Jodie Willmer is a highly skilled facilitator, speaker and coach with over 15 years’ experience as a CEO, senior leader and board director in the tourism and not-for-profit sectors.

Jodie is the founder of Happy Changemakers. One of Jodie’s recent highlights was conducting a governance review for the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE), a truly international board with board members spanning the globe. She had the opportunity to travel to Mexico to deliver her findings to the board and to facilitate a strategic conversation about their future direction.

Volunteering is part of her DNA and she hosted a long running travel show on JOY Melbourne for 16 years and was awarded Life Membership in recognition of her volunteer efforts. Jodie has held several board roles including Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) and Emergency Relief Victoria, where she was president for 4 years.

Samuel Johnson is Love Your Sister’s resident ‘de-lebrity’ and has been disgracing our stages and screen as a middling actor for well beyond two decades now. He is best known for his work on cult hit The Secret Life of Us and cop drama Rush, and is mostly not remembered at all for his role as Mick Molloy’s best mate in Crackerjack. He is now best known now for his portrayal of Ian Meldrum in Seven’s ratings smash ‘ Molly’ , after which he promptly retired to spend all of his time in the LOVE YOUR SISTER Village “so that I can be a part of the new ‘moonshot’ and help kick cancer in the face-hole once and for all.

Samuel is an accomplished public speaker. He was awarded the Centenary Medal in the Queen’s Honours List in 2000 for Services to the Arts and the Community and has won an AACTA award for Best Actor in a Television Drama. He has been nominated for 3 Logies and has held the title for GQ Magazine’s Social Force of the Year. His and Connie’s book ‘Love Your Sister’ was nominated for Best Biography at the ABIA Awards and in 2016 Samuel was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to cancer research. In 2019 he won the coveted mirrorball trophy on ‘Dancing with the Stars

Currently, Samuel is embarking on a two year long lap around Australia in his schmick Avan Motorhome. His mission? To remind every mum in the land to be breast aware. To keep his long-held promise of $10M for research. To lobby for personalised treatment for all patients everywhere, and a co-ordinated national approach to the collection, usage and storage of metastatic tissues for ALL cancers.. To vanquish cancer once and for all.

Moya Sayer-Jones is one of Australasia’s leading story experts. Her mission is to work creatively with people and organisations who are making a difference. In her not-so-distant past life, she was well-known as a novelist, columnist, and screenwriter. Now, she brings those years of arts experience to her work with organisational story.

As Head Human of Only Human Stories, Moya and her team of creatives, work beside visionary NFP’s in Australia and New Zealand, using real stories for greater impact and to build happier, smarter and more connected workplaces.

Only Human’s clients in the NGO and Government sectors include – NSW Department of Family and Community Affairs; Volunteer Auckland; Australian Department of Health and Ageing; Uniting NSW/ACT; New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs; Bonnies Support Services; Victorian Womens Trust; Queensland Mental Health, NSW Cancer Council and Janssen Cilag.

Richard Dent, Executive Director, Leadership Victoria will be speaking at the Conference in a Panel Discussion on day one – “The Art of Volunteer Leadership: Energising, Enhancing, Connecting.

Prior to joining Leadership Victoria in 2011, as only the third ED in the organisations’ history, Richard was the CEO of the EW Tipping Foundation and the Chair of National Disability Services Victoria (NDSV). He is currently the Deputy Chair of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations.

Richard has worked in the community sector for two decades holding roles in leadership and governance, child, family, disability, advocacy/policy agencies, peak bodies and professional associations.

Richard is a Sidney Myer Fellow and a Harvard Club Fellow. He has two Masters degrees (MBA and Social Science) amongst his qualifications.

Scott Chapman, CEO, Royal Flying Doctor Service Victoria, has held chief executive, senior leadership and board positions in the private, public and not for profit sectors over many years during his exciting professional and voluntary career. He is a Fellow of Leadership Victoria and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Scott holds the position of Chairman for Doutta Galla Aged Services, is Deputy Chairman of the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria and heads the Committee for Melbourne Not for Profit Taskforce. He also sits on the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board.

Prior to his current position Scott was the Director, Commerce and Marketing at the City of Melbourne for ten years. His work included the attraction and management of major events to Melbourne. Other recent positions include Chairman of Destination Melbourne, the People and Parks Foundation, the Outdoor Education Group and Outdoors Victoria.

