The Commerce of a Varied Life Chris Arnold AM

The Commerce of a Varied Life

Chris Arnold AM

When Chris Arnold AM BCom MBA FCPA FAICD AFACHSE was 11 years of age, he was offered a position as a choir boy at St Paul’s in Melbourne which also provided a scholarship to Trinity Boys’ Grammar School in Kew. That began the long round trip from Maidstone to Kew and back every day. Little did he know that he would come back to the Anglican Diocese in Melbourne as part-time interim CEO in the year that he had officially “retired” from executive management to focus on part-time consulting and board roles. Reflecting on his career, Chris observes that everything can be relevant to your career, including the experience in competitive tennis and his study of the piano. To this day, now and again, he still plays the first movement of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” to call people to the dinner table. At Trinity, he threw himself into music, sport and theatrical productions, but it was only in Year 10 that his professional ambition crystallised. Chris’s commerce teacher told the class that if he studied commerce at The University of Melbourne, he would end up being of value to both employers and professions. That idea appealed to Chris and so it was commerce at The University of Melbourne. His first job was in the Victorian public service as a finance officer, in the Department of the State Development (Industrial Development Division). His role was assessing subsidy grants and applications for loans from country industries. Chris said that he enjoyed travelling around the state and getting to know businesses. It was a useful start and stood him in good stead. It also confirmed that he wanted to be more involved with operations beyond accounting. He also had an interesting job with the public service doing management reviews. One of the most interesting tasks was a review of the state mental health facilities’ organisational arrangements. So the die was set for the rest of Chris’s professional career. He had several senior roles in hospitals, commencing in the role of Deputy CEO of the Royal Children’s Hospital at the young age of 30. He was the GM/CEO at two mid-tier Melbourne law firms and of the eastern Victorian region of accounting and financial advisory group of the WHK Group (later Crowe Horwath and now Findex). The driving in his early years stood him in good stead for the five years of that role when he drove every day to Warragul and back from Kew (always against the sun!). His final executive job was Executive Director of the then Skin & Cancer Foundation Inc. in Carlton (now called the Skin Health Institute Inc.). He led this medical organisation for 10 years, trebling its revenue over that time and increasing its reputation for clinical service and dermatology education. Consulting wise, he continues to work with the Australasian Society of Cosmetic Dermatology. Pro bono, he is a personal member of the Australasian College of Dermatologists eHealth Committee and the national MelCOR Melanoma data base project executive. Chris attributes his commerce degree as the foundation of his career. It enabled him to do an MBA at Monash University, which built on his commerce degree technical subjects.

Chris also fondly reflects on the Economic History Unit taught by Professor Geoffrey Blainey at The University of Melbourne. Chris loved the placing of economics into its historical perspective. He is still a great fan of Professor Blainey. Community organisations and projects have been a parallel “career” and passion in Chris’s life – from secretary of the local tennis club, President of Rotaract, later a member of Rotary, member of numerous not-for-profit (NFP) boards and adviser to others. He is married to Margot Costanzo, whom he describes as “another Melbourne graduate (BA LLM), who has been a great mentor by increasing my self-confidence”. As a professional services trainer, and former Vice-Chair of the International Bar Association, she has contributed “much to my self-esteem and being able to deal with the many challenges that arise professionally and personally”. Together, they have a fund in the Australian Communities Foundation. They have just commissioned internationally renowned Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin to write a second chamber music piece. Chris also spent six years on the board of peak body, Philanthropy Australia. His crowning volunteer achievement, however, was his involvement with the Human Variome project which also began from happenstance. This not-for-profit project was started by Dick Cotton in the late 1980s, expanded substantially between about 2010 and 2017, where a formal board was established to oversee activities. Chris was appointed to the Board after a chance conversation with Dick. The project involves the free sharing of genetic data for clinical and research purposes on a global basis. Since 2017, it has been based – under the new name Global Variome Ltd – in the UK. The current chair is another Australian, head of Genetics at Melbourne Health and The University of Melbourne, Professor Ingrid Winship AO. Substantial numbers of geneticists and genomists from over 81 countries are collaborators in the project, which has achieved Associate status (the highest possible) with UNESCO and a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Health Organisation. Chris cannot think of another Australian organisation to achieve this joint affiliation. With funding from Astra Zeneca, it also coordinated the compilation of the world’s first freely available global data base on BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. For Chris’s role with the project and a number of other health initiatives, he was honoured to be awarded an Order of Australia (AM) in January 2019, which was both a surprise and a delight. Chris and Margot have three children who are also professionals – Megan in public health in Canberra; Luca, an entertainment lawyer in Melbourne; and Vanessa, a writer in Melbourne. Chris and Margot run their own consultancy advising owners of professional business – doctors, lawyers, accountants and property developers. Chris’s appointment as CEO of the Melbourne Anglican Diocese Corp is interim only, based on having assisted the diocese in fundraising for the restoration of St Paul’s Cathedral and having been on the Board of Christchurch Grammar, a primary school in the Diocese and in that behalf having been an initial trustee of its Foundation. His advice to all alumni is to do what you enjoy and do not overlook your interests or fail to grasp the opportunity to develop your leadership skills in community development. “You can never tell what skills and experience employers will value, nor can you predict where your opportunities will necessarily come from. Good technical skills, good communication skills, an interest in people and a desire to achieve real outcomes are valued everywhere,” Chris said. “COVID-19 has been challenging for many people, but I am sure we will all get through this trial by continuing to work together,” Chris said. “Our garden has certainly never had so much attention. Our garage has been cleaned out – twice! I have added 3 COVID-kilos to my waistline (I do the cooking!) and I have never spent so much time on Zoom. Recently we Zoomed in to the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall concert by the wonderful Katie Noonan, and followed it with a Zoom coffee with our children to discuss the concert. We are well; they are well and for that we are thankful. My life and career continue to be diverse, for which I am also grateful.”