Board members

Dr Judith Slocombe AM

BVSc (Melb), Post Grad Dip Management (Melb), MBA (Melb), FAICD, FAIM

Board Chair

Judith is a professional board director and business consultant with extensive experience across corporate, Government and non-profit organisations. In 2001 Judith was awarded Australia’s most prestigious award for women in business, the Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year. Judith is an entrepreneur, having built and sold her own business followed by many years’ experience as a CEO and in senior executive roles in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, operating across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. Judith was CEO of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation for ten years, has since held a number of Interim CEO roles.

Judith has held a portfolio of non-executive directorships in various business sectors for over 15 years. She is a current director of Fight MND and Gardiner Dairy Foundation, and is Chair of the Consumer Advisory Panel at Walter + Eliza Hall Institute. She also sits on Oxfam International’s Board. Former directorships include Australian Red Cross Blood Service, VicHealth, Open Universities Australia, South East Water, Young and Well CRC, Agriculture Victoria Services and Chair of the Lort Smith Animal Hospital.

Judith has an MBA from the Melbourne Business, has studied Senior Executive Management at Harvard and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In 2003 she was awarded the Centenary Medal for service to the Australian Society in Business Leadership and received an Order of Australia award in 2018.

Aleem Ali

BA, GradDipCommServMgmt, GradCertDiv, AMICDA

Aleem has spent more than 20 years seeding and mentoring the development of leading initiatives and social enterprises that advance welcoming and inclusive communities.

He is a mentor and advisor to various startups, community enterprises and government agencies, including: Australian Human Rights Commission, Heart Futures, Our Race, and Regional Opportunities Australia.

As the CEO of Welcoming Australia, Aleem is working with leaders and organisations across the country to cultivate a culture of welcome and advance communities where people of all backgrounds can belong, contribute and thrive.

Geoff McClellan

LLB BEc

Geoff is an experienced senior executive, director and chairman. He is one of Australia’s leading corporate litigators dealing with major strategic corporate disputes and regulatory matters for a significant cross section of ASX100 listed companies. He combines this with many years of experience in senior leadership, governance and global management positions at leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF). Until 2019 he was a partner of HSF. Geoff is a Director of Lifeline Australia Ltd, a past Chairman and Senior partner of Freehills and former Managing Partner of HSF.

Sachie Seneviratne (Staff Participant)

BA (Development Studies), BCom

Staff Participant

Sachie is currently the Head of Grants Management for Oxfam Australia, leading Oxfam’s approach to contract management and managing an intersectional team within the International Programs portfolio. She has also worked as the Senior Advisor at The Asia Foundation. Sachie was recently appointed as Treasurer and Board Director of Australian Progress.

Sachie is a tenured contracting specialist, with extensive experience across the international development sector.

Additionally, she holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and Bachelor of Arts (Political Science and Developmental Studies) from the Australian National University. 

Margaret Thomas

BA (Hons) Masters of Development Studies

Margaret is a senior international development professional, having held various strategic leadership and management positions in both national and multilateral settings. From 2012 until early 2021, she worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York, most recently as the Head of the Effectiveness Group and formerly as the Senior Adviser for the Corporate Strategy and Governance Group.

Prior to joining UNDP, Margaret worked for the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) for over twenty years. Margaret’s positions in AusAID included extensive country office experience including as Head of the Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste country offices, and an earlier posting in the Philippines. In Canberra, Margaret served as Head of the Pacific Branch and concluded her career with AusAID as First Assistant Director General with a focus on corporate reform issues.

Margaret was also an adviser to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs on development cooperation and South Pacific matters for several year

Dr Jasmine-Kim Westendorf

PhD, BA(Hons)

Jasmine is a Senior Lecturer and an Australian Research Council DECRA fellow in International Relations at La Trobe University. Her research expertise revolves around peace processes and peacebuilding in contexts of civil war, inclusivity in peace and development processes, and sexual exploitation and abuse in peace and humanitarian operations, and she has published extensively on these issues. She has undertaken field research in Timor Leste, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nepal, Cyprus, Palestine, Cambodia, at UN Headquarters in New York and with the humanitarian sector in Geneva.

Jasmine has conducted policy and research work with a range of NGOs including the Humanitarian Advisory Group, International Women’s Development Agency, World Vision, ActionAid and others. Jasmine is a member of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team on Accountability to Affected Populations and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and abuse. Jasmine has been extensively involved in designing, delivering and facilitating training for peacekeepers, peace builders and humanitarians globally. She is also a convenor of the Melbourne Free University.