Our Team

Alex has 12 years experience across the UK, Europe, Australia and NZ of leading award-winning teams that have successfully redefined how the sport, leisure and fitness sector uses data and plans investment into community programs and infrastructure. 

This is underpinned by the development and application of innovative market and business intelligence platforms that have been used by multiple governments, 100+ sport governing bodies, 3,000+ facilities, and influenced how over 17 million people are active today.

Martin Sheppard is Managing Director of Smart Connection Consultancy, Founder and Curator of the National Sports Convention and sits on the Board of EngageRM. 

With over 40 years in the leisure industry, initially in the UK, working and managing Community Leisure Centres, then developed the Client function for contracting facilities out,  Chairing the UK’s ILAM Contracts Panel before emigrating to Australia in 1997.  

His networks within sport, government and with leisure venues together with his understanding of sports technology places him in a favourable position to understand the transformation that data management and evidence based decision making can have on the planning and management of organisations. 

James has grown up in the industry, starting on the frontline of his local leisure centre in 1998. Since then, he has worked in senior executive roles for some of the largest leisure operators across Australia and New Zealand including the YMCA and Belgravia Leisure and is actively involved in industry bodies, and a member of the Academic Board of ACPE. 

James has built an extensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities that collaboration can bring across Private, Not for Profits, Government, Health and Sport. Passionate about leaving a legacy of change in how our sector is understood, valued and funded, James is committed to harnessing the power of data to drive decision making to foster earlier activity, intervention and health outcomes for all ActiveXchange partners.

Tom has worked both in, and as a consultant to, the leisure industry for almost 20 years in the UK and across APAC for industry heavyweights such as Virgin Active, Next Generation and Crunch.  During that time he has led many digital transformation projects with a track record for delivering world class consumer facing applications within our industry.  

Tom is committed to delivering our next generation platform and working with our technology partners to empower ActiveXchange to drive real world business insights for our customers.

Richard brings to ActiveXchange over 20 years at the top of senior data management roles at organisations including Foxtel and Bupa. He is a decision scientist with an extensive track record designing, developing and managing advanced analytical products, comfortable solving complex, unstructured problems. 

Richard leads our global data team tasked with building advanced analytics capabilities in partnership with the entire SportsEye ecosystem by safely and securely integrating data from a wide range of sources to create compelling insights.

 As an early adopter of the SportsEye platform during his time at Sport Canterbury, Ricki is passionate about using data and insights to make a measurable, evidence-based difference in the community. 

 Ricki brings to the ActiveXchange Network over 20 years of experience in the sport, leisure and recreation industry, with a unique set of skills that make him invaluable in assisting our collaborators to use data and insights to think and act differently when providing opportunities to help the community become more active, more often.

Callum has background in the sport and government industries, having worked in State Government, State Sporting Organisations and Local Government in Western Australia, as well as time in the University sector both in Australia and Canada. 

 
His vast experience in physical activity and facility programming as well as infrastructure planning which places him in a great position to understand the needs of our clients. Callum's passion to maximise positive community outcomes allows him to work hand in hand with our clients to deliver for their customers.  

 Michael has a strong background in the sport and health sectors, originally completing his Sports and Exercise Science Degree in the United Kingdom. 

Originally on the frontlines for health and leisure operators across the UK and Australia, Michael has over 5 years of experience shaping individual's health and wellness and has forged a deep connection in linking people to higher levels of activity. Michael's passion to provide a flawless customer experience will ensure our clients receive the best value from their product. 

 Yasmin has a background in the health and fitness sector, with over 4 years of experience in the industry. Coming from a fitness operator, Anytime Fitness, she understands the needs of the client and can provide insight into how best to utilise ActiveXchange to drive success. 

With Yasmin’s experience and passion for helping the community become more active, she supports the ActiveXchange team to build strong client relations. 

 Monique brings to the team nearly 10 years of marketing & communications experience, with the majority of her career spent in the sports licensing and merchandise industry. She has worked closely with many of the major Australian sporting codes and teams, including the NRL, Football Australia and Cricket Australia, as well as international brands such as '47 and Nitro Circus.

Monique shares the team's passion for sport & physical activity, and can usually be found at a netball court in her spare time.    

  Ries has brings to the team the unique background in of having a Diploma in Sports and Exercise Technology and 10+ years of experience in both software and database development.

Ries has a passion for both sport and data and hopes to combine the two to help ActiveXchange to improve peoples health and wellbeing.   

Faiza has a Masters Degree in Information Technology and has a very strong understanding of how to build, develop and manage SQL databases which underpin predictive modelling and business intelligence services. Faiza supports manages ActiveXchange's overall databases bringing about standardisation and efficiencies.

Abu Bakar has a Master’s degree of Information Technology from Charles Sturt University and has previous experience in software engineering. 

His strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills have contributed to his successes in both data analysis and machine learning alongside his understanding of how to build, develop and manage SQL databases. 

Han Cheng has a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Colorado, Denver, and a Master's in Applied Finance from the Australian National University. 

He has experience working in one of the largest crypto trading desks in Australia, and his most recent role was as a Forex & Commodities Dealer (trading analyst). 

Han is skilled at trading behaviour analysis and is passionate about using data to drive strategic decision-making.

Akshay’s talent in Mathematics and Statistics helped propel him into a career in analytics, with his beginnings as a Mathematics tutor and his Master’s Degree in Business Analytics, also presenting him with many opportunities within the field. 

His experience across an array of projects (especially in retail, digital web and dashboard applications) have allowed him to approach every challenge with a result-oriented and data-driven mindset. Akshay’s passion lies in using Data Visualization to tell stories within data and to develop targeted insights for business success.  

 Abhijit Roy is a Final Year student in Macquarie University, currently completing his bachelor's degree in Information Technology with a major in Data Science and has a passion towards generating information from data by looking deeper into it.

His first interaction with ActiveXchange was his participation in this year's Macquarie University PACE program where he joined a team a Data Science students to tackle automation of our Investment Planning Model. 

With over 20 years experience in the sport and leisure industry, Simon has developed a vast range of expertise. He has frequently demonstrated strategic leadership through an ability to identify opportunities and cases for change.

 Over the past 4 years, he has managed a range of project engagements as a strategic consultant. This has included working with local government, state government and state sporting organisations on analysis, strategy and implementation of sport and community infrastructure initiatives.

  Karen Slabbert brings more than 20 years' experience in executive leadership across the hospitality, marketing and retail industries to her position as Head of Product for ActiveXchange's SportsEye. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Management and is known for her entrepreneurial approach, solidified by her training in Lean Start-up methodology from Flinders University. 

Karen has worked with top international brands, including the Nelson Mandela Children's Foundation, LG Electronics, Cartoon Network, Procter & Gamble, HP and Qualcomm.  

Garry Henshall has been a key person of the Australian Sport and Leisure industry for over 40 years. He has worked at Local Government and State Government level, before going on to establish his own consultancy practice in leisure management.

He is well known as the past CEO of the Australian industry body, Parks and Leisure Australia, having established and held the position for many years. He also served as CEO of former national organisations: The Australian Leisure Institute; and the Royal Australian Institute of Parks and Recreation. He has also been an executive member of the World Leisure Organisation.

He has been a director and co- owner of a number of national and international companies operating in Australia; New Zealand; Hong Kong and The United Kingdom.