Roj Amedi —
Chair

Roj works in the pursuit of economic and racial justice. She does this as a writer, strategist, and community organiser. She is the Chief Campaigns Officer at GetUp, the Chair of the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, and sits on the steering committee for the Law and Advocacy Centre for Women.

She has previously held positions as the Chair of Overland Literary Journal, Head of Engagement at Justice Connect and Senior Racial Justice and Human Rights Campaigner at Colour Code and GetUp!.

Roj is a Kurdish woman from Iraq who sought refuge in Australia in the 1990s — an experience that has influenced her commitment to social justice. She strives towards sustainable and effective political interventions, that help build solidarity and make material improvements in the lives of systemically marginalised people.     

Shalini Srikanthan —

Shalini is currently a Change Manager at MECCA Brands, with a focus on delivering transformational change through large scale system implementations, operating model design and new ways of working.

With fourteen years’ experience across a range of HR related functions in government organisations in Australia and the UK, she brings a passion for enabling successful outcomes through people.

Her focus is on bringing the ‘humanness’ to corporate environments, centring on storytelling and connection as a catalyst for change. The daughter of Sri Lankan Tamil migrants, Shalini is an advocate for equity for minority communities, striving to give them a greater voice in the workplace.

Amy Schwebel —
Secretary

Amy is currently the Co-Head of Justice Connect’s Access Program. In this role, Amy is responsible for managing the organisation’s relationships with its pro bono partners as well as leading a team to deliver responsive free legal help to people experiencing a range of legal problems.

She has fifteen years’ experience working in the not for profit and legal assistance sectors including at International Women’s Development Agency, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Victoria Legal Aid, and Minority Rights International.

Amy has experience delivering high quality policy and law reform agendas and leading successful advocacy campaigns. More recently Amy has overseen delivery of legal assistance to help-seekers experiencing family violence, child protection, family law, employment, financial rights, and disaster legal need.

Kavisha Kurukulasuriya —
Treasurer

Kavisha is a CPA qualified accountant with over a decade of experience in accounting in creative industries.

Her love of music drew her to join Australia's premier music and entertainment business management and accounting services business, White Sky.

She has worked as the Business Manager for many of Australia’s most successful international touring artists, guiding them through all things money – from bookkeeping and budgeting through to providing high-end business advisory services. Kavisha was made a partner of the firm in 2019.

Jo Szczepanska —

Jo is a designer, researcher and co-design advocate who has worked across Australia, Asia and Europe to plan and prototype products, services and experiences.

She is a Principal Project Officer at Safer Care Victoria working in design and community engagement. She works with communities and partners to think big, start small and innovate.

She translates design research into meaningful plans, products, and services. Jo has years of experience applying co-design to many sectors and topics. She facilitates spaces that allow radical collaboration and inclusion, a shift in power, and promotion of systems change. She works on impactful projects with resilient communities who hold lived experience .

Jo has received awards for sustainable and inclusive design. (INDEX, Good Design, Premiers Design Awards) Her approaches are participatory and increase access for all. She holds a Master of Social Design and lectures in Co-creation and Evaluation.

Giselle Diego —

Giselle works in housing policy at Homes Victoria on reforms that seek to improve the lives of people living in public housing and embeds residents' voice and participation on the decisions that impact their homes, communities and wellbeing.

Prior to working in government Giselle was a management consultant working in strategy and planning, organisational culture and design thinking.

She worked with boards and executives across the not for profit, government, philanthropy, health care and superannuation sectors.

Giselle is passionate about the arts and its ability to transform people, fuel movements and foster joy. She also sits on the board for the performing arts company Play On.

Gareth Hart —

Gareth is an independent Artist, Producer and Advocate, working across organizational leadership for the art and cultural sector. They hold a Masters of Choreography (by research) from the University of Melbourne and Victorian College of the Arts. Hart has spent over 15 years as a practicing artist in Australia, creating a suite of innovative dance and installation work.  This body work has received critical acclaimed internationally, and even won an award here and there.

After ten years of project management, creative intervention and cultural development work within the local community of the Dandenong Ranges, Hart was awarded a 2017 Australia Day Award for ‘outstanding contribution to the Yarra Ranges community’. In 2018, Hart was fortunate enough to be selected by the Australia Council for the Arts, to participate in the highly competitive Future Leaders program. Professionally, Hart’s work in organizational and community leadership is underpinned by deeply held values of humanity and humanness. Hart is currently General Manager at Arts Mildura – leading the team and program of a dynamic, rurally based contemporary arts organisation.