Mary Hawkins

Board Member since 2006
B.Sc; B.App. Sc. (Maths); Grad. Dip. Ed.; Grad. Dip. Info Tech; MBA
Member: Executive sub-committee – Strategic Partnerships sub-committee – Finance sub-committee

Mary brings to IWDA an extensive career in IT and Board experience in the not-for-profit sector, academia and government agencies. She has chaired a number of Boards and finance and audit committees and brings the dimension of IT governance to these roles. She is passionate about creating opportunities for women and girls particularly in developing countries.

Read more about IWDA’s President, Mary Hawkins

Jan Owen AM

Vice President
Board Member since 2008
Chair: Executive sub-committee
Member: Strategic Partnerships sub-committee

Jan is CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians and a pioneer of the youth sector in Australia. She is a highly regarded social entrepreneur, innovator and child and youth advocate. For the nine years leading up to 2011, Jan was Executive Director of Social Ventures Australia which aims to increase the impact of the Australian social sector. Prior to this Jan founded the CREATE Foundation and was its CEO for nine years. She has been awarded membership of the Order of Australia for services to children and young people.

Amanda Ford

Treasurer
Board Member since 2009
B.Bus.; Grad. Cert. HRM; MBA, FCPA, Dip. FS (Financial Planning)
Chair: Finance sub-committee
Member: Executive sub-committee

Amanda is a Business Support Manager at the Westgate Community Initiatives Group. Prior to that, she worked for over 20 years across a number of industries including the not-for-profit, government, and private sectors, in Australia and the United Kingdom. A Fellow of the CPA, she is also a member of the Institute of Executive Coaching (Level 2).

Therese McCarthy

Secretary (since Nov 2008)
Board Member since 2007
BA; BSW; LLB; MA (Pol. & Law)
Member: Executive sub-committee – Programs sub-committee

Therese has worked as a consultant to the Public Prosecutor and Amnesty International in Papua New Guinea, and to the United Nations in Syria and The Hague, Netherlands. She also recently worked in Pakistan for ActionAid International, providing training on human rights and violence against women to humanitarian and aid workers responding to flood survivors. She has considerable experience in the area of challenging violence against women. She also works as a Barrister at the Victorian Bar.

Tamara Brezzi

On maternity leave since November 2010
Board Member since 2007
BA (Urban Studies); Grad. Dip. (Urban Planning); LLB (Hons)
Member: Executive sub-committee

Tamara is a partner at law firm Norton Rose Australia and has been employed at that firm and its predecessors since 1998. Tamara practices in town planning/ development law and previously was employed as a town planner in local government for six years prior to commencing her legal career. She is also a trustee of the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre and Vice President of the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association.

Martha Macintyre

Board Member since 2004
BA (Hons); Cert. Soc. Anth.; PhD
Member: Programs sub-committee

An anthropologist, Martha has been Director of Gender Studies at the University of Melbourne and has published extensively on gender in the Pacific region. Her own research has concentrated on gender and social change in Melanesia. She is currently editor of The Australian Journal of Anthropology. She has also worked as a consultant for AusAID, designing, evaluating and advising on gender and community for a number of major projects.

Sandy Verschoor

Board Member since 2009
BA (Politics/Psych.); Dip. Journ.; MA; Ph.D.(Bus. Admin.); Churchill Fellow
Chair: Strategic Partnerships sub-committee

Sandy has more than 25 years experience as an administrator and in senior marketing, communications and development roles in the arts and has lectured internationally in strategic marketing. Sandy’s past and present participation on many Boards reflects her commitment to active participation in community and good corporate governance.

Ruth Owens

Board Member since 2007
B. Bus.; MBA; FCPA; FAICD
Member: Finance sub-committee

Ruth held senior finance roles in both commercial and not-for-profit enterprises prior to taking up a number of not-for-profit Board positions. Ruth has a strong commitment to social justice and in particular, to supporting women to achieve their potential.

Maree Keating

Board Member since 2007
BA (Indonesian & Malaysian Studies); Dip. Ed.; Grad. Dip. Arts (Music); MA (Asian Studies/Women’s studies); PhD (Global Studies, Social Science & Planning)
Chair: Programs sub-committee

Maree has managed programs for Australian Volunteers Abroad, Oxfam Australia and Oxfam UK in Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. She has worked as the senior global gender policy advisor with Oxfam in the United Kingdom and supported gender policy implementation in Africa and Afghanistan. Currently at Victoria University, she is an academic and researches equity and access in employment and education since global restructuring.

Joanna Hayter

Executive Director
MSc (Human Resource Development & Management); Dip. Nursing
Member: Executive sub-committee
Ex-officio member: Finance sub-committee – Strategic Partnerships sub-committee – Programs sub-committee

Joanna has worked in international development and social justice since 1983. With experience ranging across four continents and 25 countries, her former roles include: Country Director for the Burnet Institute in Burma; Country Director for Save the Children UK in Vietnam; and Regional Manager for Africa with the Overseas Service Bureau. Joanna managed her own consultancy firm for three years for clients including UN agencies, governments and international NGOs.

Read more about IWDA’s Executive Director, Joanna Hayter