and corruption and sustainable development. Kate is an experienced and well-regarded executive leader with 20 years of experience across the public and private sectors in sustainability, strategic foresight, strategy and city planning. She holds degrees in industrial design, landscape architecture and urban design, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership, Harvard Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership program and is an Executive MBA candidate. 

Melissa Laurie

Founder & Managing Director, Oysterly

Melissa is the founder of Oysterly, a leading social video agency based in Singapore that specialises in creating User-Generated Content (UGC). The agency's innovative work led to Oysterly being selected as a winner in the 2023 Xero Beautiful Business Fund. Melissa has also been recognised as a Woman to Watch in Asia and was shortlisted for the Women Leading Tech Awards by Atlassian.

Lara Brennan

Partner, Advisory & Outsourcing, Forvis Mazars

Lara leads the mid-market advisory and outsourcing business for Forvis Mazars in the UK and is the global relationship lead for Xero. She specialises in working with fast-growing businesses, helping to develop strategy and drive business performance. Lara has a passion for innovation and enjoys building technology-enabled solutions for clients.

Meet our judges for Australia

Our Australia judges will select one winner for each of the four categories, from the pool of entries across Australia.

Theo Konstantas

Sales Director, Xero

Theo is the Sales Director for Australia, overseeing go-to-market strategy and execution for the local business. Theo joined Xero in July 2019, leading the team through a period of significant growth. With a career spanning more than three decades, Theo brings a wealth of leadership experience to the role, having held senior positions at leading telecommunications and technology companies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) from Victoria University.

Kathy Wilson

Co-founder, Suitcase Records

Kathy is the co-founder of Suitcase Records, the first vinyl pressing plant in Queensland in 30 years. They believe in the power of music, and work hard to make records in a way that benefits musicians, the community and the environment.

Natalie Lennon

Founder & Director, Two Sides Accounting

Natalie is the founder and director of Two Sides Accounting and Two Sides Academy. She’s a chartered accountant and registered tax agent with over 20 years of experience working with and in various small-, medium- and multinational businesses. Her mantra is to work smarter not harder.

Deep Banerji

Chief Product Officer, Deputy

As Chief Product Officer at Deputy, Deep’s work enables shift work operators to be more profitable, connected, and compliant. Previously, he was VP of Product at CBS, leading a five-year turnaround of its digital sports division, and then Chief Product & Technology Officer at fintech leader, Beem it.

Syarna Gilmour

Senior Account Manager, Xero

Syarna is an experienced tax accountant with a demonstrated history of working in the accounting industry. Prior to joining Xero as an account manager, she worked as a dental practice manager and then as an accountant for MY Partners who specialise in accountancy for dental practices.