Board members
Ruth Medd, Chair 
Ruth was one of the original investors in the Start Up Round. She joined the board as a non-executive director in September 2017.
Ruth is an experienced, independent non-executive director and chair. She is the Executive Chair of Women on Boards, chair of the Australian Health and Science Institute, a trustee of the NSW Historic Houses Trust and a director of the National Foundation of Australian Women. Formerly she was chair of Australian Ethical Superannuation Pty Ltd and a director of The Infants Home Ashfield.
She holds qualifications in accountancy (FCPA) and IT and membership of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Chris Jahnke, Executive Director
Chris and Lynn founded Australian Chocolate Pty Ltd in 2013.
Chris has a background in real estate and transport marketing as well as extensive experience in the food service industry. He is a skilled business administrator and experienced project manager. Chris has acquired many new skills and become an expert in the complex area of chocolate making.
Lynn Jahnke, Executive Director 
Lynn and Chris founded Australian Chocolate in 2013.
Prior to Australian Chocolate Lynn had a successful career in retail. Before establishing online retailing business Essential Additions with Chris, Lynn spent 19 years in senior retail management roles with Myer in Australia and Marks & Spencer in the UK.
Product development is one of her key strengths. Lynn has been recognised as an industry expert having been invited to judge national cocoa/chocolate competitions in the South Pacific region.
Advisory Board
David Herlihy, Chair of Advisory Board
David has had a distinguished executive career including a number of senior roles at Capel Court Corporation Limited.
In his capacity as chairman and director of various entities, he has overseen a broad range of matters including governance, funding, acquisitions and strategy. He is currently chair of a number of private companies.
He was previously a director of Godfrey Hirst Australia and various Paul Ramsay Group entities. He has also been deputy chairman of Craig Mostyn Holdings and chairman of the State Transit Authority of NSW and Sydney Ferries. His ASX experience includes chairman of Mosaic Oil NL, Pro Pac Packaging Ltd and Fraser Range Holdings Ltd. David holds a Bachelor of Arts (UNSW) and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Dr Thomas Avery, member Advisory Board
Thomas was awarded a PhD in chemistry by The University of Adelaide in 2002 and completed postdoctoral positions in synthetic chemistry and wine related chemistry projects. Thomas is an ARC Research Fellow with the Centre for Nanoscale Biophotonics at the University of Adelaide.
Thomas has been involved with the Australian chocolate industry for 10 years, with a focus on fine-tuning fermentation practices. He has conducted consulting projects in Australia and the broader pacific region. Thomas has always been focused on innovation and invention in chocolate making and recently published 'How to Make Chocolate at Home, from Bean-to-Bar: A practical guide for fabulous chocolate'.
Rick Byrne, member Advisory Board
Rick’s knowledge of the Australian confectionery industry is drawn from 26 years experience in a broad range of roles and responsibilities. More recently he has been consulting within the confectionery manufacturing sector, and teaching confectionery and chocolate technology at William Angliss.
Rick has a Bachelor of Applied Science and a Diploma of Confectionery Technology (ZDS - Central College of German Confectionery Trade). He previously served on the Australian Confectionery Industry Technical Committee for 10 years.
Pete Faulkner, member Advisory Board
Pete is the co-owner of Conus Business Consulting Services and is a recognised expert in regional economic data analysis and strategic planning, business modelling and organisation leadership. He has created a unique resource; the Conus Trend labour market and building approvals series for all Queensland regions.
Pete was key to the establishment of the peak business group, Cassowary Coast Economic
Development Inc. Pete has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Banking and International Finance at City University Business School and is a shareholder in Australian Chocolate.
Rona Morgan, member Advisory Board
Rona is an experienced International Banker specialising in risk and governance, working in SE Asia and Australia. Latterly, she led the development of a professional association in data protection across the APAC region and now manages her own Risk consultancy and Board portfolio. She is certified in Corporate Governance with INSEAD (IDP-C). Her focus for Charley’s will be on ensuring our processes are fit for purpose.
Rona is a shareholder in Australian Chocolate
Sarah Richardson, member Advisory Board
Sarah is a seasoned board and executive leader in not-for-profits, SMEs and multinationals in Australia/France/USA. She is a strategic marketer with expertise in SME consulting, membership/stakeholder engagement, digital, business strategy and growth diversification strategies. She understands how to build commercially viable physical/digital audiences and scale SMEs
Sarah is a shareholder in Australian Chocolate
Duffy Sheardown, member Advisory Board
Duffy founded Red Star Chocolate after listening to BBC radio which reported that only Cadbury actually made British chocolate directly from the raw cacao bean. All other producers started the process further along in the refining process, using chocolate liqueur or paste in the beginning stages.
This intrigued Duffy and in-born curiosity prompted him to launch himself into the chocolate limelight in Britain. His expertise has spread. Duffy provides valuable advice to Australian Chocolate.
Fred Schilling, member Advisory Board
Fred was a registered patent and trade mark attorney from 1979 to 2013. In this time, he was an equity partner at the leading independent intellectual property firm, FB Rice & Co, and subsequently a consultant at another of Australia’s intellectual property firms, Davies Collison Cave. Fred is a shareholder in Australian Chocolate.