OUR PEOPLE

Our board and leadership

• 

  Sandie de Wolf AM

  Board Chair and Governance and Strategy Committee Chair

  BA(hons),Dip Soc Stud, Master in Human Service Management and FAICD. Sandie has spent her professional life working with and advocating for, vulnerable children, young people, women and families, initially in the Department and since 1989, the community sector.

  Sandie was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2009, received the Robin Clark Inspirational Award (2008), the Vida Goldstein Award(2001), a La Trobe University Distinguished Alumni Award(2017) and is a life member of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare(2001) and VCOSS(2017).

  Sandie left Berry Street in December 2017 after 26 years as CEO having significantly grown its reach, impact and reputation.

  Since leaving Berry Street, Sandie has continued to work with a number of different organisations and is currently on the board of the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and chairs the Western Integrated Family Violence Committee.

  Sandie feels honoured to be able to help FVREE continue its critical work.

• 

  Tony Pititto

  Board Treasurer and Finance and Audit Committee Chair

  Senior partner with Grant Thornton where he is responsible for the provision of audit and assurance services. Tony has thirty-five years of experience overseeing external audits in various industries and not for profit organisations.

• 

  Sonia Sharp

  Board Secretary

  Sonia has over thirty years of public service experience including seventeen years as a senior executive in regional and state government. Sonia’s background in teaching, child psychology and research informed her contribution to significant reform to integrate services for vulnerable children, young people and their families.

  Sonia has been recognised internationally for her pioneering work on prevention practices in the UK which saw the introduction of joint screening teams for family violence reports between police and child protection.

  Sonia currently works as a consultant with Ernest and Young and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors; Honorary Senior Fellow, Department of Education, University of Melbourne; Doctor of Philosophy (Educational Psychology), University of Sheffield UK; Master of Science (Education Psychology), University of Sheffield UK; Postgraduate Certificate in Education, University of Aston Birmingham UK and Bachelor of Science (Honours), Human Communication and Linguistics, University of Aston Birmingham UK.

• 

  Sue Campion

  Board Director

  Sue developed the National Standards for Family Violence and managed a number of Family Violence Services including Aboriginal Family Violence Programs.

  Sue has an enduring commitment to working towards a society free from family violence. Prior to being a Director on the FVREE Board, Sue held various governance positions including the Women’s Legal Service Board. Sue believes that FVREE provides best practice across all of its programs and is responsive to the needs of families experiencing family violence and is committed to seeing this continue.

  Sue is a Lawyer, with a past specialityin family and criminal law, Since then Sue has had a strong focus in family and children’s services in both the community and government sectors. Sue now works in private practice as a counsellor.

  Sue holds a Diploma of Management, Bachelor of Laws (Postgraduate), Diploma in Community Services (Community Development), Diploma of Education and Bachelor of Social Work.

• 

  Denise McLaughlin PSM

  Board Director and Quality, Performance and Risk Chair

  Denise is an experienced leader of large government services including many years as the Director Child Protection in Victoria’s North Division. She has held other executive level roles for government in policy development, contract management and direct service delivery for child and family, disability, youth justice and housing services; and has held the role of General Manager with a local government authority. Denise is an experienced educator having worked with the Department of Education in mainstream and specialist settings and in the management of regional programs. Denise was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to the delivery of child protection services in Victoria. She continues to enjoy coaching and mentoring senior and emerging leaders and operational managers who work with vulnerable children and families.

  Denise hold a Bachelor of Arts, Trained Primary Teacher’s Certificate and Trained Special Teacher’s Certificate, Public Service Medal. Completed the Company Directors’ Course with the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian and New Zealand School of Government Executive Fellows program.

• 

  Kelly Shay

  Board Director

  Kelly spent the first twenty years of her working life in union leadership organising workers in the aged care, early childhood education and care and disability sectors in Australia and North America. In 2016, Kelly pivoted into financial services and held leadership positions at AustralianSuper and ME Bank before joining Mercer Marsh McLennan (MMC) in 2021. Kelly is currently the Retirement & Retention Leader at Mercer Super, a division of MMC, responsible for driving growth and improved member outcomes with external partners. Kelly was a Trustee Director on the HESTA Board for 6 years.

• 

  Chloe Symes

  Board Director

  Chloe is a transformational change manager with a professional services background. With a career spanning across human resources, technology and cultural change, and reform implementation she brings a unique approach to change that balances human needs with organisational/system objectives. Chloe holds a Bachelor of Business, a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a senior leader at the Department for Education (DfE) in South Australia. At DfE, Chloe is leading the change management stream on a once-in-a-lifetime overhaul of the department’s management system for schools and preschools. This management system is being rolled out to nearly 800 sites and impacts 30,000 staff. Chloe also provides strategic change management guidance and assurance on many of the DfE’s technology and digital projects.

• 

  Gary Trytell

  Board Director

  Gary is an IT Executive with over forty years’ corporate experience. Following a thirty year career with IBM, Gary moved to Epworth Healthcare as Deputy Chief Information Officer for five years. He then moved to Microsoft Australia in a senior Delivery Executive Role, supporting the Department of Health and Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and Ambulance Victoria. He is also a member of the judging panel for ‘Tech Diversity’, which is an awards based organisation established to inspire technology based organisations to implement long-lasting change around diversity. Gary also participates in volunteer work for his local community and has been awarded a ‘Glen Eira Council Community Award’.

• 

  Fiona McCormack

  Board Director

  Fiona has held a wide range of leadership roles, including Chair of VicHealth, Co-Chair of the Victorian Government’s Family Violence Steering Committee, and has represented victims on a range of state-wide committees, including the Justice Partnership Committee, Victims of Crime Consultative Committee, National Victims of Crime Working Group, and the Expert Panel for the Coronial Council of Victoria.

  Fiona has most recently held the position of Victoria’s Victims of Crime Commissioner and prior to that was CEO of Domestic Violence Victoria.