Vivienne Cunningham-Smith is the CEO of Eastern Volunteers `{`EV`}` which provides the Volunteer Resource Centre for the outer eastern metro area of Melbourne as well as volunteer-based community transport. She is Chair of the Victorian Volunteer Support Services Network.

Vivienne has over 25 years’ experience in executive management of primary health and child and family services across NSW and Victoria including a stint as General Manager of Playgroup Australia. Prior to this she was CEO of Playgroup Victoria where she championed the volunteer run community playgroup model as the most widespread and effective early years learning and parent engagement strategy that existed in 80% of Victorian postcodes. Vivienne has managed an array of health services and established one of the first volunteer carer programs for people living with HIV/AIDS in the mid 1980’s in regional NSW.

Vivienne is passionate about establishing integrated service delivery by volunteers and paid staff.

Aside from her work with volunteering, Vivienne is a keen volunteer herself serving as the volunteer tender writer for the Australian Orangutan Project which obtained much needed funding for conservation work and she has sat on many community Boards.

Josephine Cafagna is a writer, speaker, media trainer, communications consultant and former political adviser and broadcast journalist. She was the Communications Director and then Executive Director in the office of Premiers Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine.

Josephine has a decorated 30-year career as a TV anchor, investigative reporter and radio presenter, most recently with ABC-TV as host and chief reporter of Stateline (7.30 Victoria). She has won a Walkely Award and six Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards for her investigative stories. During her time at Stateline she was seconded to ABC-TV's Foreign Correspondent, covering assignments in Italy, Greece and East Timor.

Mae Tanner is a senior lawyer at Justice Connect’s Not-for-profit Law Training service and has delivered legal training to hundreds of volunteer managers across Victoria and beyond. Prior to joining Justice Connect in 2016, Mae practised in commercial year in Australia and spent six years in Samoa, Myanmar and France practising and studying in the field of human rights and development.

Throughout and prior to her professional career Mae has been an avid volunteer, most recently at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre’s Human Rights Clinic in Melbourne.

For over 16 years Gillian Kerr has managed a large program within Alfred Health with over 400 volunteers placed in various departments within the hospital.

Gillian has been involved in the volunteering field for over 30 years. It is a passion of hers to develop creative approaches to volunteering issues and to embrace new ideas, methods and challenges. Gillian is highly volunteer focused with a sound appreciation of volunteer expectations and responds to volunteer needs and concerns. She also enjoys mentoring professionals who are new to the area of volunteering.

Gillian has never won an argument with her two adult sons but is hoping the Great Debate at the conference will be an easier experience!

Andy Fryar, National Operations Manager for Better Impact in Australia and New Zealand and founder of OzVPM.

For over 30 years Andy has contributed significantly to the Australian volunteering. Highlights include serving as President of Volunteering Australia and convening the working party that evolved into AAMoV - the Australasian Association for Managers of Volunteers.

Andy helped produce three books on volunteer management and is a co-author of Volunteer Program Management: An Essential Guide (3rd edition). He served on the editorial committee of the Australian Journal of Volunteering and is a founding member of the editorial team for e-volunteerism, an international electronic journal of volunteerism.

Andy has conducted volunteer management training and worked with volunteer involving agencies in many countries including the USA, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore and the UK, where he was a faculty member with the prestigious ‘Institute of Advanced Volunteer Management’. He is also a co-founder of the Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management.

Since 2008, Andy has volunteered his time as Chairperson of the global committee overseeing the promotion of International Volunteer Manager’s Day, celebrated on November 5 each year.

In 2003, Andy was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Australian government in recognition of his services to the volunteering movement in Australia.

Clive Dwyer, Director – Engagement with the Committee of Melbourne, has over 30 years’ experience in strategy and business development for major government projects, destination management, project advocacy and complex stakeholder engagement.

Clive is responsible for strengthening the Committee’s membership, stakeholder engagement and supporting the Committee’s thought leadership and advocacy work. He recently returned to Melbourne from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he was Executive Director of Destination Yas Island and Executive Director, Destination Management at Miral Asset Management.

