Executive Team

Danny Pavisic

Chief Executive Officer

Danny commenced in the role of CEO on 27 April 2020 having previously been the Deputy CEO since 2011. He first joined Unity Bank in 2004 and has extensive experience in leading the Bank’s product management, lending, credit and operational risk, compliance and human resources areas. Danny was responsible for ensuring strategic projects were effectively rolled out and implemented across the Bank. With over 30 years’ experience within the financial services industry, he has worked in senior roles with a major Australian bank as well as the peak Credit Union body, CUSCAL.

Danny’s professional qualifications include a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Macquarie Graduate School of Management and overseas study. Danny is also currently a Director of Shared Service Partners, Transaction Solutions (TAS) and the Upstairs Regional Incubator at Bathurst.

He is committed to ensuring that Unity Bank continues to focus on the wellbeing of its members, staff and communities in which it operates, through the provision of a strong member-owned alternative to ASX listed banks.

Rosanna Argall

Deputy Chief Executive Officer

MBA, Graduate Diploma (Applied Corporate Governance), FGIA FCG (CS, CGP), FAMI, MAICD

Rosanna has been working within the finance industry in a range of roles and organisations for over 20 years. She began her career in finance at St George Building Society, moving into the credit union industry where she has held a variety of positions with a number of customer owned financial institutions. In her time at these various organisations, Rosanna has moved between frontline operations, customer service, lending, administration, marketing and human resource roles gathering a broad range of skills and experience. Since joining Unity Bank (formerly G&C Mutual Bank), Rosanna has held positions within marketing, human resources, call centre operations, IT and business development and sales.

Rosanna is the Secretary of the Board Audit Committee, Board Risk Committee and Board Governance, Nominations and Remuneration Committee and is also the Company Secretary. She is a member of the Operational Risk Management Committee (ORMC), the Asset & Liability Committee (ALCo) and the Credit Risk Management Committee (CRMC).

Rosanna is also a Fellow of the Chartered Secretaries Australia and Australian Mutuals Institute. Rosanna is also a Councillor of the Mutual Banking Employers Association (MBEA) and Director of Australian Mutuals Foundation (AMF).

Akhilesh Mehta

Chief Operations Officer

B.Com (Hons), Chartered Accountant (India) (Hons), CIA, CISA, CFE, CCSA

Akhilesh is a risk professional with over 20 years of experience in the financial services sector. A Chartered Accountant from India, he has had international experience working for Ernst & Young in India and the Middle East. He has wide-ranging experience in internal audit, regulatory compliance, risk consulting and process improvements in the financial services, oil exploration and manufacturing industries.

Prior to assuming the role of Chief Operating Officer, Akhilesh most recently held the position of Chief Risk Officer after commencing his tenure with Unity Bank as Head of Internal Audit. He has previously worked for the Commonwealth Bank for more than 10 years in the Internal Audit function, reviewing processes and systems across Retail Banking, Treasury, Finance, IT Projects, Operational Risk and Regulatory Compliance.

Andrew Prichard

Chief Financial Officer

BCOM (UNSW), Member Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia

Andrew is an experienced financial services professional with over 25 years’ experience. Andrew has extensive experience in retail banking and wealth management in the areas of risk and compliance, operations, treasury, finance and support functions.

Andrew started his career at Ernst & Young and has since worked for a number of large and smaller institutions including AMP, Colonial First State, Commonwealth Bank, Australian Skandia, Australian Military Bank and Intech Credit Union. Prior to joining Unity Bank he held the position of Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary for Intech Credit Union and was responsible for the Finance, Treasury, IT, Collections and Fraud functions.

Felicity King

General Manager - Robotics & Strategic Banking

Felicity has over 25 years’ industry experience within the Mutual financial services sector with extensive experience in lending, team management and development, project management and business improvement. She has been integral in numerous strategic industry projects including mergers, core banking system migration, product implementation and process innovation and is currently heading our robotics automation project.

Felicity has completed a Diploma in Credit Management and is a Unity Bank NCCPA Responsible Manager.

Kellie Tait

Chief Risk Officer

Kellie is a risk management professional with over 20 years’ experience in the financial services and mutual banking sector. Kellie has extensive expertise across various disciplines, including risk management, strategic planning, financial control, project management and compliance management. In her most recent roles, she has been instrumental in implementing the enterprise risk management system including designing and building the risk management framework.

Kellie’s professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Business (Accounting and Finance) from UTS, Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant (FCPA), Graduate Diploma of Applied Risk Management and Corporate Governance (GradDipARMCG) and Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia (FGIA).

