Jean Shannon

Jean has a Masters of Business Administration in change management, is a practitioner in mediation and conciliation and is accredited by the St James Centre for Ethics.  She has in depth experience in corporate and public communication, marketing, and governance.  Ms Shannon is currently Managing Director of Jean Shannon and Associates and is a casual lecturer for the ANU Legal Workshop and the ANU Crawford School of Government & Economics formerly the Asia Pacific School of Economics & Government. 

She has contributed to a wide range of professional publications, journals and media productions.

Kelsey Powell

Kelsey recently retired as Chief Executive Officer, Family Planning Queensland. In addition to her wide ranging nursing qualifications and a Bachelor of Education Studies she holds graduate diplomas and certificates in management courses and has a diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Kelsey has extensive experience in international development work and its management and was Manager of Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia's International Program. She has been particularly involved in training and education in the South Pacific. Her expertise in sex education is highly regarded and she has contributed to a number of publications and journals. Kelsey lectures part-time with Bond University.

Margaret Hansford

Margaret Hansford is a principal of Partnership Solutions which is a management consultancy with an emphasis on assisting not-for-profit and public sector organisations to develop strategy and support their day to day business. She holds Masters of Arts and of Primary Health Care, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and Associate Fellow of the Australian College of Health Service Executives. She has extensive additional management and nursing qualifications.

Prior to setting up Partnership Solutions Margaret was CEO of Family Planning NSW, the largest provider of family planning services in NSW, Director of Health Policy and Planning at the Australian Council of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Manager, Sexual Assault Service Royal Women’s Hospital, Brisbane. Her Board experience includes ministerial appointee to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide; Treasurer of the National Rural Health Alliance; and Secretary and Treasurer of the AIDS Council of NSW.

Allison Wildman

Allison is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a registered tax agent.  She began her career in Sydney with Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) and continued to work for PwC in London and Canberra.  

Since leaving the chartered environment Allison has broadened the depth of her experience and financial management skills by working with Commonwealth Departments such as Attorney General’s and within the non-profit sector for organisations such as the Mental Health Council of Australia.

Ian Howie

Ian has degrees in commerce and in economics, worked for UNFPA from 1990 to 2008, most recently as its representative in Vietnam and earlier in China and Ghana, as well as in New York. Through the 1980s he was with the International Labour Organisation in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and then Kenya, with some time back in Australia as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations. Prior to that he worked in Papua New Guinea and in Fiji as national coordinator of the Fiji Trades Union Congress where he also lectured at the University of the South Pacific.

John Gerofi
Dr Gerofi holds a PhD in Engineering (University of Sydney) and is currently Managing Director of Enersol Pty Ltd. Recently the company has concentrated on the quality of mechanical contraceptives and medical gloves.

He has been a Research Fellow, then Project Leader, Solar Desalination Group, University of Sydney and a lecturer in Electrical Engineering, RMIT. Dr Gerofi is a long term member of Standards Australia's Technical Committee CS 9, and represents that committee on the International Standards Organisation's Technical Committee 157 (Mechanical Contraceptives), responsible for drafting the International Standards on Condoms (ISO 4074 series).  He is currently chairman of Standards Australia's Committee on Mechanical Contraceptives and is a member of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. Dr Gerofi has worked extensively in the developing world as well as the US and Australia.

Cameron McLean

Cameron began his career as an HIV/AIDS social worker in NSW Health. He has worked as a clinical social worker in the United States and as a private psychotherapist in Sydney. From 1995-2001 he was Director of Social Work at St Vincents' Hospital Sydney. Since completing his Master of Health Services Management in 2002 Mr McLean has held various senior executive positions within NSW Health, Family Planning NSW and the commercial sector.

In 2007 Cameron joined G4S Australia Pty Ltd, a multinational security company, where he was General Manager of the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. He is currently responsible for G4S' national detention operations and for contract transition. Mr McLean is studying towards a Post-graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance. He lives in Sydney and works in Canberra.

Susan Stratigos

Susan has a strong back ground in health policy including women's health and she had extensive experience in development. She was most recently policy advisor for the Rural Doctors Association and prior to that worked for the Queensland Department of Health in a variety of roles with a focus on women's health. 

Susan is committed to reproductive health rights of women and girls and understands the integral link to development in our region. Susan is President of Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society Canberra and is active in a number of community organisations.

Hon. Jeannette McHugh

Jeannette has a BA from Sydney University, and was a high school teacher until her marriage in 1960. She joined ALP in 1967 because of distress over Australia's involvement in Vietnam war and was an activist on women's rights, child care, the environment, anti-nuclear issues, disarmament and peace.She was a Member of the NSW Women's Advisory Council from 1976 - 1983.

In 1983, Ms McHugh was elected to the Federal Parliament.  She was MP for Phillip 1983 - 1993; MP for Grayndler 1993 - 1996; Chair, House of Representatives Environment and Arts Committee; Chair, Caucus Welfare Committee; Minister for Consumer Affairs 1992 - 1996.  Ms McHugh retired in 1996  and is currently Chair, Jessie Street Trust; Executive Committee Member Evatt Foundation; Committee member Hoc Mai, the Australia-Vietnam Medical Foundation; Patron ADFA, and a member of various community groups.

Wendy McCarthy AO
Wendy has made an outstanding contribution to Australian public life, education and women’s issues. In 1995, she was named Deputy Chancellor of the University of Canberra and the following year, she was appointed Chancellor. She has also served as Deputy Chair of Plan International and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Trust of Australia. In addition to her work in Australia, she also has represented her country at international conferences on health promotion, broadcasting, media, women’s issues and family planning.

Emeritus Prof. John C Caldwell AO FASSA
Jack Caldwell obtained his PhD (Demography) at the Australian National University. He was head of the Department of Demography, Research School of Social Sciences, ANU 1970-1988; Associate Director, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, ANU 1988-1993; University Fellow ANU 1994-1997; Visiting Fellow, NCEPH and Demography and Sociology Program, ANU 1998 - present. He is an Adjunct Professor at Harvard University. He was Foundation President of the Australian Population Association, 1980-82; Vice President, 1989-93 and President 1993-97 of the International Union of the Scientific Study of Population.

Dr Harry Cohen AM
Dr Cohen was educated at Perth Modern School, University of Adelaide Medical School, obtaining MB, BS in 1955. He is a Foundation Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (1979). He has held consultant posts at Royal Perth Hospital (Head of Dept of Gynaecology) and at King Edward Memorial Hospital. Dr Cohen has been on the staff of the King Edward memorial Hospital for 45 years and will be retiring at the end of this year.  More recently he has been the head of Department of Gynaecology, and Director of Postgraduate Studies.  He has been a long time environmental activist, being recently President of the Conservation Council of WA, and President of The Medical Association for the Prevention of War. He was formerly the national president of Sustainable Population Australia and currently the WA branch president. He received the award of AM in 1995.  Dr Cohen was born in 1932, he is married with 3 children and 4 grandchildren.

Marie Coleman
Marie was the first woman to head a Commonwealth Government statutory agency, and the first woman to hold the powers of Permanent Head under the Public Service Act. She was founding Secretary of the National Foundation for Australian Women, one of the NFAW Board of Directors who worked to establish the Australian Women’s Archives Project She was awarded the Public Service Medal in 1989 and recently awarded the Women's Award for a significant and sustained contribution in advocating for women’s rights.