Clive directed international marketing, industry engagement and visitor services for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. Other career highlights include the delivery of the globally acclaimed ‘Jigsaw’ campaign for Tourism Victoria. Clive has also held a range of industry and non-executive board positions in Melbourne.

In addition to being one of Australia’s most pre-eminent businesswomen and philanthropists, Susan Alberti has been instrumental in the development of the Women’s Australian Football League (WAFL). In 2018 she joined the Board of Volunteering Australia.

Sue has many accolades to her name including an AM (Member of the Order of Australia), and an AO (Officer of the Order of Australia). In 2016, Susan was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) Award in recognition for her eminent service to the community, particularly through philanthropic and fundraising support for a range of medical research, education and sporting organisations, as an advocate for improved health care services for the disadvantaged, and to young women as a role model and mentor.

Sue is a former President of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Chairman of the St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research Foundation and is Vice President of Western Bulldogs Football Club, in addition to the many other honorary philanthropic positions she holds.

Bronwen Clark is Deputy Chair of Volunteering Victoria. An advocacy and government relations expert, she currently heads up the National Growth Areas Alliance, a peak body representing Councils in the fast-growing outer suburbs across Australia.

Bronwen has consulted to and worked in a diverse range of industries including all levels of government, community services and Indigenous groups. She has represented the Australian Government at the World Trade Organisation and United Nations in Geneva.

Her experience includes corporate volunteering and volunteer coordination during emergency recovery.

Bronwen has volunteered on several not-for-profit boards, mentoring women in business, fundraising through groups like the CWA and more cake baking and sausage sizzling than she cares to remember!

Dr. Sarah Cotton is a registered and endorsed Organisational Psychologist who specialises in best-practice strategies to help individuals and organisations navigate life transitions at work. Drawing upon over 18 years of coaching, training and consulting, Sarah brings a comprehensive background across the university, corporate and not for profit sectors in addition to private practice. Providing the space to get out of ‘automatic pilot’, Sarah’s facilitation provides the opportunity to unpack both the practical and emotional elements of transition.

Sarah’s academic background includes a PhD in work-stress, and specific training in political and policy related psychology. Committed to reducing the significant costs of work-life conflict, Sarah co-founded Transitioning Well in 2011. Finally, having both published and presented widely, Sarah’s research experience strengthens her profile and motivates her to get research to where it is needed most – real life!

Husna Pasha is a Business Woman, Media Personality and recent Owner and Founder of Alisha's Cafe Collective on Lygon Street, Brunswick East.

Following University (B. SC. Occupational Therapy) Husna began her own ``Talk Show Series``, then hit the stand up comedy scene and soon after an appearance on Channel 10's 'The Project,' became an in-demand speaker and facilitator at a range of corporate, educational and lifestyle events. ABC Compass also ran a documentary on Husna's amazing life journey and how she began her own Talk Show known as The Husna Pasha Show.

Husna, mother of two, balances her full life of speaking, facilitating, media appearances and consulting, as well as running Alisha's Cafe Collective, a hub for community programs, across music, art, health, literature, business and etc. As a skilled MC and interviewer, Husna recently hosted a Q&A with Deborah Glass, the Victorian Ombudsman, where they both shared their stories on power, purpose and positivity. Husna's mission is to bridge the gap between humans by creating happier people, who can laugh at themselves and celebrate the cultural smorgasbord which Australia represents

Hang Vo, CEO, Whitelion, has over 20 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector, including leading and managing complex national and international programs.
Hang was appointed to lead the renewal and transformation of Whitelion, a national youth organisation that provides a range of services to at risk young people who are affected by youth justice, out of home care, chronic homelessness and unemployment.

Hang is the Vice President of Australian Council of Social Service and Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee. She has also served as board director for South-east Community Links.

Her qualifications include executive education at Harvard Business School on Strategy and Performance in Non-profit management; an Executive MBA; Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors as well as degrees in Social Work and Arts.

Having come to Australia as a part of the Vietnamese refugee ‘boat people’ in the late 1970s and being a member of the LGBITQ community, Hang’s experience of dislocation and exclusion has instilled in her a deep commitment to a more just, inclusive and equitable society

Sophie Renton is a social researcher, trends analyst and Team Leader of Research at the internationally recognised McCrindle. As an experienced researcher, Sophie understands how evidence-based insights can inform strategy and help organisations to thrive amidst change.From her experience in leading the research team at McCrindle, Sophie assists organisations by bringing a clearer picture to complex problems.

