Senior Leadership Team
The senior leadership team is led by the Chief Executive Officer. This team is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the business and ensuring key objectives are delivered. The team meets on a weekly basis to discuss progress and review performance.
Michael Borg
CEO
Michael brings a wealth of experience and strategic leadership from the retail and wholesale industries to Outback Stores.
He has over 30 years’ experience in diverse and challenging leadership roles, including 25 years with Coles Supermarkets where his journey started as a Store Manager and culminated as General Manager of SA and the NT.
Michael also spent 5 years as State Manager for Coca Cola Amatil in the NT. During this time he maintained a strong focus on delivering strong financial results while making a proactive contribution to social outcomes in remote communities. Michael was the driving force behind a collaborative strategy with Outback Stores to improve health and nutrition outcomes by promoting water and sugar-free drink consumption. The strategy and agreement remain in place to this day.
Jayveer Rathore
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Jayveer joined the team at Outback Stores in 2009. Over the following 5 years he worked in various roles across the finance department whilst developing a detailed knowledge of the retail business in remote Indigenous communities.
In 2014 Jayveer was promoted to the role of was promoted to the position of Chief Financial Officer, paving the way for other young aspiring leaders to follow in his foot-steps through a strong support of internal career progression. In 2023 he accepted the role of Deputy Chief Executive Officer.
Jayveer conveys outstanding insight and understanding of a complex business to key stakeholders and to the management of activities within Outback Stores and its managed stores.
Evan Ralph
Chief Operating Officer
Evan has over 15 years’ experience working in for Coles Supermarkets in various retail operations roles across multiple states. During this time Evan developed a plethora of management skills across areas including people leadership and development, multi-site management and retail operations that he now brings to Outback Stores.
Evan is passionate about people leadership and development; exceeding our key stakeholder’s expectations and improving outcomes for our first Australians through strong long-term relationships.
Troy Criddle
Chief Financial Officer
Troy joined Outback Stores in 2008 and now has over 15 years’ experience working in various finance roles across the organisation. In 2023 he accepted the role of Chief Financial Officer.
Troy has acquired a broad range of skills in leadership, retail operations in regional and remote communities and business development. He is passionate about building strong community-led governance and career progression for the next generation of leaders.
David Hewett
General Manager Source & Supply
David brings 30 years’ worth of retail experience, across a diverse number of roles and businesses.
David’s previous roles in Coles and Target included Operational leadership positions in both South Australian metropolitan stores as well as the Northern Territory. These operational roles spanned both store and regional management positions and included extensive collaboration with local government, communities, and service providers. Notably, David was the first Territorian to be appointed to both store and regional management roles in Coles.
Further senior roles included national roles for Coles in central operations, adding expertise in supply chain, range, space and product management. Most recently, David fulfilled the role as Head of Operational Excellence in OTR, where David oversaw OTR’s store development, store communications, e-commerce, ERP, operational support, procurement, and workforce planning teams.
Passionate and driven to make a difference, David now brings this broad range of skills and local knowledge to Outback Stores.
Richard Mead
Project Manager
Richard has over 30 years’ experience in the retail industry working across multiple sectors including supermarkets, liquor and in the independent wholesale sector.
During this time Richard has developed wide ranging skills and knowledge working in roles including store management, merchandise, new store development and most recently in multi-site operations roles across SA/NT.
Richard brings a passion for working in regional and remote Australia along with strong analytical and problem solving skills to support Outback Stores continued growth and success.
Megan Baker
Finance Manager - Stores
Megan was born in Melbourne and after completing her Bachelor of Business at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology RMIT, she relocated to the Northern Territory in 1997. Megan has over 25 years of experience working in finance across a range of business sectors prior to joining the Outback Stores team in 2017.
Since joining Outback Stores Megan has utilised her broad knowledge and extensive experience to focus on process improvements, increasing efficiency, providing quality in finance reporting and seeking out opportunities to develop and mentor her finance team members.
A strong believer in doing work that makes a difference to the community, Megan continues to look at ways to improve and support the strategic and operational activities of Outback Stores.
Andrew Johanson
Business Development Manager
Andrew Johanson has an extensive background in retailing, real estate and hotel management with a speciality in fruit and vegetable wholesaling and farming. He joined Outback Stores in 2007 and is a 15-year employee with extensive experience in some of our remote Central Australian communities as Store Manager.
He was promoted to Area Manager and then promoted to Business Development Manager 2010 because of his extensive cultural and business negotiation skills.
Andrew continues to provide excellent service to the company through the maintenance and strengthening of an extensive network of community members, government stakeholders and Traditional Owners.
Nelson Tavares
Operations Manager South
Nelson has over 15 years’ experience working in mainstream retail management roles along with 5 years’ experience living and working with Aboriginal Communities in the Top End. He joined Outback Stores in 2014 as an Area Manager based in Alice Springs and has since progressed into the role of Operations Manager in Central Australia. Nelson is focused on providing the best services and retail standards for our clients in remote community stores.
