2021 ELGP Participants revealed

In our ninth year of the program, we are delighted to reveal the participants of the 2021 Emerging Leaders in Governance program (ELGP). Many of these participants are provided with scholarships to attend the program due to the funding provided by Community Partners. As you’ll read below, this group has exceptional professional skills and a keen desire to contribute on a board in the aged care and community sector.

ELGP Launch – 27th January 2021

Community partners, leaders, graduates and guests were out in force this morning to welcome our 2021 ELGP cohort.  Celebrating the achievements of the program over the last nine years, it is wonderful to see the program continue to grow and prosper.

Thank you to our Community Partners

Our Community Partners are contributing to a world class aged care and community sector through strengthening governance and diversity on NFP boards. We invite your organisation (whether you are an NFP or corporate organisation) to support this program.

2021 ELGP Participants revealed

We would like to warmly welcome this year’s group and we look forward to working with you!

Emma Salsano

Emma graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (French). She has always been a community-minded individual, and has been employed as a government solicitor for a number of years in pursuance of the ideal of community service. Prior to commencing work as a solicitor, Emma spent two years working as the Associate to the Hon Wayne Martin AC, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. She has also held the position of Sessional Tutor at the University of Western Australia for a number of years, teaching in professional ethics, intellectual property and political theory. Emma was a member of the Tournament of Minds (WA) committee for a number of years, and is actively involved in various mentoring programs.

Joe Zhou

Joe has extensive experience in the financial services sector, supporting various aspects of corporate decisioning process for the past 10 years. He has held a number of high performing positions within the sector, with diverse experience in risk management, financial reporting, marketing analytics, strategic design and assurance. The unique blend of operational and strategic experience coupled with his collaborative spirit has enabled Joe to seamless transition across many disciplines within the financial services sector.

In the search for purpose, Joe has developed emerging passion in fostering the growth of communities. He is eager to learn more about the non-for-profit sector, along with applying his existing experience to support the needs of the industry.

 
Kate Paul

Kate moved to Perth from Darwin in 2016 to complete a Bachelor of Neuroscience at the University of Western Australia. Following completion of her Bachelor’s degree, Kate went on to complete an honours project in Sleep Science at UWA with the West Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute at Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital. Following completion of her honours project, Kate began working as a project officer at Hall & Prior aged care. Kate’s work at Hall & Prior has largely focused on clinical governance during a challenging time for the industry. As someone who is passionate about community, she strives to be an active participant in her local community. Through both the opportunities for mentoring afforded to her at a schooling level and her work with junior athletes in hockey and football, Kate has found a passion for coaching and mentoring and hopes to explore this area further.

Zoe Callis

Zoe began her career as a researcher in 2016 at the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) at the University of Western Australia. Having just completed her Master of Professional Accounting and taking a gap year, Zoe worked at CSI in a casual capacity while volunteering at various organisations across Perth. This gap year became the foundation for her career; Zoe fell in love with research at CSI, compiling quality evidence bases to find solutions for social problems. Her work at CSI UWA has spanned evaluations of programs aimed at addressing chronic homelessness and youth unemployment, developing a deep understanding of entrenched disadvantage in Western Australia, capacity building for outcomes measurement in not-for-profit organisations, and the measurement of socioeconomic outcomes at the sub-regional level. In 2018, while continuing her work at CSI, she returned to study, completing Honours in Psychology in 2019, and commencing her PhD in 2021.

Ellie Tighe

Dr Ellie Tighe has been an employee of Ruah for close to four years, growing in the role from Evaluation Advisor (2017-19); to Research and Evaluation Consultant (2019-20) and member of Ruah’s leadership team. At Ruah, Ellie leads Ruah’s Research and Evaluation activities. This includes overseeing external impact evaluations, outcomes measurement, service and theory of change design and aligned data collection activities.

Ellie has a PhD from the University of Southampton, UK, a Master’s in International Political Economy (Distinction) from the University of Warwick, UK and is an experienced evaluator of community programs and passionate advocate for social justice. Prior to Ruah, she worked as an independent consultant in the ethical trade sector and undertook a competitive sponsored-internship program at the United Nations: International Labour Organisation in Geneva.

Ellie has been a panellist for the UWA: CSI Social Outcomes Measurement short course (September 2018 and May 2019) and invited member of the WA Social Impact Measurement Network Australia (SIMNA) committee (2019-present). Ellie represents Ruah as a member of the WA Social Research Network, and not-for-profit Evaluation Community of Practice. She is a named Investigator on the 100 Families WA collective action research project and Globe Town Project Committee Member.

