Our Team
Derek Jones
Chairman
Derek has advised many government, private enterprise and organisational clients on corporate affairs, media relations, government and community relations and issues management. Following a distinguished career in marketing and business management, which included senior executive positions in publishing, tourism, government and corporate affairs, Derek founded Currie Communications in 1989. In 2008 Australia’s peak body for public relations and communications, the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA), honoured Derek as a “fellow” of the institute for his development and representation of the profession during the past 20 years.
Mark Paterson, FPRIA
Managing Director
Mark is a former award-winning journalist and newspaper editor. He provides high-level, strategic counsel to senior management on stakeholder and media relations, strategy planning, brand positioning, and issues and crisis management. Mark is a regular commentator and co-host on ABC Radio. He is Chair of the Registered Consultancies Group of Victoria, past Secretary of the Global Public Relations Network and his contribution to public relations has been recognised with the title of “Fellow” of the Public Relations Institute of Australia.
Susan McNair
Director, Client Services
Susan has extensive experience in rural journalism in both Australia and New Zealand. She has more than eight years’ experience as a journalist, editor and managing editor with Australia’s largest rural and regional publisher, Rural Press Limited. More recently Susan edited Victoria’s leading livestock newspaper Stock & Land, following two years as editor of New Zealand’s largest national farming publication, Straight Furrow. Susan is the Secretary of the Rural Press Club of Victoria.
Jenny Littlewood
Director, Client Strategy
Jenny has more than 18 years experience as a PR practitioner here in Australia and in the UK. During her career, Jenny has developed communication strategies for a long list of government and private sector clients including Meat & Livestock Australia, Department of Victorian Communities, City of Melbourne, Shell and Dairy Australia. Prior to leaving London, Jenny worked ‘in-house’ as a public relations manager for St John Ambulance and prior to that the National Dairy Council. Her current clients include Metlink, Australian Unity, Meat and Livestock Australia and VicRoads.
Gabrielle Sheehan
Senior Consultant
Gabrielle has more than 10 years’ experience in agriculture, research and development, and natural resource management with a focus on strategic planning, stakeholder relations and project management. Previous roles include Communications Manager for the Dairy Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), Communications Manager at Melbourne Water and Communications Coordinator for the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment. She also has worked as a journalist in the environmental management and R&D sectors.
Craig Little
Senior Consultant
Craig has broad experience in public affairs in both the private and government sectors. He has managed corporate affairs for clients including SEEK, Cadbury and Visy. He has specialised in media and stakeholder relations at Transurban which involved crisis management during the Burnley Tunnel accident in April 2007 and stakeholder and government relations for the M1 upgrade project. He has also been manager of communications for the State Government’s planning portfolio, working with the then State Minister for Planning Rob Hulls, on stakeholder relations and mapping, issues & crisis management strategies, developing communication audits and formal speechwriting and policy statements.
Nicola Raymond
Senior Consultant
Nicola is a Nuffield Scholar who brings a decade of experience from her career in the agri-food industry in the United Kingdom, spanning marketing, supply chain management, stakeholder and public relations. Nicola was formerly the General Manager of the Welsh Meat Company, a farmer cooperative of 700 producer-members and custodian of the prestigious Celtic Pride red meat brand. A farmer’s daughter, Nicola passionately endeavoured to ensure sustainability to producers through improved production and supply chains.
Julia Balderstone
Senior Consultant
Julia has extensive experience in public relations following 11 years as a senior journalist and chief-of-staff and 10 years in marketing communications. She is a judge of the prestigious Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards and since joining Currie, she has implemented key campaigns for Australia Post, Australian Unity, Metlink, Meat and Livestock Australia, Opera Australia and the Department of Sustainability and Environment. Julia is a former Deputy Editor of The Weekly Times and a former director of the international consultancy, Hill and Knowlton.
Fiona Richardson
Senior Consultant
Fiona has a decade of experience working on community campaigns for major corporations including Australia Post, Commonwealth Bank, Telstra and Australian Wool Innovation. She is currently involved in researching, developing and adapting aggressive driving key messages for a number of VicRoads publications. With a farming background and a keen interest in rural and regional affairs, Fiona has an insight into what ingredients make communications effective at a local level.
Katrina Walter
Senior Consultant
Katrina has more than ten years experience creating communication and marketing strategies for companies such as Village Roadshow, Pacific Brands, Optus and Lion Nathan. She has promoted Optus’ infrastructure investment across regional Victoria, managed Lion Nathan’s Melbourne Cup sponsorship and re-positioned mecu’s new sustainable image. She brings a strong consumer empathy to her work and a keen interest in encouraging clients to embrace elements of new media in their campaigns.
Meemee Leong
Administration Manager
Meemee is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) with more than 20 years’ experience in accounting and finance. As the head of administration, Meemee is the architect of a specilised financial reporting system which the company uses to administer often large and detailed campaign budgets. Working closely with the consulting team, Meemee monitors client budgets and contracts.