Matt Pawelski
Operations Manager North
Matt brings 23 years’ experience of retail to his present position as Operations Manager for the northern region serviced by Outback Stores. His career in retail started at Coles in Adelaide, before travelling to fill regional roles in places such as Whyalla, Kununurra, Port Douglas and Darwin. During his 21 years at Coles notable achievements included maintaining the Palmerston location, among the top 10 largest stores by Coles, as well as servicing Kununurra and Port Douglas amidst fluctuating trading conditions. After working 21 years at Coles he then worked for two years as District Sales Manager for Coca-Cola, working in communities such Beswick, Ngukurr & Wadeye. During his career Matt has developed leadership skills across areas including people management, operations and solving complex logistical challenges.
Matt appreciates the opportunity to bring his extensive retail experience to the task of ensuring food security for Indigenous Australians living in remote communities.
Ellen Fisher
Executive Assistant to the CEO
Ellen is a born and bred Darwin local and brings with her an accumulative 15+ years’ experience in retail services, events and hospitality management. Prior to her role at Outback Stores, Ellen operated and ran a large commercial catering company alongside her immediate family. Ellen brings with her a wealth of knowledge and expertise in organisational and administrative capabilities to ensure that the business is on a moving path forward. Ellen is focused on maintaining a high standard of corporate governance and service provision to the business, to ensure better health, education and safety outcomes for all First Australians.
Alma Ngalmi
Training Manager
Alma grew up with her family in Numbulwar Community, in South-East Arnhem Land. Her first job was at the Barunga Community Store, which was then managed by Outback Stores on behalf of the community. She soon worked her way up to the role of store supervisor, and from there moved to the Darwin support office as receptionist. She enrolled in Certificate IV in Retail Management as well as Training and Assessor, while juggling full-time work and raising a young family. “This was really hard work but I really enjoyed the challenge,” says Alma.
She completed both qualifications and achieved her goal of becoming the first Aboriginal Retail Trainer at Outback Stores. “This was one of my proudest moment in life,” she says. “I want to show other Aboriginal people in community that if you set goals and work hard to achieve them there are great career opportunities in either in retail or other fields like training.”
In 2021 Alma was awarded the runner up prize at NT Training Awards in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year category.
Nicola Pitt
Communications Officer
Nicola brings a wide range of experience in strategic communications, with a recent focus on social media marketing and community management. Her roles have spanned the different markets of Australia and Mexico, working across fields such as the arts, IT, retail and cosmetics.
After working as a publicist in Sydney for six years, Nicola relocated to live in Alice Springs for five years in order to promote the efforts of CAAMA Music, Australia’s oldest Aboriginal record label. After returning to city life for a while, she is now enjoying the wide desert horizons again, and appreciates the opportunity to be living on Arrernte country. Nicola enjoys promoting the accomplishments of her fellow outback Australians, while bringing enthusiasm and passion to all tasks.
Anna Murison
Health & Nutrition Manager
Anna completed her degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at Flinders University in Adelaide. Since completing her studies Anna has worked in various private practice and public health nutrition roles. Anna worked at Outback Stores in 2018 as a Nutritionist working on sugar reduction in remote communities, it was here she found her passion for working with remote Indigenous communities. In addition to this Anna has over 9 years’ experience working in mainstream retail.
Anna is focused on building strong relationships internally as well as with key external stakeholders to create positive change in a unique retail environment. She is passionate about driving health and nutrition at Outback Stores to keep nutrition at the forefront to ensure improved nutrition outcomes for remote communities.
Craig Boxall
Operations Manager Community Services
Craig brings a wealth of experience to Outback Stores with nearly 30 years’ experience spanning a range of operational, managerial and leadership roles working with Coles, Woolworths and the South Australian Government.
Having spent a large portion of his working life in regional areas spanning South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania, Craig understands the challenges of living in regional and remote localities and enjoys working with people.
Highlights of Craig’s career include being the Regional Manager for Coles Stores across Tasmania, his store being awarded Disability Action Employer of the Year (Regional) by the SA Governor, and successfully lobbying the community for deregulated shop trading in the Riverland (SA).
Since commencing with Outback Stores in 2021, Craig has been responsible for working for and with people and communities across Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales, and expanding this offering by providing training opportunities for employees in communities.
Kristy Clarke
Corporate Services
Bio to come.
Harsh Purohit
IT Manager
Bio to come.
Craig McIntosh
Merchandise Manager
With 16 years of extensive experience in retail management roles, Craig brings a wealth of expertise to his position at Outback Stores. Prior to joining Outback Stores in September 2023, Craig spent 13 years dedicated to Roof Rack Superstore, where he began as a Store Manager. Over the years, Craig demonstrated exceptional leadership and management skills, leading to his progression from Store Manager to Area Manager and eventually to the position of General Manager. Throughout his tenure, Craig cultivated a deep understanding of customer needs and operational excellence.
Joining Outback Stores, Craig draws on his vast experience, including time spent living and working in Aboriginal communities such as Jigalong, Beswick, and Maningrida. Now based in Darwin, Craig’s primary focus revolves around supporting communities by providing access to the best value products while continuously enhancing business systems and outcomes. He is driven by the knowledge that improving affordability and availability of products directly contributes to improved food security and enhanced health outcomes in the communities Outback Stores operates in. Craig is dedicated to making a positive impact and delivering tangible benefits to the communities served by Outback Stores through his role as Merchandise Manager.