SIM Australia Leadership

Our team at SIM Australia is a diverse group of individuals who share a common passion to reach the least reached with the Gospel. Our multicultural team is made up of over 20 committed team members and many volunteers who offer their time and talents to help fulfil our mission. 

Our organisation is led by our National Director, Mal Watts, who is supported by the Board and Executive Leadership Team. SIM Australia is based in Penshurst, NSW, but we have regional staff and volunteers spread throughout Australia, representing us in various communities. 

SIM Australia has a voluntary Board of Directors who provide governance according to their experience and skills to ensure we fulfil our mission and act according to our constitution.  

Our Team

Mal Watts

National Director

In providing pastoral oversight of the SIM Australia team and leadership of the organisation, Mal’s focus as National Director is to see the Gospel transform lives through the sending of mission workers, key relationships with partners and strategic responses to those in need. As the National Director, Mal leads the team that helps to make this happen through partnerships with Australia churches and individuals. A combination of education and experience in accounting, missiology, and international development has equipped and shaped Mal for the role he has in SIM Australia.

Jason Lau 

Media and Technology Director

Jason Lau provides leadership to our Media & Technology Team. The team engages with our SIM mission partners through media & communications enabled by technology. The team also supports fundraising for our SIM ministry and development projects. 

Steve Early 

Mobilisation and Training Director

Steve Early leads our national team of Mission Mobilisers and serves as the Training Director for SIM Australia. Steve and his wife Terry previously served with SIM in Ethiopia between 1987 and 2008. Before that, Steve was involved with agricultural development in West Africa.  

Graham Ellis  

Finance and Corporate Services Director

Graham Ellis leads our Finance, Partner Relations & Corporate Services Team. They use their gifts and skills to serve Christ’s mission in accounting, donor management and organisational registration & compliance.

Doreen Thomas  

Personnel Director

Doreen Thomas leads our Personnel & Member Care Team which provides pastoral care, coaching and development for SIM Australia’s mission workers around the world. Doreen is passionate about seeing our workers and their families thrive throughout their entire ministry journey. 

Our Board

Adrian Price 

Adrian is a Chartered Accountant and the Chief Financial Officer for the Sinclair Brook Group based in Melbourne. Adrian has over 25 years’ experience in finance, investment and property development. Adrian was previously CFO of a not-for-profit investment fund, having managed their multimillion-dollar investment portfolio of equities, property and property development activities. Adrian also previously worked as a senior accountant in a public accounting firm, providing audit, taxation, business advisory services to a variety of small to large organisations in the manufacturing, construction, professional services and not-for-profit sectors. 

Diane Marshall  

Diane has served with SIM since 1986 in South America, Africa, Asia and now Australia. She began in community education and quickly moved into organisational leadership. For 12 years, she guided SIM’s global response in HIV & AIDS. Along the way she obtained a Master of Medical Science (Health Social Science) and a PhD (Education) in Workplace Learning. Over the past 10 years, she has been in global leadership positions based in Singapore, most recently as the Global Director for Regional Development, responsible for SIM’s 10 regional directors. She returned to Australia in 2020 in time for the first Covid lockdown. Diane is married to Phill, and they have 3 adult children and 7 grandchildren. She is committed to seeing a new generation nurtured into mission. 

Ross Hughes  

Ross joined the Board in 2020 and is an experienced Director and Chief Financial Officer in the diverse industries of education, financial services, utilities and aged care. His involvement with SIM stretches over many years, including as a short termer in Ethiopia and in leading the West Australian Water Corporation’s project partnership. He attends Mt Pleasant Baptist Church in Perth. 

Sam Kong  

Sam is the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Pacific Equity Partners. Prior to joining Pacific Equity Partners in 1998, Sam was a senior accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he advised clients in the financial services, retail, shipping and manufacturing industries. Sam is a former investment committee member of WorldShare. Sam received a BEc from the University of Sydney and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales. He is a Certified Practising Accountant. 

Krisha Adams  

Krisha has experience both in Human Resources and Missions. Krisha and her family served at Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2003-2005 and 2009-2017), where Krisha spent 7 years as HR Manager (Expatriate Staff) responsible for recruitment and human resource management for missionary teachers from over 10 countries and multiple mission agencies. Krisha holds a Masters of Human Resource Management. Since her return from the field, she has worked in human resources in the health sector and the Australian Public Service. She is currently responsible for culture and capability strategy for the IT division of a large Australia-wide public sector agency. Krisha has expertise in human resources business partnering, staff engagement, capability development, strategic resourcing, talent development and change management. She is married to Brad and they have 4 children. 

Alex Fauchon 

Alex is a practising solicitor. He plies his trade at a generalist firm and is a graduate of the University of Sydney Law School. Our mission statement is close to Alex’s heart. He spent his formative years in Santiago, Chile as a missionary kid under the tutelage of SIM.  

Maddie Crethar 

Maddie is a Solicitor at Prolegis Lawyers, Sydney, in the areas of charity and not-for-profit establishment and registration, restructures, dispute resolution, regulatory compliance and charity and tax concession endorsement. She has been involved with SIM for many years, including as a missionary kid in Bolivia and as a short termer in Ecuador. She is excited to have joined the Board in 2023.