Our executive leadership team

Chris Freeland AM

Chief Executive Officer 

Chris Freeland is an experienced CEO and professional services leader, having also worked as a lawyer and strategy consultant. Chris has held executive leadership roles at major law and consulting firms in Australia and internationally, including Baker McKenzie, The Boston Consulting Group, Gilbert + Tobin and King & Wood (now King & Wood Mallesons). 

During his professional career, Chris has lived and worked in Asia, the US and Australia. Prior to joining CPA Australia, Chris was with Baker McKenzie where he began as Managing Partner (CEO) of Australia and was subsequently appointed Asia Pacific Managing Director. Chris is an expert in corporate change and transformation, with a proven track record of strategic leadership and growth. 

Actively involved in community engagement in the non-profit sector, most notably in arts, social welfare and education, Chris was recognised in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours as a Member of the Order for Australia (AM) for ‘significant service to the arts in New South Wales particularly to the film industry, to business education, and to the community.’

Chris holds a Master of Business Administration from Melbourne Business School, Melbourne University as well as a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Marissa Alley

Chief People Officer

Marissa has more than twenty years’ experience across all aspects of people and culture. She has worked internationally, cross culturally and across a range of industries including financial services, mining, property, FMCG, not-for-profit, technology, education and retail.

In her role as Executive General Manager People and Culture, she is accountable for the people systems and processes, partnering with business units and teams to develop capability and strengthen CPA Australia’s culture and employee engagement while building and maintaining a talented workforce.

Marissa has a Bachelor of Arts degree with the University of Melbourne, a Graduate Diploma in Visual and Performing Arts with RMIT, and has completed an Executive Development Program at the London Business School. She has multiple accreditations in organisational culture, leadership and team based tools. 

Rowena Buddee

Chief Member Experience Officer

Rowena has more than 15 years’ experience creating and delivering business development and marketing strategies, partnerships and programs across various industries, with significant experience in international markets including Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Rowena joined CPA Australia in 2009 and has worked in senior roles across public practice, member education, business development and commercial portfolios.

In her previous role as Executive General Manager Public Practice & Professional Standards, Rowena led a series of member-focussed initiatives to assist public practitioners to better service clients and maintain a sustainable practice.

She brings an equally sharp member focus to her role as Chief Member Experience Officer in which she is responsible for delivering personalised and engaging experiences that add value to CPA Australia membership.

Rowena holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Technology Sydney and a Bachelor of Science from Sydney University. She has also completed an executive education program at the London Business School and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

George Kapitelli FCPA

Chief Financial Officer

George Kapitelli joined CPA Australia as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in February 2023. 

George is a proven leader of Finance teams across a wide variety of cultures displaying both adaptability and agility and proven commercial acumen.

He began his finance career in 1987 as a 20-year-old graduate with General Motors Australian subsidiary – GM Holden. He enjoyed a 26-year career with GM, half of which was in international operations where he gained significant experience in establishing and turning start-up national operations (China Joint Ventures & GM Thailand) into successful long-term ventures and restructuring mature operations (GM Europe & GM Indonesia). He returned to Australia in 2012 as the GM Holden CFO and worked through the restructure of the local manufacturing and engineering operations as part of the closure of the Australian automotive industry. 

George joined the health sector in 2014 as the Chief Financial Officer at Melbourne Health. He then moved to Abu Dhabi Health Services in 2019 as the Group Chief Financial Officer and played a key role in the transformation of the largest health system in the UAE. 

He has a Bachelor of Economics from La Trobe University, an MBA from Deakin University, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA).

Rebecca Keppel-Jones FCPA

Chief of Member Operations

Rebecca is currently the Chief of Member Operations, where she has responsibility for the operations of our member divisions globally, as well as membership admissions, compliance and migration services. Prior to this role, Rebecca was Interim Chief Learning and Innovation Officer, responsible for the development of learning and content for members across all the member journeys, including the CPA Program and CPD. Rebecca first joined the executive leadership team in 2021 as Executive General Manager of Professional Standards and Business support, responsible for supporting the interests of CPA Australia members working in public practice and SME. Rebecca is passionate about diversity and inclusion, having founded the Families@ network at CPA Australia, as well as the Yarra Network, an employee-led network for neighbourhood diverse organisations along the Yarra River to connect, inspire and share.

Prior to working at CPA Australia, Rebecca spent more than 15 years working in Public Practice across multiple technical areas, including insolvency, forensics and management consulting. During this time, Rebecca has worked in the UK, Canada and Australia to build up a truly global view of the business world.

Rebecca is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) from Monash University.

Farid Jarrar

Chief Information and Digital Officer

Farid has more than 25 years’ experience in senior technology roles across a variety of global organisations, including as Global CIO for Stellar BPO.

He has considerable experience in digital transformation, customer-led innovation, change management, large scale systems integrations and program delivery, ecommerce, customer experience and digital transformation. He specialises in transforming organisational capabilities to better engage with digital consumers.

Farid holds a Bachelor of Computer Science and a Master of Technology Management from Swinburne University, and a number of credentials in innovation and digital transformation.

Asheley Jones

Chief Learning and Innovation Officer

Asheley Jones joined CPA Australia in August 2024. Asheley is an expert in designing educational transformation programs. She has over two decades executive leadership experience in the education, technology, and professional service sectors. Asheley was the former Chief Operations Officer, and Head of Product for DeakinCo. the commercial arm of Deakin University and was the inaugural Head of Education and Workforce Development at the Australian Computer Society. Asheley is an expert in designing educational transformation programs.

A former Chair of the Accreditation, Education and Employability portfolio for the Australian Council of Professions – the peak professional association body for more than 1,000,000 professionals, Asheley is currently a registered expert for the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA). and sits on the Academic Board of the Governance Institute of Australia.

Asheley holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Victoria University, a Master of Arts from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA.

Elinor Kasapidis

Chief of Policy, Standards and External Affairs

Elinor was appointed Chief of Policy, Standards and External Affairs in September 2024, where she is responsible for CPA Australia’s advocacy on behalf of members and the public, our professional standards and regulatory responsibilities including the Best Practice Program and CPD Review, as well as our external affairs function.

Most recently, Elinor held the role of Interim Chief Learning and Innovation Officer where she was responsible for the CPA Program, CPD and our content such as INTHEBLACK and With Interest Podcast. As Head of Policy and Advocacy and Senior Tax Adviser, Elinor has represented CPA Australia and our members on various key external committees and forums, before parliamentary hearings and in the media.  

Before CPA Australia, Elinor spent over 15 years at the Australian Taxation Office including executive roles across private wealth, risk and strategy, compliance and audit, data analytics, criminal law, tax gap and economic research. 

Elinor holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and Diploma of Modern Languages from the University of Melbourne, and an Executive Master from the Australia New Zealand School of Government.