Our Board

Frances’s career is diverse spanning both the private and the not-for-profit sector, in business, hospitality, and health care, before moving to community services, when she joined YWCA Canberra.

Frances’ natural drive and commitment to excellence in service delivery, advocacy, and leadership have shaped her role as CEO of YWCA Canberra since 2013. Under her leadership, YWCA Canberra has achieved significant growth and impact by delivering high-quality integrated services, improving corporate efficiency, and demonstrating strong systems leadership. She has positioned the organisation as a courageous community advocate, ensuring the needs of vulnerable communities are seen, heard, and addressed both locally and nationally. Frances remains a passionate advocate for policy initiatives that tackle the root causes of women’s housing insecurity and homelessness, including gender inequality and gender-based violence.

Frances is the Chair of the Homelessness Australia, and volunteers on a variety of other boards and committees including the ACT Work Health Safety Advisory Council. She was formerly on the board of ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS), is a former Board Director of WESNET, former Chair of the ACT Ministerial Advisory Committee for Women and former Co-Chair of Anti-Poverty Week in the ACT.

In 2015, Frances received an Edna Ryan Award for advancing the status of women in the ACT. In 2016, Frances was named ACT Leader of the Year at the Australian Leadership Excellence Awards run by the Australian Institute of Leadership and Management. She regularly represents YWCA at the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women in New York.

In 2021 Frances was selected to participate in the inaugural Social Impact Leadership Australia (SILA) program, where she completed a 10-month program on leadership development and capacity building for CEOs of for-purpose organisations in Australia.

Tahlia is a confident and assured communicator which has been integral to her approach in change management across her clients in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. She is a well-rounded individual with experience in stakeholder engagement, communications, learning and development and organisational design. She is also a named co-author for the Australian Business Guide to Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and was a key individual in the successful application of funding to support On Country learning for remote communities. Further to this, Tahlia worked across Australia with various Communities and the Department of Health to further the Commonwealth’s work around the Closing the Gap initiative.

Maree currently serves on Property Council of Australia and Australian Property Institute committees related to residential property and planning.

She has a keen interest in the provision of housing for families and older women in need. She believes the mission of YWCA Canberra is more important than ever in a post-pandemic world, given the rise in domestic violence against women and economic conditions pushing some families to the brink.

Renee is passionate about gender equality and particularly the gendered experienced surrounding women’s interactions with the law. Her goal is to help all women, particularly young women, feel better represented and recognised as part of the legal system.

Fern is deeply passionate about women’s rights and education which, drives her project management and policy pursuits. She has a background in delivering welfare services to Australian Families and providing support and learning programs for her teams delivering emergency payments.

Beyond her professional pursuits, she is a musician with a love for the piano and music composition.

Caroline has held a diverse range of senior appointments, including working for the Australian federal government at the executive level. Caroline is commercially astute, and competent in corporate governance; business management and performance (strategic and operational); change management and business transformation; program/project management and business analysis; policy and advocacy; compliance, assurance and quality management; finance; risk; regulation and accreditation. With an early career in information technology and business transformation, Caroline transitioned to leadership positions responsible for governance, strategy and operations.

Caroline holds several qualifications complementing her skills and experience, including being a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Jacqui is passionate about gender equality and ensuring that young women have all the necessary tools to lead a safe and empowering life.

Joy has governance and public sector experience, a reputation for delivering outcomes by partnering to shape strategy, tenacious advocacy and commitment to service. She believes positive outcomes are driven through collaboration. Joy is a former nurse, has managed rural health services, headed up a NFP to improve access to GP services across the Northern Territory and was executive secretariat for university departments of rural health to improve access to health care in rural and remote communities. She holds a BA and post graduate studies in health information systems. She is a graduate of the Australia Institute of Company Directors

As a governance and business management professional, Deb holds qualifications as a CPA, Chartered Company Secretary, Bachelor of Business and Graduate of AICD Company Directors Course. Deb is passionate about business and ensuring women have equal representation at the table.

She is currently serving as a member of the Governance Committee for the Working with Women Alliance.