Sophie is adept in sharing strategic insights that guide CEOs and executive teams in leading their organisations.Sophie’s engaging, research-based presentations have seen her present to various sectors through board room strategy sessions, keynote presentations and workshops. With academic qualifications in sociology and psychology, Sophie brings robust, research-based content to her engaging presentations and consulting.

Geoff Sharp consults independently with the Not for Profit sector and as an associate with Collaboration for Impact, Australia’s leading organisation for learning how to respond to complexity through effective collaboration. Geoff brings experience as a leader and CEO in the Not for Profit and community sector along with previous experience in founding his own advertising and marketing agency as well as many years of experience in International Aid and Development.

Geoff looks after 20 acres just outside of Ballarat, sits on the Board of Volunteering Victoria and really enjoys spending time in his shed whenever he can.

Tina Hosseini is a researcher at Deakin University working on a prevention-based adolescent health project. She is also a Commissioner at the Victorian Multicultural Commission (and the previous Youth Commissioner), providing independent advice to the Victorian Government to assist with the development of legislative and policy frameworks and the delivery of services to our culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse communities.

Tina is an active member of the Iranian Women’s Association, the Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Working Group at Deakin University and a Board member of the City LLEN. Her previous roles include being a member of the Multicultural Youth Network and holding youth leadership roles at the Red Cross, the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia, Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre and Leos (Junior Lions Club). Tina completed a research-based Master of Science at the University of Melbourne with a focus on fetal physiology.

Tina has volunteered since the early stages of her schooling. Her experiences working as a volunteer, as well as supervising and mentoring volunteers, has re-affirmed her strong belief that volunteerism is an integral part of our society, with endless benefits to both parties.

As a child, Jimmy’s parents instilled in him the values of community and volunteering, and over the years he would volunteer for various local clubs, charities and fundraising events.

After working in the corporate sector for a multinational construction and infrastructure company, Jimmy joined RSPCA Victoria where he worked with a passionate Volunteer Engagement team supporting over 2,000 volunteers across Victoria. Jimmy led the work to expand a regional volunteer management framework that saw RSPCA Victoria selected as a finalist for the Volunteering Victoria 2016 State Awards in the Innovation Award category.

Jimmy is now the People and Culture Business Partner at St John Ambulance Australia (Victoria), working alongside a talented and engaged team to fulfil the commitment in strengthening an organisational culture that provides a Safe Place for the people of St John to work and volunteer.

Jimmy continues to volunteer for causes and projects he is passionate about, such as animal welfare and the LGBTQ community, and most recently volunteering as a Mentor for the Volunteering Victoria Mentorship Program, and Volunteer Coordinator at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.

Daniel Evans is the Deputy Managing Director of Ipsos Public Affairs, a leading social research agency. Interested in working with clients to turn data into information that affects positive change, Daniel created and continues to author two of Australia's most comprehensive ongoing studies into community concerns and liveability – the Ipsos Issues Monitor, and the Ipsos Life in Australia report.

Rory has worked in membership-based organisations for the past 15 years across the areas of Sales & Marketing, Sponsorship, Community Engagement, Volunteer Management and Corporate Responsibility. He currently manages both the employee and member volunteer programs at RACV amongst his other responsibilities in the Community & Corporate Responsibility department.

Rory has volunteered with organisations such as Neighbourhood Watch, Monash Marketing Students’ Society, Farm Rd Pre-School and is currently a member of the Community Reference Group for the Cheltenham Level Crossing Removal Project. His loves include St Kilda Football Club, cricket statistics, food and his wife & three kids (not necessarily in that order). He hates capsicum.

Graduating from Melbourne High School (where he was also a pilot participant in the Year 10 Volunteer Program) in 1999 with a half-colours for debating – Rory is never short of a word or an opinion.”

Emma’s love of all things volunteering stemmed from her own experience as a compulsive volunteer that started many moons and miles ago in her native home of Scotland. Volunteering took her to hills and glens rarely visited and introduced her to people who are rarely seen in the light of day. She got hooked on the benefits of working for nothing but eventually moved to the other side as a volunteer manager when she moved to Melbourne in 2007.

