David Haines - Chairman
David Haines was appointed chairman of the board in May 2001.
Prior to this, David was Secretary to the Standing Committee of Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers with Censorship Responsibilities (1988 to 1994), Deputy Chief Censor, Australian Film Censorship Board (1986 to 1994) and Member of the Australian Film Censorship Board (1981-1994).
David holds a Bachelor of Education and is a member of the audit and remuneration committees.
Chris Thorpe - Chief Executive Officer
Chris Thorpe is the CEO of Mobile Embrace Limited and one of its founders.
Chris is an expert in the global mobile services and telecommunications industry with over 15 years managerial experience and a proven track record gained in the United States, Europe and Australia.
Chris combines this experience with a financial background that gives him a great insight and understanding of the industry, its issues and trends and the requirements needed to deliver a successful business and associated services.
Chris has been at the forefront of the mobile services and telecommunications industry leading with a number of key innovations
Chris' work has been acknowledged through the receipt of numerous business awards for milestone achievements and contributions to the telecommunications industry.
Chris brings to Mobile Embrace invaluable leadership, insight, expertise, understanding along with a global network of leading industry associates and contacts. Providing Mobile Embrace with vision, drive and opportunities to capitalise on its position as a market leading mobile services and technology company.
When Chris takes time out from his CEO role, his main priority is his young family and he actively supports a number of charities including World Vision and the entertainment industry charity which focuses on disadvantaged children - The Golden Stave.
Chris also leads a crew who actively participate in Sydney's sailing calendar having secured a number of high profile victories through Middle Harbour Yacht Club.
Gavin Whyte - Non Executive Director
Gavin Whyte was appointed as non executive director in December 2005. Gavin is Chief Operating Officer of NetPlay TV plc. NetPlay provides interactive gaming services in the U.K. which includes brands such as Play Monday, Live Roulette and Big Box Bingo. Gavin is responsible for all the day-to-day operations of the business as well as being a member of the Group's board.
Prior to this Gavin was Managing Director of Rubberduck Media Lab (RDML), a company which he sold to Aspiro in Sweden in September 2006. RDML is a leading supplier of TV to mobile streaming solutions. Rubberduck partners include: BBC, MTV, Universal Music, Fox Movies, 3, Nokia, Ericsson, NRK, TV2 (Norway), TV4 (Sweden), TVNorge and Telenor.
Gavin joined RDML from Monstermob Group plc where, as Operations Director, he was responsible for the technical operations of Monstermob including the supervision and continued development of the company's content management platform. Gavin was also responsible for content acquisition, managing relationships with mobile operators, adoption of new technologies and development of new products such as subscription services. Monstermob is a world leader in the provision of mobile content services and one of the largest mobile content consumer brands in the U.K.
Prior to this Gavin was employed by 3 Net Communications Limited, a subsidiary of Megatel International Management B.V. Megatel was a provider of international and domestic premium rate services. Gavin was responsible for establishing operations in Sweden, the Philippines, Hawaii, Russia and Bulgaria.
Drew Kelton
Mr Kelton was recently appointed President Enterprise Services at Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile phone operator and one of Asia's leading integrated telecom service providers. Bharti has just aquired Kuwait-based Zain's mobile phone operations in 15 African countries for US$10.7 billion.
Mr Kelton's responsibility at Bharti Airtel, which is expanding outside its home market, is to create a world class Business-to-Business (B2B) organisation. He is also a member of Bharti's management board.
Prior to joining Bharti Airtel, Mr Kelton spend eight years as Managing Director of Telstra Corporation's International business unit where he was responsible for driving business growth in Telstra's offshore operations and establishing a multinational customer division to oversee Telstra's biggest global customers. He took the business from $72 million in revenue to $500 million in revenue and $50 million EBITDA. The international unit had over 500 staff in 26 locations around the globe.
Mr Kelton has over 30 years experience in telecommunications and IT solutions and has worked in Europe, Australia, Asia and the US. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Hons) from Glasgow's Paisley College of Technology. In addition, he is a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
