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Why The Pacific

Because Australia’s future is tied to our region.

Support Our Mission

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Relieving Hardship and Building Lasting Resilience

PBG Foundation exists to relieve hardship and strengthen resilience where needs are acute and where smart, practical support can create lasting change. Much of our work focuses on the Pacific because the region faces compounding challenges: natural disasters, limited infrastructure, and fewer resources to recover when something goes wrong.

65%

Community Resilience

Strengthening Community Resilience Through Infrastructure

48%
Recovery Strength

Focused on disaster recovery and long-term stability

90%
Grounded Recovery

Directed to practical, on-ground outcomes across the Pacific

Helping our neighbours strengthens our own community

Supporting our region does not diminish care for Australia, it actually creates a more stable, secure environment for all of us. PBG Foundation is an Australian charity, governed and regulated in Australia. We operate under Australian standards of accountability and reporting, and we remain firmly committed to ensuring funds are applied only to our charitable purpose.

By investing in our Pacific neighbours, we enrich our shared future. A safer, healthier, and more prosperous South Pacific benefits Australia’s security and prosperity as well. In this sense, helping communities in Vanuatu or elsewhere in the region is an investment in our broader “neighbourhood”, the one Australia belongs to.

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Our Focus Areas

01
Resilient Communities

Building stronger, self-sufficient Pacific communities.

02
Stable Region

Supporting a Safer and More Secure South Pacific

03
Core Values

Reflecting fairness, mateship, and responsibility.

04
Sustainable Future

Investing in shared, long-term regional prosperity.

Our commitment

Impact is not claimed, it is earned. We are committed to honest reporting, responsible stewardship of resources, and continual learning. Our goal is not scale for its own sake, but depth, durability, and dignity in every initiative we support.

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Christopher Penfold

Treasurer & Director

Christopher Penfold serves as Treasurer and Director of PBG Foundation, providing financial oversight and operational discipline to support the Foundation’s charitable work.

Christopher’s professional experience spans more than twenty years across business ownership, management consultancy, and organisational restructuring. He has worked closely with founders and leadership teams in environments requiring clear execution, sound capital allocation, and strong governance under pressure.

His work has involved stabilising organisations during periods of transition, improving operational clarity, and aligning strategy with day-to-day capability. Through this experience, Christopher developed a practical understanding of how decisions flow through people, systems, and incentives; and how small weaknesses, if left unaddressed, can undermine long-term resilience.

As Treasurer, Christopher ensures that PBG Foundation’s resources are managed responsibly and in accordance with Australian charity law. He is focused on transparency, financial integrity, and ensuring that donor funds are applied efficiently and solely toward the Foundation’s charitable purposes.

Christopher also brings a strong interest in education and capability development, having designed and delivered programs aimed at strengthening leadership coherence and execution discipline. His contribution to PBG Foundation reflects a commitment to ensuring that humanitarian intent is matched with operational soundness, so that the Foundation remains stable, credible, and effective over time.

Dr Regina Crameri

Director

Dr Regina Crameri brings decades of experience across science, government, defence, and institutional leadership to her role as Director of PBG Foundation.

With a background in biomedical science and applied research, Regina’s early career involved academic and research appointments in Australia and internationally. This foundation led into senior roles within Australia’s defence, innovation, and research ecosystems; environments characterised by public accountability, complex governance, and long-term national interest.

Over time, Regina’s work expanded from research into the design and stewardship of large, multi-stakeholder programs. She has worked closely with government, industry, universities, and international partners in areas including health, critical technologies, and capability development, where alignment between policy intent, organisational structure, and delivery is essential.

Regina has also held numerous board and advisory positions, contributing to governance, risk management, and institutional resilience across public, not-for-profit, and sector-based organisations. Her leadership style is grounded in realism: an understanding of how institutions function in practice, where misalignment erodes outcomes, and how long-term value is sustained through disciplined oversight.

As Director of PBG Foundation, Regina oversees operational delivery, strategic development, and program integrity. She ensures the Foundation’s humanitarian work is not only compassionate, but effective; guided by evidence, accountability, and a clear understanding of how complex systems behave over time.

Her role is central to translating PBG Foundation’s values into action: ensuring that ambition is matched with capability, and that every initiative is delivered with care, credibility, and respect for the communities it serves.