Kylie-Jane Robson

General Manager - Impact & Sustainability

B.Com (Macquarie)

Kylie-Jane has 20 years of marketing and communications experience spanning the technology, financial services, and professional services industries, having previously worked on the development and implementation of marketing strategy and key digital projects for a number of brands including QBE Insurance, Marsh, MetLife, KPMG and Rest Industry Super.

Kylie-Jane has led a variety of disciplines at Unity Bank (formerly G&C Mutual Bank) including marketing, digital and product, introducing a variety of new digital initiatives, acquisition channels, and award-winning product enhancements. Kylie-Jane previously held the role of Executive Manager – Marketing, Digital & ESG, leading the development of the organisation’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy. As General Manager – Impact & Sustainability, Kylie-Jane will focus on the creation of mutual value and positive impact for our members, people, communities, environment and stakeholders, as part of our commitment to using finance to deliver sustainable economic, social and environmental development.

Kyri Karagiannis

Chief Investment Officer

Kyri is an experienced financial services professional with over 33 years’ experience in Banking and Finance. Kyri has extensive experience in retail and corporate banking in the areas of finance, treasury, credit, product management, marketing and sales support functions. Kyri began his career at Commonwealth Bank and worked across the retail and corporate banking divisions of the Bank for over 13 years.

Prior to joining Unity Bank he held the position of Head of Finance, Specialist Sales & Distribution at St George Bank and was responsible for the Finance and support functions for Transaction Banking, Equipment Finance, Trade Finance and the Treasury functions. Kyri holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from the University of NSW, is a member of the Australian Mutuals Institute (AMI) and is a Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant (FCPA).

Leigh Abberton

General Manager - Process Improvement & Product

BCOM (UWS), Member Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (CA ANZ)

Leigh has over 17 years of experience working within the finance industry, including seven years as a Chartered Accountant for BDO Australia, specialising in auditing financial institutions. Joining the credit union industry in 2007, Leigh held the position of Finance Manager at Quay Credit Union (previously AMP Staff Credit Union) where she was responsible for the Finance, Treasury, Payments, Fraud, Collections, Human Resources and Company Secretary functions.

Leigh served as Head of Business Improvement, driving continuous improvement across the business with an emphasis on process efficiency, cost reduction and the implementation of robotic processing. As Executive Manager – Service & Business Improvement, Leigh was also responsible for Member Service, Branch Network, Payments and other administration functions. In the role of General Manager – Process Improvement & Product, Leigh is committed to driving innovation and operational efficiencies through processes, products and services that enhance both member and employee experiences. Leigh is also responsible for Payments, Credit Administration and Corporate Services.

Shawn Griffiths

General Manager - Marketing

Shawn is an experienced professional with banking experience spanning over 30 years covering both mutual and major banks. He has held senior executive roles ranging from CEO of a mutual bank to leadership of marketing, sales, operations and lending divisions, and has worked within community as well as industry bonded mutual banks.

Shawn has a Bachelor of Economics, an Advanced Diploma in Business Management and a Certificate in Corporate Governance among his qualifications.

Steve Vassallo

General Manager - Business Banking, Sales & Service

Steve has over 28 years’ experience in banking, finance and business management in the private and corporate sector. Work secondments have included interim executive roles and freelance consultancy dealing with SME and larger entities throughout Sydney and Melbourne.

He is currently a Fellow at FINSIA, a member of the Australian Institute of Public Accountants and the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia, holding a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Applied Finance degree.

Vanessa Tomic

General Manager - People & Culture

B.Bus (UTS), Strategic HR Leadership Certificate (Cornell), CAHRI

Vanessa has over 24 years’ experience as an HR professional. She began her career at SECOM Security, before gaining finance industry experience with Metropolitan Credit Union, CIT Group - South Pacific, Bank of Queensland and SGE Credit Union.

Vanessa’s wide-ranging experience spans performance and development, training and facilitation, industrial relations, and involvement in the full employee lifecycle, with greater business-wide exposure in the SME scale.

She has held the position of Senior Manager / Head of P&C at Unity Bank (formerly G&C Mutual Bank) since December 2012, with responsibility for the Mobile Sales and Business Development team since February 2019. The sales element of her role brings a strong focus on enhancing Unity Bank’s existing relationships with the public and health sectors.

Additionally, Vanessa has responsibility for the development of Unity Bank’s organisational culture to ensure alignment with our core values and principles.

Additional Information