The team | FoodLab Sydney

FoodLab's Team

Jamie Loveday

Managing Director

Jamie has worked within the food and entrepreneurship space all his life. Growing up in a family of business owners, he pursued a commerce degree at University. He worked as a farmhand for farmers across rural Cambodia and managed The University of Sydney's entrepreneurship programs, before helping build the curriculum for FoodLab when they launched in 2019.

Travis Harvey

Executive Chef

Trav, a seasoned chef, began his culinary journey in Canberra's esteemed restaurants before embarking on a decade-long global culinary adventure. Trav served as the Executive Chef of OzHarvest for over a decade, pioneering two restaurant pop-ups, the OzHarvest food truck, OzHarvest catering arms, and the 'Refertorio' with Massimo Bottura.

Meena Throngkumpola

Chef

Born in Texas with Thai heritage, Meena honed her culinary craft at the Culinary Institute of America before spending 11 years at Nobu 57 in NYC. After a brief stint at Nobu Melbourne in 2014, she fell in love with Australia and made it her home. Meena has since worked as a sous chef at Fish Butchery and executive chef at Long Chim Sydney.

Luul Okbay

Kitchen Steward

A dedicated kitchen professional, Luul brings her passion for food and years of experience to FoodLab. Originally from Eritrea and a proud mother of three, she finds joy in creating a welcoming and vibrant kitchen environment. When she’s not playing outdoors with her kids, Luul is perfecting her signature dishes, including Injera, Doro Wat, and Lamb Zigni.

Our Board

Nina Siljanovic (Chair)

Nina Siljanovic brings 15 years of professional experience spanning investment banking, higher education, and small business, offering a wealth of strategic expertise to her role.

The former owner and operator of The Nutty Baker, Nina currently works in various roles with prominent hospitality brands including The Restaurant Pendolino, Bourke Street Bakery, and Bundarra Farming for Good.

Stuart Kingham

Stuart is Challenger Limited's Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for strategy, M&A and Challenger's external and strategic relationships. Stuart has held a number of senior finance roles since joining Challenger in 2012 and began his career as a Chartered Accountant, working in investment banking and senior finance roles in Australia and the UK.

Jessica Nesbit

Jessica is a construction law specialist from MinterEllison, acting for major public and private sector clients including in the property development, office, industrial and education sectors. Jessica has a strong interest in community investment and has varied experience in advising not-for-profit organisations.

Joanna Savill

Joanna has several decades of experience in food media, marketing, events and festivals, partnerships, community engagement and creating great public places. Previously a reporter, producer and presenter with SBS, she has worked to promote Australia’s amazing cultural and culinary diversity to highlight the incredible talents of our producers, cooks, chefs, farmers and food artisans.