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DVNSW comprises of a Board of volunteer Directors and a small, dedicated team whose skills and expertise in the domestic and family violence sector, coupled with their determination to create change, is crucial to the success of DVNSW.
Delia brings with her extensive experience in non-government and social services settings across Australia and the United Kingdom. She has 21 years’ experience in social work and social care settings spending the last 11 years in the domestic and family violence sector. Delia has led two domestic violence organisations as CEO: The Dash Charity (Domestic Abuse Stops Here) set in the UK and more recently White Ribbon Australia.
Delia was appointed as Chair of Prosper Australia in 2016 and is deeply passionate about their work to support disadvantaged children and families across NSW at home, in school and across the community. Delia has been recognized and awarded for her work in both the UK and Australia receiving several awards for her work to innovate and effect change.
Prior to her appointment with DVNSW, Delia has been consulting for an out of home care provider supporting their strategic planning and review processes. Delia holds a Bachelor of Honours Degree in Social Work from Brunel University in London.
Elise is a registered psychologist with 13 years’ experience in leadership roles in the non-government sector. Elise has lived experience of domestic and family violence and is passionate about influencing systems-level change to increase safety, prevent violence, bring healing for victim-survivors and hold people who use violence accountable.
Elise brings strong stakeholder relationships having spent the past three years working in peak bodies in the DFV sector and advocating with Government for greater investment where it is most needed. Before this Elise worked as a counsellor, group worker and manager in family services.
Louise Gardiner is the Team Manager- Operations and Members and has also previously managed DVNSW Conferences and the Safer Homes, Stronger Communities project. Louise has over 25 years’ experience in senior management roles with particular expertise in marketing, operations, people and culture, project management and strategy. A feminist in her approach, her work is underpinned by her dedication to DVNSW team’s work in supporting the sector to improve the lives of children, young people and their families experiencing Domestic and Family Violence.
Amelia has diverse experience in communications and policy roles across the not-for-profit and public sectors.
She joins us from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, where she contributed to national legislative and policy reforms aimed at keeping Australians safer online. Prior to this, Amelia led the communications and fundraising efforts for a charity dedicated to creating education opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
Amelia holds a Bachelor of Media, Public Relations & Advertising and is passionate about using strategic communication to promote equity, social impact, and meaningful change."
Emily holds a Bachelor of Communications and has spent the last seven plus years working in marketing and communications in the not-for-profit health and mental health industry in regional Australia. With a passion for ensuring country Australians are not left behind, Emily has a keen interest in elevating the experiences and voices of victim-survivors and DFV workers in regional areas – sharing stories for individual empowerment, community awareness and political change.
Currently studying her Masters of Social Work, Emily is committed to advocating for social justice, gender equality and human rights. She is an avid writer and believes strongly in the power of words to inspire and drive change across society and systems.
Sarah has over 15 years’ experience in employee engagement both in Australia and the United Kingdom. Having worked mostly in the private sector, from hospitality to music festivals, her roles have all been based on listening to employees/customers and creating engaging content – from films, communications, conferences, events and training. She has also worked as a consultant facilitating workshops and coaching for a variety of clients.
With lived experience of domestic and family violence, Sarah is passionate about contributing to systemic change towards a world free from gendered violence. She is currently completing a master’s degree at Newcastle University, with a research paper on the correlation between shame and gender-based violence and the role of the education curriculum in primary prevention.
Shelley is a qualified political sociologist with a focus on social policy and gender analysis. Shelley has an extensive background in policy development and analysis across the government and non-government sectors, working closely with Government Ministers and Department Executives in the portfolios of Premier and Cabinet, Family and Community Services (Aboriginal Affairs, Child Protection, Community Services, Women, Housing), Health, Justice and Education.
A life-long advocate for gender equality, women’s empowerment and social justice, Shelley has volunteered on human rights and community development projects in South Korea and Costa Rica and is a consultant with UN Women.
Livia has worked across a variety of policy and front-line direct DFV service provision roles. She is passionate about building capacity and supporting front-line services to deliver best practice, specialist DFV support to women and their children experiencing violence.
Livia previously worked in the policy team at DVNSW where she held the portfolios of housing and multicultural communities. Livia is passionate about creating change through advocacy in the areas of safe and sustainable housing pathways for DFV victim-survivors and multicultural communities living safely and free from DFV.
Prior roles include managing the Southern Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service, providing support to women and their children after police attended a DFV incident, and women’s DFV refuge case management support. Livia holds a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) from the University of New South Wales.
Tracey is a Chartered Accountant with extensive experience in a range of accounting roles, and looks after all things financial at DVNSW.
She has specialised in the not-for profit sector since switching from Financial Services over 10 years ago, and continues to be inspired by the passionate individuals and organisations striving for change in the DFV space.
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Bec holds a Bachelor of Communications and tertiary qualifications in business and has an extensive background working in operations and administration roles. Before following her passion for women’s services and social justice into the not-for-profit sector, Bec spent her career working across various sectors including, the private sector, tech start-ups and advertising and branding agencies.
Raylene is a proud descendant of the Yiman (pronounced im-man) Clan in Central Queensland and has extensive experience in child protection, training and development and community engagement.
Raylene has worked in non-government and social services settings across Australia and brings extensive experience in culturally appropriate frameworks and trauma informed practices. Her lived experiences compel her to always give back to her community and to ensure that the inherent rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are heard and listened to.
She is currently enrolled at Deakin University and is undertaking her Social Work Degree through the National Indigenous Knowledges Education Research Innovation (NIKERI) Institute. Her happy place is talking about and sharing her culture and is famously known for her cheeky smile.
Carrie is a qualified social worker with extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector since 2009. Carrie recently took time out from practice to focus on postgraduate studies, completing her masters in social work. Carrie’s background includes community development and outreach, direct practice with children, young people and families, as well as leadership in research, practice innovation and project delivery.
