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 South Africa

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

Colin Timmis

Country Manager, South Africa, Xero

Colin is the Xero country manager for South Africa, where he’s been leading business operations and growth across the country for the last six years.

Susan van der Valk

Partner, MGI Bass Gordon

Susan has been a partner at MGI Bass Gordon since 2010. As well as her audit portfolio, she heads up the family office division within the firm. Susan is passionate about all things technology related. It was a natural step for her to spearhead the implementation of Xero solutions

Rushaan Toefy

Owner, Rushaan Toefy Financial Services

Rushaan is a registered accountant with the Institute of Accounting and Commerce (IAC), with designation of Accounting Officer. She has been in business since 2001 and has been working with SME owners since 2005.

Bulelani Balabala

Founder, Township Entrepreneurs Alliance

Bulelani is the visionary founder of Township Entrepreneurs Alliance (TEA), a transformative initiative aimed at empowering small businesses in township and rural areas. TEA has directly impacted over 80,000 small businesses in both formal and informal sectors, creating opportunities for growth and prosperity. Bulelani’s advocacy has led to the facilitation of funding opportunities for over 430 small enterprises, catalyzing their entrepreneurial journey and fostering economic resilience.

Sarah Minns

National Account Manager, Xero

Sarah is a national account manager at Xero. In her 11 year tenure, Sarah has been an instrumental part of Xero South Africa’s growth. Sarah is incredibly passionate about helping our small business customers and accounting and bookkeeping partners succeed and feel part of a community.