Management Committee
PRESIDENT
Bridget Kennedy
Bridget Kennedy is an artist, community builder and local government representative with a long-standing commitment to sustainability, creative practice and community connection.
After an early career in information technology within the banking and finance sector, Bridget retrained in Contemporary Jewellery and Object Design in 2003, returning to a lifelong passion for making, and completed a Masters in Studio Art in 2015. She has built a diverse career as an award-winning contemporary jewellery and object artist, curator, educator and small business owner. For more than 15 years, she operated a combined gallery, workshop and retail space supporting emerging and established makers, alongside delivering community outreach programs.
Bridget has held a range of governance and advisory roles within the arts and craft sector, including with the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia (NSW), Australian Design Centre and the World Crafts Council of Australia. Her professional background brings together creative practice, business experience and strong financial and governance capability.
Deeply connected to Lane Cove, Bridget is the instigator and co-founder of The Sydney Library of Things, co-founder of The Sydney Edible Garden Trail and a founding member of Repair Café Sydney North. She has served as an Independent Councillor for Lane Cove since 2021 and was recognised as Lane Cove Citizen of the Year in 2018.
Bridget is passionate about fostering inclusive, creative and sustainable cultural spaces that support both artists and the wider community.
VICE-PRESIDENT
Kylie Bryden-Smith
Kylie is a senior executive with over 30 years of leadership experience. Kylie has led award-winning policy reform initiatives, high-profile marketing communications campaigns, and developed strategic partnerships and programs delivering impressive business and social outcomes through roles in government, corporate and not-for-profit organisations.
Motivated by enriching the lives of others, Kylie’s passion for the arts is evident in her professional and personal life. As Sydney Opera House Marketing Communications Director, Kylie led the development of its first brand strategy, the opening of the Studio venue, and the marketing of the diverse and vibrant artistic offering of the Sydney Opera House, including the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival. She has also been a board member of Australian acapella group, The Song Company.
Kylie is an active member of the Lane Cove community, achieving a Lane Cove Council Citizenship award for her work as President of Lane Cove Swim Club, Vice President of the Stringy Bark Creek Residents’ Association and contributions to improved planning outcomes for our community through the Better Planning Network.
Kylie is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Bachelor of Arts Communications Degree majoring in Public Relations.
TREASURER
Glenn Poynton
Glenn is an experienced senior executive in the financial services and technology sectors, with deep expertise in governance, strategy, and financial management. He currently holds executive leadership roles in Australian fintech and investment management businesses and has previously served on boards and committees overseeing growth, transformation and corporate development.
Glenn brings a strong interest in community organisations and not-for-profits, with extensive experience supporting sustainable operating models, execution, and long-term planning. He is passionate about strengthening the financial foundations of community institutions so they can continue to deliver cultural, creative and social value. He is also currently President of Lane Cove Cats AFL club, a committee member of Lane Cove Cricket Club and North Shore Swans AFL.
SECRETARY AND PUBLIC OFFICER
Debra Cass
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Karola Brent
Karola was born in Budapest, Hungary. In 1990, two months after the fall of the Iron Curtain, she moved to the United States. In 2003, Karola and her family relocated to Sydney, Australia.
Karola holds Bachelor's Degree (Honours, Dean's List) from the University of California, Berkeley in Communications and Marketing, and a Diploma of Clinical Psychology from San Francisco State University. She further studied Creative Writing and English at Macquarie University and University of Sydney.
Karola gained years of professional experience working in the IT industry of Silicon Valley, California, where she led customer support, account management and project management teams. After starting a family, Karola re-trained as crisis intervention counsellor and worked with victims of domestic violence and refugees with post traumatic stress disorder.
Always involved in her local community, in 2012, Karola stood for government elections and became a Councillor (Independent) on Lane Cove Council. Serving her second term in the Local Government, she is currently Deputy Mayor. Her interest in community and the arts brought her to the Management Committee of Centrehouse and Gallery Lane Cove, where she was the President from 2017- 2025.
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Audrey Briel
Audrey was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2009, Audrey and her partner, Brendan, relocated to Sydney, Australia.
Audrey holds four degrees in business and strategy from the University of Pretoria and Harvard Business School. She primarily specialised in business subjects, with a mix of the hard business sciences of Accounting and Financial Management to Industrial Psychology and Marketing. In 2025, Audrey commenced her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School in Darlinghurst, following a lifelong dream to become a practising artist.
Audrey worked in both large corporations and start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures. Her core expertise is in defining strategies, operating models, building transformation programs, and executing programs and projects to bring strategy to life.
For the last three years, Audrey has shifted direction away from high-pressure corporate roles toward her art practice and toward finding ways her artistic voice can support personal transformation. She has a strong interest in the overlap between Art and Mental Health, or Art as Healing. She is excited to merge her two main areas of expertise (strategy/leadership and art) in a purpose-driven organisation like Centrehouse, and to bring joy and magic to the Lane Cove community.
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Mavis Chan
Mavis is a business and people transformation leader with over 20 years of experience across strategy, people experience, and program management. She has held senior roles across industries including digital technology, telecommunications, and financial services, leading large-scale transformation initiatives focused on leadership capability, operating model design, and organisational change.
Most recently, she led flagship leadership and people programs at Canva, driving innovation through Agile delivery and AI-enabled systems that improved accessibility and efficiency.
Mavis is also the founder of Tochi Creative, creating ceramic homeware that explores creativity, sustainability, and storytelling through design. A long-time visitor of Gallery Lane Cove and its Ceramic Studio, she is passionate about connecting people, creativity, and community through purposeful collaboration.
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COMMITTEE MEMBER
Judith Maude
Judith is a corporate governance consultant. She began her professional life as a solicitor, specialising in employment law and industrial relations. After a career in the legal sector, Judith pursued her interest in corporate governance. She has held executive roles in the public sector for over 15 years, including 10 years at the ABC. As a governance specialist, Judith has extensive experience working in a range of corporate areas including policy, risk, compliance, strategy and information management. She leaves the creative and artistic work to her family members, almost all of whom work in the film and tv industry.
Judith holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Law from the University of NSW, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a member of Women on Boards. She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Rhonda Pryor
A practising artist, Rhonda works across textiles, photography and installation and has a background in painting and fashion design. She holds three fine art degrees including a Masters by research from Sydney College of the Arts. Exhibiting regularly, she has administration, writing, sales and teaching experience, with both children and adults.
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Roslyn Vadala
Roslyn is a strategic privacy advisor and accomplished lawyer with over 20 years' experience at multi-national companies both in Australia and overseas, including retail, medical devices, FMCG and consumer electronics.
Roslyn has expertise in leading global privacy and data protection frameworks, data ethics, responsible AI governance, and successfully supporting business objectives while effectively managing risk.
Roslyn’s commitment to the arts is deeply rooted in her academic and musical background; she holds a Bachelor of Arts (Music) alongside her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and has been a regular volunteer for the Sydney Festival. She is a mentor in the international Women@Privacy program, a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ Advisory Board and an editorial board member of the Journal of Data Protection and Privacy.