Aruba de Groot-Cham

Chairwoman & Director

Aruba de Groot-Cham’s work is grounded in the long-term stewardship of institutions operating where law, science, governance, and human consequence converge. Her leadership reflects a commitment to building structures that endure ethically, legally, and culturally, beyond the immediacy of individual projects or personalities.

Her professional background spans advanced legal training, biomedical research, and senior oversight roles across philanthropic, advisory, fiduciary, and civil society contexts. With postgraduate qualifications in law and medical science, Aruba has worked extensively in environments where regulatory integrity, scientific discipline, and human outcomes must be held together under sustained pressure. This multidisciplinary foundation has shaped a leadership style defined by rigour, clarity, and respect for consequence.

Aruba’s early professional formation took place within biomedical research, contributing to internationally peer-reviewed work in oncology, lipid science, and infectious disease treatment. This grounding instilled a deep respect for evidence, systems behaviour, and the risks inherent in poorly designed intervention. Her subsequent legal training, including specialist focus in international war crimes, extended this perspective into questions of governance, accountability, and the protection of rights within complex civil and criminal frameworks.

In her role as Director and Chairwoman of PBG Foundation, Aruba provides strategic oversight and guardianship of institutional integrity, ensuring that the Foundation’s charitable activities are conducted lawfully, transparently, and in alignment with Australian regulatory standards. Her focus is on governance architecture, compliance discipline, and long-term defensibility, ensuring that PBG Foundation remains resilient, credible, and respectful of local sovereignty and dignity in all jurisdictions in which it operates.

Alongside her philanthropic governance work, Aruba holds leadership roles in national sporting institutions in Vanuatu, including serving as President of the Vanuatu Archery Federation. Through these roles, she supports youth development, cultural continuity, gender equity, and international representation, using sport as a vehicle for discipline, confidence, and community cohesion.

Aruba has lived and worked in the Pacific region for over two decades and is a naturalised citizen of Vanuatu. Her leadership is informed by direct engagement in communities where governance decisions carry immediate and tangible consequences. Accustomed to cross-cultural and multi-jurisdictional environments, she operates with composure across legal systems, institutional cultures, and geopolitical boundaries.

Above all professional roles and institutional appointments, Aruba’s greatest responsibility and source of perspective is her role as a mother to five children: Zsa Zsa, Zelda, Zeus, Zahira, and Zlatan. This lived experience grounds her understanding of stewardship not as an abstract principle, but as an obligation to future generations.

As Chairwoman, Aruba’s contribution to PBG Foundation is defined by attentiveness to what institutions often avoid: time, consequence, and responsibility. Her leadership is anchored in the belief that trust is not asserted, but cultivated; through patient governance, disciplined care, and an unwavering commitment to the long horizon.

Peter Bowman

Founder, Ambassador, & Principal Benefactor

Peter Bowman is the Founder and Ambassador of PBG Foundation, established to support long-term, community-led development across the Pacific region through the application of Australian standards of governance, accountability, and practical capability.

The Foundation was born from Peter’s conviction that meaningful and lasting change depends on strong systems, ethical frameworks, and respect for local context. Drawing on decades of professional experience across finance, governance, and complex environments, he envisioned an organisation that would prioritise dignity, safety, and resilience over short-term intervention or symbolic aid.

Peter began his career in financial services in 1998 within funds management and institutional finance, working across private banking and advisory settings during periods of significant economic and structural change. Over time, he developed a deep appreciation for the role that sound governance, transparency, and disciplined decision-making play in achieving sustainable outcomes, particularly where resources are scarce and the consequences of failure are felt most acutely.

These insights shaped the founding ethos of PBG Foundation. As Ambassador, Peter contributes by articulating the Foundation’s mission, championing ethical and well-governed philanthropy, and supporting constructive engagement with partners, communities, and stakeholders. His role is focused on stewardship of values, long-term vision, and the responsible application of expertise in service of the Foundation’s charitable purpose.

Peter is also recognised internationally as a peace envoy and humanitarian diplomat, and is a holder of a laissez-passer issued by the International Commission for the Protection of Civilians (ICPC). These roles reflect a broader commitment to civilian protection, stability, and principled engagement in complex environments, and align closely with the humanitarian objectives of PBG Foundation.

Through his association with PBG Foundation, Peter seeks to contribute to institutions and initiatives that leave communities stronger than they were found. His work reflects a belief that progress; whether social, institutional, or humanitarian, is built through integrity, restraint, and a willingness to invest in outcomes that endure.