TMA hands top leadership roles to Jason Preston and Gayle Dickerson
Jason Preston, executive chair of professional service firm McGrathNicol, has been appointed president of turnaround industry association TMA, with KPMG’s Gayle Dickerson named vice president.
The Turnaround Management Association (TMA) is one of Australia’s largest professional bodies for the corporate insolvency, restructuring and turnaround sector, with more than 800 local members among the international association's almost 10,000 worldwide.
One of McGrathNicol’s founding partners upon its split from KPMG now more than two decades ago, Preston has been a director of the TMA since 2021, and replaces Hamilton Locke founding partner Zina Edwards, who in turn succeeded former KordaMentha partner Chris Martin.
Serving as McGrathNicol’s executive chair since 2020, Preston has across his almost three decade career served as an administrator and advised various private and government stakeholders on many of Australia’s most high-profile cases, including on complex financial and other matters relating to HIH Insurance, Virgin Australia, Quintis, and Toys R Us.
“TMA Australia is built on three core pillars: connectivity, inclusion, and market profiling,” Preston said in his first president’s address. “These principles underpin everything we do, from facilitating national and global networks to ensuring the organisation accurately represents the spectrum and diversity of turnaround and restructuring professionals.”
He continued, “Amidst a weakening economy and geopolitical changes, demand for turnaround expertise is set to grow. Turnaround and restructuring can be key to better business outcomes. I know that the work we do is critical, not just to companies, but to their employees, industries, and the broader economy. Together, we will drive the industry forward.”
Preston also thanked Edwards for her exceptional leadership (TMA’s Australian branch last year won an international chapter award) and lauded the dedication of outgoing chair Maria O’Brien, a partner at Clayton Utz, while welcoming Gayle Dickerson as vice president and stating that her career achievements and expertise would be invaluable in the role.
The leader of KPMG’s national restructuring services practice, Dickerson has been a partner at the Big Four firm since 2017 and led numerous administrations, before which she was a partner at Grant Thornton and altogether spent a decade and a half at the mid-tier firm between Sydney, Hong Kong, and London. She has been a TMA board member since 2020.
TMA board
Other directors include FTI Consulting senior managing director Joseph Hansell, who shared in a 2024 TMA award or helping to save Sara Lee, along with Richard Hughes, Deloitte’s turnaround & restructuring leader for Queensland, and Faraday Associates co-founder John Nestel, who last year joined Alvarez & Marsal as regional head of corporate finance & debt restructuring.
ARITA
Meanwhile, McGrathNicol partner Kathy Sozou, who joined the firm from KPMG in 2006, is vice president of fellow industry body ARITA (Australian Restructuring, Insolvency & Turnaround Association), with Cor Cordis partner Rachel Burdett (also ex-KPMG, along with BDO and Ernst & Young), serving as national president since 2023.