Michael Clark

Michael is a Media Specialist and Marketer with over 6 of years experience working within these fields, he also worked multiple years in the Structural Engineering field prior. Within this time, Michael has worked extensively with many Not-For-Profit organisations, and particularly within the Disability sector. He volunteered within youth services for 10 years, with various homeless services for over 4 years, and continues to be active in his local community through his church. Michael has a passion for highlighting the stories of underrepresented people groups and organisations, with a particular interest in the effect media and art can have on how we relate with one another, and the experience it gives to our ever-growing perspectives.

Charlotte Newton

Charlotte Newton has been extensively involved in volunteering throughout her university and career so far. A champion of women pursuing STEM opportunities, she has used her background as an Engineer to encourage young women to enter the field at RoboGals Youth Outreach and was an Engineering Student Ambassador for its annual Broome Tour. Supporting emotionally, socially and financially- disadvantaged children she has been involved with providing picnics at University Camp for Kids (Perth’s oldest registered children’s charity), volunteering with Save the Children Australia and Red Cross Australia. Currently working in the engineering sphere, Charlotte is keen to make an impact and bring her diverse leaderships skills to encourage deeper community engagement.

She is currently in-training to be a Surf Lifesaver at Swanbourne-Nedlands Surf Lifesaving Club – you’ll see her patrolling between the red & yellow flags this summer!

Vidhatri Lakkim Setti

Vidhatri is an experienced business technology leader recognised for her inspirational leadership, notable innovative mindset, and exceptional public speaking skills. She has gained a diverse international work experience by working in Telecommunications and Insurance sectors in India, USA, and Australia. She has been instrumental in delivering successful strategic initiatives to enable and drive technology capability uplift and business transformation through her thought leadership. She currently works as a Technology manager at HBF.

Growing up in India, Vidhatri gained a deep appreciation for not-for-profit services to enable a positive and impactful difference. She was instrumental in uplifting educational services for an India-based orphanage. In Perth, she volunteered at FoodBank, Ronald McDonald house, InteLife, school STEM events and HBF’s community engagement activities.

Vidhatri has contributed to the Australian community’s evolving cultural diversity by creating awareness of an ancient form of classical Indian dance that is based on principles of yoga and mindfulness.

Paige Wood-Kenney

Paige is a proud Noongar Yamatji woman and the Perth NAIDOC youth of the year 2020 for her work with the community and Elders. Academically, she has excelled and is finishing her Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Major of Forensic Science. She has previously completed Certificate IV in Mental Health, and Certificate IV in youth work also. In the future she aims to complete her PhD in pathology or microbiology, working with Aboriginal Communities studying high burden disease. She has represented the state in netball, tee-ball and athletics since 12 years old, and won art awards, published poetry & art and works in a school as Aboriginal Liasion Officer. However, her biggest achievement is being a strong role model for her siblings and the community.

Assisting in her knowledge is being part of the Centre for Social Impact at UWA building capacity around co-design processes with Aboriginal people, Secretary of Djinda Bridiya Wellbeing board,

Paige hopes to build capacity within the Aboriginal community and make a meaningful contribution to society. She hopes to do this upskilling her governance and finding her voice through knowledge, and intertwine her love of science, art, culture and community for a future we can all look forward to.

Bruna Rocha

Bruna is a passionate structural engineer that graduated in Brazil and came to Australia to pursue a Master’s degree. In Brazil, she spent many weekends volunteering at a shelter that cared for boys who had been taken away from their families, either temporarily or permanently, by the judicial system. Since she has been in Australia, her Not-For-Profit volunteering has been mainly within the engineering sector. Bruna was part of the Women in Engineering club at university and then when she graduated, she joined the Structures Panel WA committee within Engineers Australia. She is also Chair of Young Engineers Australia WA. Additionally, Bruna is also part of the Concrete Institute of Australia WA committee and has been part of mentoring programs focused on students that are either interested or already studying engineering. She has a strong passion for getting more high school students, particularly girls, interested in engineering.