Emma considers managing 1000 volunteers during the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup and working with the communities affected by Black Saturday as the best career fortune she’s had. For the last 5 years, you may have seen her cycling (slowly) through the streets of Melbourne to bring volunteer joy to the Heart Foundation of Australia.

Brad is a curious explorer, constantly searching for new patterns and fresh perspectives. This inquisitiveness helps him learn from rich and diverse fields – including organisation design, human-centered design thinking, knowledge management, systems thinking and complexity, spirituality and walks on the beach. Currently contracted to Eastern Volunteers to project manage the Your Volunteering Community project, Brad has more than 20 years’ experience in the not-for-profit, corporate sector, and Victorian public service.

Brad is the Principal Organisation Design Specialist for schmiq solutions – which offers tailored strategic and operational solutions in how organisations can better manage Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous events. They have developed a unique Context Mapping and Adaptive Strategy approach that helps teams and organisations design dynamic strategies to future proof themselves.

Hazel joined Volunteering Victoria in 2006 as a volunteer Board Member and was the President of the Board of Management from 2008 to 2010. Hazel became a volunteer again in January and this evolved into a paid position as Professional Development Trainer and Consultant. Following an early-life career change (from patents translator to not-for profit), Hazel has worked for a number of Not for Profit organisations in the past 27 years, including the Australian Red Cross, Amnesty International and The Cancer Council Victoria.

In her previous role at St Vincent de Paul Society, Hazel had overarching responsibility for a state-wide program of over 6,500 volunteers in Vinnies Retail Stores. She is passionate about encouraging people who are socially isolated or marginalised to volunteer.

Sara Sterling joined Volunteering Victoria in January 2018 with a focus on Professional Development services. She has ten years’ experience in government and not for profit sectors. She has focused on volunteer management, program support and administration and training and development. She has a Masters in Social Policy, and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. She is passionate about volunteers, volunteer managers and supporting the sector broadly.

Julia brings rich experience in strategy, business, leadership, coaching and communications, in Australia and abroad. She co-founded Visibility Co in the belief that inside every person and organisation is a deeper purpose, a bigger vision and the ability to reframe the future
Julia previously worked at Dattner Grant, a specialist leadership consultanc. She led the Global Women's Project where she coached hundreds of leaders across sectors including financial services, banking, resources, government and non-profit.

She is a founding team member of the global leadership initiative Homeward Bound. In just 2 years Homeward Bound recruited women leaders from 38 countries and forged partnerships with key thought leaders including primatologist Jane Goodall. Julia was on the program's first voyage to Antarctica facilitating and coaching on purpose, strategy and visible leadership.

Julia spent 12 years as a journalist, including 5 as London correspondent for Fairfax, and had senior roles at The Times of London, Reuters and Business Review Weekly.

Julia's top four values are justice, compassion, courage and making a difference.

Penny Harrison has held senior strategic leadership positions within international humanitarian and development organisations for over 18 years.

Penny is the Director at Australian Red Cross leading a social impact team aspiring to build a humanitarian nation where doing good is easy, attractive, social and timely. Penny’s team is partnering with communities, academic, business, start-ups, NFPs and others to test models of participation, strengthen formal volunteering, design and contribute to social change initiatives plus the team is leading on the intersection of emergent technologies and humanity - “Humanitech”.

Red Cross recognises that technological advancements have the potential to address some of humanity’s most wicked of problems. Putting people at the centre of design offers the chance to improve human safety, dignity and trust.

Steph is the dedicated Client Success Manager for Rosterfy Australasian Clients, and is based in Melbourne, Victoria. With a background in volunteer management and event coordination, she understands the challenges of volunteer management, but also how rewarding the role can be. Notably, Steph has worked as Project Coordinator for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, where she was responsible for the recruitment and management of up to 500+ volunteers.

In her role, Steph supports numerous clients in the volunteer management space across a range of industry verticals. Her past experience has equipped her with the ability to consult with her clients on the best volunteer management practices and demonstrate how they can better engage and retain their volunteer base, using the power of technology. Steph represents the next breed of volunteers and event managers alike.

Being a passionate volunteer as well as helping volunteer managers day to day use Rosterfy, Steph has unique insights into the future of volunteerism and techniques used to engage and attract the next generation of volunteers.