Meet the Team
Mick Green
Mick is CEO of the Goal Group and a 22-year Defence veteran.
Mick started his career in the retail sector before joining the Royal Air Force in the Logistics Branch. His career has led to him having a unique and broad portfolio of experience in Logistics, Supply Chain and Operations Management in Defence and Commercial sectors.
Mick has held executive level business roles in the professional services and commercial aerospace sectors. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT UK) and is an alumnus of London Business School.
Mick has achieved great success in growing capability solutions that meet partner and client needs. He is passionate about the growth of Australian sovereign capability, especially where it leads to outcomes that benefit those that serve and protect our country.
He is married to Kylie a senior RAAF Officer, they share four children: two with them in Australia, and two based in the UK.
Alan Rankins
Alan is Chairman and a founder/owner of the Goal Group. He is also an Executive Director focused on the Maritime strategy and consulting space. Goal and Goal Group were established in 2006 by the Rankins family.
Alan is the previous CEO of Goal and is the Architect of the Goal Group Defence Ready® products and services. Alan has been involved in Defence & its Industry for over 50 years, serving for 21 years in the Royal Australian Navy in Weapons Electronics and subsequently has held Systems Engineering, Design Authority and Corporate and Program Management roles in the Defence Industry. He has held roles as National and NSW President of AIDN, Co-Chair – Synthetic Environment Working Group and currently represents AIDN on the AIG Security Working Group and the Hunter Defence Task Force (HDTF).
He utilises his specific areas of expertise in strategic direction, Australian Industry Capability (AIC), business and project development, bid preparation. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Management and Leaders, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Alan was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2023 for services to Engineering and Industry.
Alan and Cheryl Rankins are passionate about their growing business and are proud to be supported by daughter Kerrie-Anne Rankins and son Beau Rankins.
Cheryl Rankins
Cheryl is an Owner/Director of Goal Group and enjoys the challenge of the CFO role.
Cheryl has an accomplished background in small business management and has previously owned, grown and sold her own successful small business.
Prior to establishing Goal with husband Alan, Cheryl enjoyed a career change which saw her enthusiastically manage the Training Program for Junior Medical Officers within Central Coast Health.
Cheryl’s passion within the Goal business extends to supporting and investing in staff, and she believes in building a team that will embody the company’s culture and growth.
Cheryl enjoys being surrounded by, and supporting family, she has a love entertaining at home with family and friends.
Heads of Capability
Tony Birch
General Manager Operations
Tony is the ILS / Asset Management point of contact for Goal Group and a 38-year Defence veteran.
Tony began his career in the Royal Australian Navy as a Radar Plotter before commissioning as a Supply Officer in 1990. In 2002, Tony transferred across to Air Force as a Logistics Officer. In this capacity, Tony worked in several high-profile positions including 6 years in the USA as both the Supply Liaison Officer to the USN and the Sustainment Integration Lead for the JSF Joint Project Office. Tony has come to Goal Group after spending two years in Command of the Joint Logistics Unit in Edinburgh, South Australia.
Tony’s passion is people, and he thrives on mentoring, coaching and team building in both his logistics specialisation and more broadly on cultural transformation and leadership. Tony is married to Kelly who is a very talented schoolteacher specialising in Learning Support. They have two adult children, Thomas who is a landscaper and Mikayla who, like her mum found she has a passion for teaching.
Effy Pantechis
General Manager Asset Management
Effy is a highly experienced senior engineering supply chain operations manager with extensive experience in commercial, defence and aviation. During her career she has overseen various supply chain functions including, complex procurement activities, governance and assurance framework development and implementation, inventory management, supplier management, financial budget management, process improvement, contractual negotiation and ERP (SAP) development.
Effy’s personal strengths include dedication to deliver sustainable outcomes and the ability to understand and work collaboratively with diversified stakeholders associated with an engineering supply chain.
Eve Richardson
Talent Acquisition Lead
Eve brings with her over 20 years of recruitment experience, with a background recruiting largely in the Defence and Federal/State Government sectors.
Eve’s focus is on recruiting skilled Defence experienced professionals who align to our culture of teamwork, pro-activity, ingenuity and commitment, whilst providing a high-touch candidate recruitment experience, ensuring that prospective employees are well supported along the way!
Eve is married to Paul and is a mum of three teenagers, enjoys stand-up paddle boarding, painting, macrame, plant propagation and caravanning holidays.
Eve has a Bachelor of Arts Degree: Psychology and Sociology; and Bachelor of Business: Computing.
Amy McDonnell
General Manager Security Trade and Industry
Amy is a Defence and strategic goods technology transfer and Defence industry policy professional with 7 years’ experience in her field.
Amy is focused on supporting industry, academia and R&D organisations across export controls, supply chain preparedness, logistics and cyber. She has a background in federal government, Defence industry and professional services. Amy has previously worked in the Australian Department of Defence in roles focused on Export Controls, Defence industry policy and Defence industrial base engagement with the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
In her time in Defence, Amy was an Assistant Director in International Export Controls and in the Defence team leading on industrial base cooperation with key security partners, of which the United States was the focus. She also developed and led the Trade Compliance Function for a Defence maritime Prime in charge of sustainment and optimisation of critical Australian Defence maritime platforms. This role saw Amy engage across multiple Australian Primes, SME’s and across Defence to ensure compliance with Australian and the United States export controls.
Recently Amy was a Senior Manager at PwC, in the Global Trade area where she advised multinationals and SMEs in the Defence, Advanced Manufacturing and Energy, Utilities and Resources space on Trade Compliance and international and domestic supply chain optimisation.
Amy has a legal background, with a Bachelor of Laws, Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and Masters of International Security Law.
Core Capability POCs
Kevin Chenney
Export Control / ITARs
Kevin is the Defence Export Control Senior Consultant and Expert responsible for training, auditing and consulting in his specialist field. Kevin joined Goal Group in late 2017.
Kevin began a career in the Royal Australian Navy as a Maritime Warfare Office, specialising in Navigation. Kevin travelled throughout the Middle East, South-West Pacific, South-East Asia, and around Australia during his career. Upon departing the Navy after 12 years, Kevin’s subsequent roles have included training and technical solutions roles.
Kevin is passionate about people, and this is brought to the fore with his training and consultancy services, which he delivers with a high professionalism and commitment to client satisfaction.
Kevin can often be found cheering uncontrollably at the SCG watching his beloved Sydney Swans, which provide a great outlet for him and his oldest daughter to enjoy and spend time together.
Kerrie-Anne Rankins
Defence Ready Series Project Manager
Kerrie Anne completed her bachelor degree in Education and Music and spent a few years teaching in primary and special needs schools before joining Goal.
She commenced her career with GOAL 13 years ago, originally as Office Manager. She developed her skills in IT, Project Management and Quality, implementing GOAL’s original IT set up and taking GOAL on the journey to achieve certification in ISO 9001 Certified Quality Management. Kerrie-Anne is proud to be the Project Manager for the recently released “Defence Ready Seminar Series”.
Kerrie-Anne shares a passion for Music with her daughters Lilian (10) and Isabelle (8).