MICHAEL SCHAEFER
PARTNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
Grew up on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia.
Agribusiness owner and operator of 3,800 Ha farming enterprise.
One of the Founders, and Director of Grain Producers Australia (Advocacy Body).
Chairman of Grains Council South Australia (Advocacy Body).
Michael has long-standing relationships with State and Federal Politics and has served on numerous Government appointments for industry inquiries and reviews.
Strong links to key decision makers across Local, State and Federal Government bodies.
Leads the discussions on testing new ideas and technologies with the key approval authorities and early stage customers.
Very strong network of contacts to enable conversations to move quickly and find their way.
michael@sa2050.com
DANNY MACMAHON
DIRECTOR SALES & MARKETING
Experienced in Business Management, International Business, Agribusiness, Sales and Marketing.
Previously, CEO of a medium-sized wine business, transforming from a grape-growing business and building to over 15 international markets with multiple new product developments and earning major international awards and reviews.
Danny brings his entrepreneurial experience having been involved in start-ups and based in Europe for 8 years. He has successful experience in negotiating major projects, new customers and grants. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration and Diploma in Wine Marketing.
danny@sa2050.com
DAMIAN SERONG
PARTNER, DIRECTOR INNOVATION & SUPPLIER RELATIONS
Grew up in Melbourne and involved in the wine industry for many years.
Ventured to the US in 2007 to build distribution for Australian wineries in the US.
Based in Nashville Tennessee for the past 13 years.
In addition to wine, has been working across a variety of tech businesses from software development, healthcare IT and renewable energy. Primarily in involved in sales, marketing, distribution and project management roles.
Damian has been involved in the commercialisation of a range of products and technology platforms from medical devices developed at Harvard University in conjunction with the US Department of Defense, to several waste-to-energy platforms, a software platform for the Pharmaceutical industry and a UK-based healthcare IT firm. He brings a strong base of contacts across a wide range of technologies both in North America and Europe.
damian@sa2050.com
KATIE BYRNE
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Starting her career in Construction and Project Management, Katie has been responsible for bringing multi-million dollar projects to life - from managing the cost control, program and resources needed. Katie progressed her career to business operations, through applying the learnings from complex commercial projects to small- medium sized business. With a strong commercial intuition and ability to establish plans and cultivate progress, Katie is very familiar acting in the role of a CEO's right hand.
Katie grew up and started her career in Adelaide, then continued in Sydney for 8 years, before returning to Adelaide to start her own consulting business, Right Hand Band. In this capacity, she is able to support a variety of businesses as their Operations Manager. She has proudly been a part of the SA2050 team since 2020.
katie@sa2050.com