Cameron Schwab

Cameron Schwab's Biography

The son of noted AFL administrator and former Richmond player Alan Schwab, Cameron began his career in 1982 as a junior administrator with Melbourne Football Club at just 18 years old. Only one year later, he took on his first leadership role, responsible for overseeing talent identification and recruitment, before being offered a postion with Richmond Football Club as General Manager in 1988, making then 24 year old Cameron the youngest General Manager in league history at the time.

The year prior to Cameron's appointment at Richmond, the club had been wooden spooners and were in serious financial difficulty. In 1990, Cameron oversaw the 'Save our Skin' (SOS) fundraising campaign that effectively saved the club from bankruptcy. Then in 1995, Richmond made the finals for the first time in 13 years.

Cameron stayed with Richmond for six difficult years before resigning for personal reasons in 1994, along with several board members after an attack from Mal Brown. He then teamed up with the Fremantle Football Club as a full-time consultant to assist their bid to join the AFL in 1995.

Cameron went on to full time study for two years, completing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Marketing at the Melbourne Business School. Following this he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Melbourne Football Club immediately following the failed merger with Hawthorn. In 1998 Melbourne made the preliminary final having finished last the previous year, and in 2000 they were Grand Finalists.

In September 2001 Cameron accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Fremantle Football Club. His tenure saw the transformation of the Dockers, the club having an $8m debt when he commenced, losing $5m in the previous seasons and winning just two games that year. By the time Cameron left the club in 2008, they had $5m in the bank and over 43,000 members (ranking 3rd in the AFL) as well as a high level of corporate and sponsor support. The club was first time finalists in 2003 and preliminary finalists in 2006.

Following a seven year stint at the Dockers, Cameron returned to Melbourne and soon after accepted the role of CEO at his old club, Melbourne Football Club, where he remained until 2013.

Cameron Schwab has experienced the highs and lows of AFL football. He has had the benefit of working with some of the game's most powerful personalities including Ron Barassi, Kevin Sheedy, Allan Jeans and Eddie McGuire, and he has forged his own reputation as an influential person in a tough and uncompromising competition.

To add to his academic credentials, Cameron has completed an Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School as well as the Harvard program on Board Effectiveness. He is a vincent Fairfax Fellow of the Centre of Ethical Leadership (CEL) at University of Melbourne and has completed the Columbia Coaching Certification Program (CCCP) intensive at the Columbia Business School, New York. He is also a certified ECR and ECR360 practitioner, utilised for measuring and developing emotional intelligence for leaders and their teams.

Cameron's expertise centres on performance turnaround through strategic renewal, innovation and commercial enhancement, by building organisational capability and creating clarity of focus. He is a positive and creative thining and communicator with highly developed strategic skills as well as a track record for unifying organisations whilst navigating periods of genuine adversity and change.

Cameron Schwab is a first class speaker who is much sought after for corporate, sporting and government conferences and events. He strongly parallels the sporting and business techniques required for success. His presentations are an extremely effective combination of information, motivation and entertainment. A highly experienced change management speaker and business strategist, Cameron can lead and implement a winning environment for your organisation.