Global Access Partners (GAP)
53 Balfour St, Chippendale
NSW 2008 Australia

Catherine Fritz-Kalish
General Manager (+61 2) 8303 2416

Peter Fritz AM
Managing Director (+61 2) 8303 2425

Olga Bodrova
Project Manager (+61 2) 8303 2416

Sally Rose
Blogger-in-Chief, Open Forum (+61 2) 8303 2430

Lisa Middlebrook
Executive Manager, Strategy & Policy (+61 2) 8303 2429

Iggy Pintado
Project Director, First 5000 (+61) 412 214 366

Catherine Fritz-Kalish is co-founder and General Manager of Global Access Partners Pty Ltd (GAP). GAP is a proactive and influential network which initiates high-level discussions at the cutting edge of the most pressing commercial, social and global issues of today. Through forums, global congresses and government advisory boards, GAP facilitates real and lasting change for its stakeholders, partners and delegates, sharing knowledge, forging progress and creating input for government policy. Over the past few years, GAP has established a number of national consultative committees across a range of industries which are working to shape the face of the Australian business and policy environment, and to provide input and knowledge into a global dialogue.

Catherine's broad business experience includes: coordination of a number of international initiatives as part of the annual programme for the small and medium sized enterprise unit of the OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development), at headquarters in Paris, France; marketing and brand management within all 7 divisions of the George Weston Foods Group and just prior to establishing GAP; working within the TCG Group of companies particularly in the area of startup incubator establishment.

Catherine holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of New South Wales, and a Masters of Business in International Marketing from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Peter Fritz is Managing Director of GAP, and Group Managing Director of TCG - a diverse group of companies which over the last 33 years has produced many breakthrough discoveries in computer and communication technologies. In 1993, some of the 65 companies in the Group were publicly floated on the Australian Stock Exchange as TechComm Group Limited (now called Utility Computer Services UXC), with great success. Another former TCG company floated on the New York Stock Exchange in November 1997 for US$600m, making it the largest technology company to be established in Australia until that time. Peter's innovative management style and corporate structuring has lead to the creation of a business model which is being copied by many successful entrepreneurs, and has become part of university undergraduate and masters programs in business management in Australia and around the world.

Peter Fritz chairs a number of influential government and private enterprise boards and is active in the international arena, including having represented Australia on the OECD Small and Medium Size Enterprise Committee. He is the holder of six degrees and professional qualifications, is a recipient of the Order of Australia, and has received many other honours.

Olga Bodrova has been working for GAP since its inception, playing an active role in the company's rapid development as a pioneering facilitator of stakeholder engagement in government consultation and policy formation and an expert convener of high-level strategic forums, congresses and missions. In her role as Project Manager, Olga is responsible for developing and coordinating GAP's online initiatives and research projects, and oversees the production and presentation of all GAP reports and publications (print and digital). She also coordinates website development for GAP and its partnering companies, including GAP's online policy think-tank, Open Forum, and an emerging business network for top Australian SMEs, First 5000.

Prior to joining GAP, Olga enjoyed a professional career in the media and the arts industry, having worked as a journalist and project manager for several European publishing houses and artistic organisations. She has produced a series of radio programmes for the Russian State broadcasting services and SBS Radio Russian Language Program. Her extensive experience in publishing, media and linguistics all contribute to the excellent standard of GAP's corporate reporting and delivery of high-quality solutions for government, corporate, academic and non-profit partners.

Olga holds a Masters Degree in Musicology from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire and a postgraduate degree in Media Arts & Production from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Sally Rose is Blogger-in-Chief of GAP's online policy development think tank, Open Forum. She is responsible for building and serving the Open Forum community. Her role begins with content creation: writing, soliciting, collating, revising or editing all blogs prior to publication. She is also in charge of moderating all forums and discussions to ensure Open Forum remains an independent platform and safe online space for the exchange of ideas.

Sally seeks out Australia's political, business, academic, charity and community leaders and encourages them to share their views across a wide range of Australian public policy and social issues. If you would like to become an Open Forum contributor, or suggest an issue affecting contemporary Australian society for discussion, please contact Sally at srose@openforum.com.au.

Immediately prior to joining GAP in August 2008, Sally was self-employed as a freelance writer, and before that a partner in a jewellery manufacturing, wholesale and retail start-up. Her experience allows her to bring a small business person’s perspective to the challenge of building a successful not-for-profit organisation.

Sally holds an Associate Diploma in Visual Arts (Drawing) and a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy and Religious Studies).

Lisa Middlebrook is Executive Manager for GAP's brand-new initiative - a series of annual Growth Summits. She is responsible for external relations, programme development and general management of the Summit. She also manages the Summit's steering committee and helps guide the Summit's long-term task forces.

Prior to assuming her role as Executive Manager, Strategy & Policy, at GAP in September 2009, Lisa spent two years as Director of the Federal Labor Business Forum, handling external relations and business affairs. Immediately prior to that, she served as the Director of Business Development at the Lowy Institute.

Lisa spent six years with the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and Progressive Policy Institute in Washington DC where she was a Senior Adviser on trade policy and was also responsible for external relations with the corporate community and non-profit foundations. She was instrumental in helping establish political relationships for Australia with regard to the US/Australia Free Trade Agreement. Prior to the DLC, she served at the Australian Embassy in Washington working on US Congressional Relations and trade issues.

Lisa is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles (political science and international relations) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Johnny Warren Foundation and the organising committee for the Steve Waugh Foundation.

Iggy Pintado has joined GAP in December 2008 as Project Director of First 5000 - an exclusive online business alliance for leading Australian small and medium size enterprises.

Iggy is an accomplished and experienced business leader, executive, marketer, coach, mentor and author. Over the last 22 years, he has held professional, management and executive positions in marketing, sales, channels, operations and online management at both technology giant IBM (1986-2006) and until recently, at telecommunications specialists, Telstra. In 2008, he co-founded a business networking consulting, marketing, coaching and mentoring business ConnectGen, where he is CEO and Chief Networking Officer. As a 'super-connected' networker on LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook and Twitter, Iggy has earned his place in the Top 25 list of the most connected business networkers in Australia. In April 2009, he has published his first book, Connection Generation, a study of how connectedness affects our place in society and business and the challenges and opportunities this development presents.

Iggy has degrees from the Macquarie University's Graduate School of Business and the Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, and is on board of the Australian Marketing Institute Advisory Council, the Blue Chips Marketing Council and IBM's Small Medium Enterprise committee.

+61 2 8303 2416

61 2 9319 5754

PO Box 978
Strawberry Hills
NSW 2012
Australia

For more information on GAP, please email us at info@globalaccesspartners.org

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