Sarah Connor

Sarah is an accomplished project manager committed to improving the health of her community. Community service was a feature early in Sarah’s life, for which she was recognised as a John Curtin Undergraduate Scholar, following which Sarah has continued to actively engage in her community through her involvement with Curtin Volunteers, the State Emergency Service and as a founding member of the Women’s Leadership Network. Professionally, Sarah has built upon her clinical training as a Speech Pathologist and over the past seven years has held a variety of policy and project roles in the Western Australian health system and more recently, the National Health Service (UK). It was working on the Covid-19 Response for the NHS that Sarah recognised the power of partnerships between health and social care in achieving better outcomes for the community and strives to play a role in strengthening these relationships in her community in Western Australia.

Lina Singogo

Lina is an experienced IT Program & Project Governance specialist in both the private & public sectors, including finance, utilities,health, energy & telecommunications.

She has excellent planning, analysis & evaluation skills, with a strategic outlook & strong focus on improving outcomes for stakeholders.
She previously developed & facilitated community workshops for women from multicultural backgrounds, aged between 18-65 years. She has also volunteered at multicultural events like Harmony Day under MMRC (Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre.

“Lina is currently establishing a foundation to support and empower the homeless and other vulnerable groups through different projects in partnership with other like minded organisations.”

Troy Hayter

Troy Hayter has had over fifteen years’ experience in Aboriginal Education in Catholic Education Western Australia, as a teacher in various subjects, specialising in Physical & Outdoor Education, Mathematics and Religious Education, various leadership positions and has been the Principal for 6 years at Clontarf Aboriginal College, which is a Catholic CARE Boarding Secondary College for Aboriginal Students from all over Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia.

Troy has also taught in Luton, England for two years at Challney Boys High School, teaching Physical Education and Health to disengaged and special learning needs high school students.

Troy has qualifications in a Bachelor of Science – Exercise and Health Science, Graduate Diploma in Education from The University of Western Australia, Master of Education – Religious Education at the University of Notre Dame, and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, which has provided him with a strong background and knowledge in Education and Training. Troy’s passion is Aboriginal Education, trauma-informed practice and engaging students to learn for life through a holistic approach to education; and has implemented whole school programs such as Stronger Smarter and the Berry Street Education Model at Clontarf Aboriginal College.

Tina Firth

Tina is a young leader who is passionate about caring for others and embodies the philosophy of being the change she wants to see in the world. Since finishing her PhD in public health, Tina has worked in various clinical trial roles and is now working as a Clinical Research Assistant for the National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases. In her spare time, Tina devotes many of her hours to volunteering. She has volunteered with Big Help Mob as a mission sidekick, provided first aid with St John Ambulance Event Health Services and has enjoyed being a big kid in the hospital programs at the Starlight Children’s Foundation of Australia for over 12 years. Tina believes that the aged care and community sectors are vital to the fabric of society and hopes to continue paying it forward by contributing to a brighter future for the people they serve.

Ria Ferris

Ria is a qualified Speech Pathologist with a career spanning 10 years in the disability and community sector. Ria has volunteered on a number of State branch committees for the Speech Pathology Australia Association, and since settling in Perth has volunteered on the Membership Committee for the 100 Women philanthropic giving circle. Following the completion of an MBA in early 2017, Ria has enjoyed a portfolio of experience in leadership and program coordination roles across the tertiary education, private, and non-profit sectors. Ria is particularly passionate about people, connection, and the power of ‘voice’ for vulnerable groups. She hopes to explore these passions further and step forward as a change-maker in future paid, volunteer, and board roles in and around Perth.

Ser Ching (Amanda) Ong

Amanda began her career in Audit and Assurance delivering services across a large range of industries in Perth and the United States. She loves discovering new cities and meeting new people which led to her move to the Bay Area where she was able to take on consulting roles and immerse herself into exciting projects at Silicon Valley Bank and Google. In her current role at MercyCare as their Business Analyst, she understands the challenges faced in the aged care, community care, and disability sector. She is passionate about improving and integrating systems to empower stakeholders by providing them with the timely information to make informed decisions. Amanda has volunteered with Sunday Friends and Habitat for Humanity, and is a strong advocate for mental health, aged care and the fight against homelessness. She is committed to apply her experience and bring a positive impact to the not-for-profit space.

Maria Chukwu-ike

Maria is an information Technology specialist with over 10 years experience across multiple industries such as health care, mining, banking and finance and also utilities. Maria relishes the opportunity to volunteer – particularly in areas linked to career and professional development . Maria has also volunteered at events such the international womens day Panel which enabled her to share her career journey and insights into how we can collectively create a more inclusive workforce.