Carrie is passionate about intersectional feminist approaches to social work practice and elevating survivor knowledges through lived and practice experience research and user-centred co-design approaches. Carrie is particularly interested in research with people with lived experience of social injustice at the intersection of oppressive systems, institutional violence, and gendered violence, as well as with practitioners working alongside people navigating these spaces. Carrie has brought this approach to delivery of complex practice development, service improvement and consultation research projects in child and family, out of home care (OOHC) specific and crisis support and suicide prevention contexts.
Danielle has experience in social work and program coordination roles in both Australia and internationally. Completing a Master in International Relations which focused on international policy, governance and human rights, Danielle has a keen interest in programs and policy that operate from a feminist perspective to support our most vulnerable communities.
For the past three years, Danielle has worked as a case worker in the Hunter region, mostly in the refuge setting, supporting women and children who have experienced domestic violence and who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Danielle is passionate about advocating for a system which invests in primary prevention and can respond effectively and respectfully to each individual in need of support.
Bridget is incredibly passionate about working towards the eradication of domestic and family violence against women and their children, and is especially interested in the part that systems play in this process. Bridget worked as the Eastern Sydney SAM Coordinator in the Sydney WDVCAS, enjoying seeing stakeholders and systems working together very effectively to assist women who have experienced domestic and family violence. She also holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Science, specialising in Domestic Violence, with her thesis examining women’s perpetration of intimate partner violence from a feminist perspective.
Bridget is responsible for delivering policy analysis, research, and strategic advice on issues specific to the role of the WDVCAS’s in the NSW domestic and family violence service system. She takes the lead in engaging WDVCAS members, with a view to assisting the DFV sector in achieving best practice and delivering quality services, especially across the legal system. Bridget also drives policy, practice, and law reform in relation to ADVO’s and criminal legal responses to domestic and family violence.
Kristen has had two “careers” - the first working in the publishing industry in editorial and project coordination roles, and more recently in client services roles in various not-for-profit organisations, such as Lifestart, the Mito Foundation and Interrelate Family Centres.
My eight years at Interrelate included triaging clients seeking counselling, family mediation, domestic violence support and the children’s contact service. I also coordinated education programs whilst at Interrelate, including parenting courses, anger management programs, domestic violence support groups and children’s grief and loss programs.
This experience reinforced my passion for advocating for those without a voice, particularly women and children experiencing family and domestic violence. I am excited by the opportunity to use my diverse skills and experience to support the work of DV NSW.
Carly has over 20 years' experience in the Community Services sector working for NGO's in Domestic Violence, Homelessness and the Child Rights space, with extensive experience in program development and service management.
Carly is passionate about working with communities to highlight Domestic and Family Violence and improve systems change as we as a community strive for social justice. I adopt a feminist approach to my work, and I have a long-term commitment to women and children being safe, valued and happy.
Sarah is a qualified Social Worker with over 15 years’ experience in the human rights and social services sector. Sarah has worked in policy and advocacy, community engagement, project coordination, case management and therapeutic roles across the domestic and family violence, mental health, homelessness, and migration and settlement services sector. Sarah has worked locally in Australia, as well as Mexico and Kenya.
For over ten years Sarah has worked as a sessional academic for a range of Sydney-based universities, teaching units including cross-cultural practice, human rights, and social justice. Sarah also enjoys providing external social work supervision and liaison tutor support to social work students on placement. To remain connected to her direct social work practice, Sarah also worked as a therapist in private practice for Hola Therapy, providing counselling to the English-speaking community in Mexico for close to four years.
Gayatri has worked in gender, human rights and diversity throughout her career. She has worked as a community lawyer in domestic and family violence as well as in policy, research, and advocacy in both the government and the non-government sectors in Australia and overseas. Most recently she was working with Redfern Legal Centre's Financial Abuse Service in policy and capacity building and as a Coordinator for the Economic Abuse Reference Group. Before that she was Policy and Research Manager at Domestic ViolenceNSW. She is really passionate about giving a platform to victim survivors to advocate for change and working collaboratively to build capacity in the sector to end gendered violence.
Kristina is a proud Kamilaroi woman and her family come from the north-east slopes of NSW. Kristina has recently moved back to Sydney after living in beautiful and (mostly) sunny Brisbane for the last 15 years. Kristina has spent the last few years working in research, and most recently in Aboriginal community-controlled health. Much of Kristina's experience has been in qualitative research across a diverse range of topics including DV, out of home care and infant and maternal health care. Kristina has also previously worked in pharmacogenomics and within broad Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research program at QIMR Berghofer.
Nyantet is a proud South Sudanese woman who grew up in Melbourne and now calls Sydney home. She loves hiking and spending time outdoors. Nyantet brings a strong background in member engagement, relationship management, and advocacy to DVNSW. In her career, she has worked in roles where she has championed inclusivity and diversity, managed key accounts, and streamlined processes to enhance member satisfaction and engagement. I am passionate about addressing systemic issues, including the complexities of domestic violence, through an intersectional lens. This approach drives my commitment to creating inclusive and supportive spaces that address the unique challenges faced by marginalized communities. Nyantet's advocacy for social justice extends to areas such as housing, homelessness, and gender equality, complemented by her volunteer work within the community.
Sharmila has twenty years of professional experience in local government and in the not-for-profit services industry. She has a Masters in Social Development from UNSW.
Her most recent accomplishments include co-authoring the research report “Dowry Abuse in South Asian Populations in Australia”, playing a key role in the development of the Prevention Toolkit for Local Government, authoring City of Parramatta Council’s inaugural Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Action Plan and leading the development and implementation of key primary prevention of violence against women projects across Western Sydney.
