Pingala Co-operative Board
Say hi to our directorsWelcome to Pingala Co-op. We are excited to he a part of this great citizen led movement to fair energy. As directors of the Pingala Co-op Board we represent the membership in day-to-day decisions and setting stategic direction.
We are always looking for new board members and would like to promote diversity in our board by encouraging all members to condider a term as a Pingala Co-op Director.
Monica Richter
Public Officer
Monica Richter is a professional Economist and Social Ecologist with over 20 years’ experience across a variety of environmental issues including sustainable cities and the built environment, climate and renewable energy, circular economy, engaging supply chains, the SDGs and driving innovative solutions.
Monica has worked for a number of not for profit organisations such as WWF, Australian Conservation Foundation, World Animal Protection and Greenpeace.
Monica is a thought leader across many of today’s major sustainability challenges and has been invited to participate in multiple forums.
She is also a Board member of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) and chair of the Mercury Cooperative Centre.
Tim Whiting
Chair
Tim is passionate about the sustainability sector and achieving solutions to major problems facing both our community and country. This aligns strongly with Pingala’s primary vision of building fairer and cleaner energy systems that empower communities to both own and operate their own energy systems, which ultimately shares the benefits of the opportunities and distributes these equally.
Tim’s aim is to contribute to this vision through governance and leadership in his position on the board, in addition to being a shareholder and member. His background involves numerous finance based experience through his roles with the professional services firm PwC. More recently he has held positions in risk, regulation and compliance both in commercial environments, across a number of industries and in a consulting capacity.
He has a strong belief that a board’s fundamental role is to be accountable for creating and delivering value and as one of the directors and secretary of the Pingala CoOperative, will contribute through effective governance, guiding and reviewing the strategic direction and monitoring its implementation by Management.
Kristyn Glanville
Member Director
Kristyn is an environment, planning, and climate change lawyer at a global law firm. Kristyn is also a Scientia PhD Scholar at University of New South Wales, completing a PhD focusing on environmental crime such as water theft. Kristyn was a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards in the Planning and Environment in 2019 and 2020, and Pro Bono category in 2019.
Kristyn is local organiser for a number of environmental and conservation organisations, including Northern Beaches chapters of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and Save Our Coasts.
Parshva Shah
Member Director
Parshva Shah is based in Melbourne and an avid advocate for the change to cleaner and greener energy. He was an early adopter of rooftop solar and has recently taken a more active approach to promoting and growing the clean energy transition by getting involved in community sustainability programs.
He brings in depth knowledge of project management and contract negotiation experience through years of experience within manufacturing. Parsh is looking forward to working with fellow volunteers to make a positive and significant impact in communities across the country.
Sarah Lukeman
Member Director
Sarah Lukeman was elected to Singleton Council in 2016 as an Independent, where she has advocated for a just transition for coal mining communities throughout Australia. She chairs Singleton Council’s Sustainability Committee and is a member of Hunter Renewal and Hunter Jobs Alliance. She has a Chemical Engineering degree and worked for 10 years in the mining industry in Australia and South Africa in corporate research, business improvement and environmental management. She has also worked as a Sustainability Consultant, Kindermusik teacher and small business owner. She currently works as Community Engagement Coordinator for Hunter Cancer Research Alliance and lives on Wonnaruah country in the Hunter.
Sarah has extensive experience in strategic planning, policy development and governance of not for profit organisations in regional Australia and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She invested in the Pingala Co-operative with the Allambi Care Project and looks forward to working with the Pingala Board to expand their community energy projects.
Martin Zierer
Member Director
A Pingala member since November 2018 to support the 4Pines community solar project, Martin is highly engaged and interested in the alternative energy space. He has converted our family home in Belrose to an (almost) off-the-grid dwelling, by designing and implementing a 12.48 kWp (48 panel) solar installation with an accompanying 9,800 Wh battery system. His family have owned a fully electric Mitsubishi i-MIEV since 2016 and a Hybrid PHEV Mitsubishi Outlander since 2015, which is charged at home using the sun (as much as possible). He has assisted two friends/colleagues with the design and selection of the installation company for their solar installations (Arcadia 22kWh; Pennant Hills 6.5Kwh). Martin is also helping a friend in Lane Cove, who is renovating to add solar and storage.
Martin is an IT hardware & software engineer by trade, having worked at Intel Corp in Germany & Australia before moving to Red Hat software (now part of IBM), where he works as a Director on the integration of Red Hat into the IBM hardware, software and consulting ecosystem. He leads a team of 11 people in sales and pre-sales functions, and is part of the senior ANZ leadership team and holds responsibilities for a $150m+ yearly sales and revenue target. He has a passion for building teams, the environment, and local communities.
Nicholas Tyral
Member Director
Nicholas is passionate about the environment and how local initiatives like Pingala can help address global problems. Nicholas is a project and customer experience manager and has worked across both large and small organisations including Qantas and Queensland Rail.
Throughout his career working in program and project delivery Nicholas has always had a keen focus on telling a clear and compelling story. Through engaging with people, having a clear vision and setting up the right structures Nicholas believes that anything can be achieved. He also has a keen interest in social enterprise having volunteered previously for organisations and initiatives in the UK and Australia.
Nicholas became a member of the Pingala co-operative during the fund raising for the 4 Pines project and is a local from the inner west of Sydney. He has a Bachelor of Arts and Commerce from the University of Sydney majoring in Economics, International Business and Government Relations.