Our people

Priya Chandra is a business consultant, non-executive board director and military officer with more than 25 years service in the Royal Australian Navy. Priya’s military service included two deployments in the Middle East and executive roles in many different areas including marketing; communications and public affairs; information technology; human resources; and risk and governance.

Born in India and brought up in Adelaide, Priya has lived and worked in nearly every State and Territory, as well as in the UK. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has a Masters in Strategic People Management.

Dr Helen Hickson is a Researcher and accredited Social Worker. She has worked internationally and has a long-standing interest in sustainable and healthy rural communities.

Her interests include health workforce planning, community recovery after disaster, and community health and wellbeing.

Helen is a Graduate of the AICD Company Director’s Course and holds Board Director roles, where she contributes skills in stakeholder engagement, strategy and planning, and risk management.

Grace has qualifications (including a PhD) in social work. She moved to Central Victoria in 1998 to take a break from social work and to escape the city.

After establishing businesses in hospitality and tourism, Grace moved into social work academia and now works as Associate Professor of Social Work at Acknowledge Education and is committed to ensuring women’s voices are heard in the tertiary education sector.

Grace is passionate about the work undertaken by CNV and has been a member of the CNV board for much of the past 20 years.

Andie has over 15 years of experience in community health and wellbeing, building effective partnerships, coupled with a background over more than two decades in psychology, health, and welfare roles.

Andie believes in empowering people to achieve, resulting in thriving individuals and strong communities. Her dedication to challenging societal frameworks which disenfranchise the vulnerable is evident throughout her work advocating for comprehensive and equitable access to services, particularly during early years and for those affected by intergenerational trauma.

Andie has worked at CASA (Bendigo), Child Protection (Northern Territory) and Bendigo Community Health Services. She is currently Manager Community Partnerships for the City of Greater Bendigo.

After many years providing health and wellbeing services, Amy realised her passions were aligned to supporting the community more broadly. Returning to university, Amy studied public health and transitioned her career to the community health sector.

Having held positions with Bendigo Loddon Primary Care Partnership, City of Greater Bendigo, and Loddon Shire Council, Amy has vast experience in public health and community service portfolios. Amy is currently employed at Macedon Ranges Shire Council as Manager, Community Strengthening.

Amy takes pride leveraging her experience as a Board Member at Centre for Non-Violence, to contribute to empowering women, their safety, and a violence-free world.

Emily’s career has focused on improving education outcomes for vulnerable Australians, with experience in leadership, strategy, evaluation and policy.

Emily is currently a policy consultant at Learning First and has previously worked as Principal Researcher at the Australian Education Research Organisation, Assistant Principal – Director of Operations in Melbourne’s outer west and as Head of Strategy and Impact at Teach For Australia.

Emily holds a Bachelor of Science, Post Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Master of Evaluation, and will soon complete a Diploma of Governance.

Emma is a purpose-driven leader who specialises in leading organisations through complex change. Over the last 5+ years, she has worked in Victoria’s family violence sector, driving diverse and complex projects to deliver high-quality services to communities across Melbourne’s west.

Emma is passionate about creating a gender-equal world and advocating for change. She is driven to work with communities to alleviate them from disadvantage, oppression, and injustice, and believes in challenging systems and structures that disempower, target, and marginalise communities.

Emma holds a Diploma of Project Management, a Master of Journalism and a Graduate Certificate of Social Impact.

Meegan has worked in not-for-profits over the past twelve years after starting her professional career over eighteen years ago in the recruitment and business development industry.

Meegan is motivated to influence systemic change in the sector to ensure victim/survivors voices are heard and perpetrators are held to account to reduce re-offending and further victimisation. She has vast managerial experience leading therapeutic teams, both in victim/ survivor services & men’s behaviour change programs.

Meegan is a leader who values contributing to executive groups with a focus on innovation, growth, and sustainable partnerships.

Margaret is a qualified Social Worker and has worked in the not-for-profit community services sector for over 35 years in many settings including family counselling, community health, community legal services, and advocacy and rights organisations.

Margaret presently sits on the Board of Safe and Equal, is the Victorian representative and Treasurer of the WESNET Board and on the Board of the Global Network of Women’s Shelters. She has presented at many conferences nationally and internationally including side and parallel events at several sessions of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Margaret is a passionate supporter of human rights and ending gender-based violence against women.

Yvette is instrumental in establishing strong partnerships, delivery of services and practices that deliver positive outcomes for service users and the broader community, in line with the CNV strategic plan and feminist philosophy. Starting her career as a social worker, Yvette has been working in the community sector since 2000. Since then she has held senior strategic leadership positions in mental health, homelessness, youth services and family services. She has a strong commitment to women’s and children’s safety and to women’s empowerment.

Lauren’s responsibilities include leading the Corporate Services team, driving corporate services strategy, executing purposeful and targeted outcomes that reflect CNV vision, streamlining and integrating corporate processes and systems, and developing robust integrated management frameworks.

Lauren has significant leadership and management experience with more than 26 years in senior leadership roles within the Not-for-profit sector. She has Diplomas in Governance, Financial Services, Human Resource Management and Management.