The Hon. Jaala Pulford

The Honourable Jaala Pulford is a board chair, non-executive director, adviser, and mentor with appointments in the private, not for profit and higher education sectors. She was appointed Chair of MTP Connect – Australia’s Life-Sciences Accelerator in 2023 following a distinguished career as a senior minister in the Victorian State Government.

Jaala holds a number of positions in the life-sciences sector including Chair of the Children’s Cancer Foundation, member of the Monash University Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health Advisory Council, Non-Executive Director of Cyban Pty Limited and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at University of Melbourne. She holds a Bachelor Business Management, a Master of Public Policy and is a Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

A member of the Victorian Parliament from 2006 – 2022, Jaala was Deputy Leader of the Government in the upper house and the first woman to serve as the state’s Agriculture Minister. Over her time in Cabinet (2014 – 2022), Jaala was Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Fishing and Boating, Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research & the Digital Economy, and Minister for Resources. In these roles Jaala had responsibility for administration of significant public funds, program and project delivery, legislation, regulation, and public sector performance. Throughout, she embraced complex reform and big public policy challenges.

Between 2020 and 2022 Jaala oversaw the State’s largest ever investment into medical research and innovation and played a pivotal role in both Moderna and BioNTech establishing their regional research and manufacturing centres in Melbourne. As Agriculture Minister she oversaw the establishment of a medicinal cannabis industry.

An accomplished leader with deep experience in governance, public administration and cabinet government, Jaala’s focus is on working with, or being part of, organisations with big goals to improve the lives of others.