Our Board

Joined August 2021

Heather Finlayson is the Chief Operating Officer of Home@Scope with Scope Australia, a subsidiary providing supported independent living options to people living with a disability across Victoria.

Heather is passionate about supporting children, families and young people to be successful and achieve their aspirations and has spent over 20 years re-inventing business operating models, driving change and creating positive shifts in performance across the health, community and education sectors as a key enabler.

She has broad Executive experience including with as Director Impact Measurement and Australian Services with Save the Children Australia, General Manager Strategy Group with Goodstart Early Learning and Director Government Relations and Organisation Transition with The Smith Family.

Heather has a Masters of Education and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Joined January 2023

Michael Maher is a Partner at Cube Group, leading the firm’s evaluation and review practice. Cube works with purpose-driven organisations, including government and public entities, community service organisations, not-for-profits, peak bodies and other member-based organisations.

With more than 30 years of experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, Michael’s work spans all areas of social policy with a particular focus on early childhood, education, justice, health (including mental health) and human services.

Michael brings extensive experience at executive levels in the Victorian Government, including leading early childhood programs, policy and regulation, and is skilled in program management, resource allocation and budget processes.

Michael is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

Joined November 2020

Maree Walk is the Director of StoryRoad, a consultancy that works with non-government organisations and government agency executives on coaching, projects, writing, facilitating, strategic leadership and support.

Maree has more than 30 years’ leadership experience in child and family services and is passionate about innovation and collaboration achieving real change. She has experience at an executive level as Chief Executive of Community Services NSW, Deputy Secretary of Family and Community Services NSW, and General Manager, Operations at The Benevolent Society.

Maree is also a Board Director for City West Housing, and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Joined June 2019

Jason Whakaari is currently the General Manager – Contracts and Performance, within the Justice Health Business Unit of the Department of Justice and Community Safety (Victoria). Justice Health is responsible for leading responsive and contemporary prisoner and youth offending health policy, services, and advice across the justice system.

Jason’s background includes a range of senior management and leadership roles in Australia, and jurisdictions across an extensive range of portfolio accountabilities in New Zealand.

Experience gained in these roles along with tertiary studies majoring in economics/finance, strategy, and management systems combine to provide Jason with a unique blend of commercial acumen, policy reform, operational change management, project management and project governance oversight.

Joined March 2020

David Meagher is the Director and founder of DPM Consulting, and more than 35 years’ commercial experience working in both human resources and accounting.

David has held senior Human Resources roles in professional service firms such as Ernst & Young, BDO Australia and ShineWing Australia as well as Aegis, a business solutions provider (CRM).

As a Human Resources consultant providing expertise to a range of clients, David specialises in making sure the employee relations framework is established, implementing reward and recognition programs, facilitating leadership programs and introducing policy and procedural change into organisations.

David is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

Joined  January 2023

Heather Smith’s career in management spans public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Heather has focussed on finding pragmatic and implementable solutions for organisational strategy challenges in industries including health, disability, services, insurance, community services and child development.

Originally trained as an Occupational Therapist, Heather expanded her skills with Graduate qualifications in safety and an MBA.

With experience spanning industries where there can be complex and multiple stakeholders and actioning a substantial reform program, Heather brings perspectives on technology, change management, project management, governance and risk management.

Joined January 2023

Helen Ali-Haapala is a Senior Manager, Restructuring and Insolvency at William Buck, a top 10 accounting firm in Australia and New Zealand.

Helen has a wealth of cross-industry experience from various senior-level positions in professional services and commerce. She uses her knowledge and expertise to understand the issues, provide invaluable perspectives, and ensure the best outcomes are met.

Experience gained in these roles supports Helen’s belief that the best results are achieved when communication is clear and collaboration is high, as it creates relationships built on trust.

Joined February 2025

Rachel Podbury is a Senior Project Partner at Monash Health, leading the design and delivery of a Centre of Excellence in Safer Birthing at Victoria’s largest maternity care provider. The Centre will collaborate with maternity services across Victoria to deliver a safer birthing culture to improve women’s and newborn health outcomes.

Rachel’s 15-year career leading innovation, research and strategy projects and portfolios spans Australia and North America. She has worked extensively within and in partnership with non-profit, population health services and research institutes focused on children, adolescents and families, including Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, headspace, and NYU Langone Health’s Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Rachel has spent several years as a principal consultant in strategic design, collaborating with diverse government, corporate and non-profit clients grappling with various aspirations and challenges.
From this, Rachel brings deep expertise in understanding individuals, teams and organisational needs and challenges and designing solutions that tap into multi-disciplinary practices, including strategy, research and design, to deliver truly useful outcomes.

Joined February 2025

Joanna Fletcher is the Executive Director of Family Youth & Children’s Law at Victoria Legal Aid.

Joanna has more than 30 years’ experience in legal practice, systemic advocacy and as an executive in the public and for-purpose sectors.

Her work focuses on preventing and responding to violence against women and ensuring the best interests of children are met.

Joanna is a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), awarded in recognition of a career dedicated to improving safety, security and equality for women.

Joined February 2025

Trent Ludkin is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at The Capricornian Bank.

With more than 17 years’ experience in the defence industry, including 9 years as a Cryptologic Linguist in the Royal Australian Navy, Trent has certified cybersecurity platforms for the CoA, implemented Project Management Offices, Change Advisory Boards and developed Information Security Management Systems. He was successful in certifying against both ISO27001 and CE+ in the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore.

Trent is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), an ISACA member, and has completed a Bachelor of Criminology, Bachelor of International Relations and Political Studies, Master of Strategic Studies and a Masters of Business Administration (Data and Cyber Management).