Our team

Corene joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as the Chief Executive Officer in July 2021.

An experienced CEO, Corene is passionate about improving the lives of others and building communities for good. A NFP specialist, with a marketing background, Corene was previously Chief Executive Officer of Special Olympics Australia, part of the world’s largest disability sports organisation.

Her previous role was also in the sports sector as Chief Executive Officer for the NRL’s Men of League Foundation responsible for the welfare of the rugby league community. Corene was the first female of to be appointed.

Prior to that she was the inaugural National Marketing Manager for Legacy Australia, caring for the families of the fallen and ill Defence force Veterans. As a result of Corene’s efforts Legacy underwent major transformation and appointed their first National CEO, after 90 years of volunteer led administration. A great believer in the value of education her professional career included senior appointments at Tribeca (now Kaplan), University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM).

Corene is a South African born Aussie with a solid sporting pedigree and has been a citizen of ours since 1987. Corene is married to Peter, and they enjoy travelling in their motorhome, as well as swimming at her beloved Cronulla beach, playing golf, yoga and cycling in her spare time.

Email: rida.leung@and.org.au (Executive Assistant)
Phone: 02 8270 9203

Amy joined AND as a Relationship Manager in August 2012, and was appointed Deputy CEO in June 2015. Amy took up the role of Acting CEO from January 2021 to June 2021.

Prior to joining AND Amy had worked in the disability sector for seven years, both in the UK and Australia, specifically working with people with intellectual disability.

In the UK, Amy worked for The Westminster Society for People with Learning Disabilities. She started in the organisation as Head of Marketing and Administration and then moved to the Community Development Department to set up a new service which provided person centred approaches to housing and support care for people with intellectual disabilities.

When Amy came to Australia in 2007, she joined Special Olympics Australia. Amy worked in the Sports Department developing participation opportunities for people with intellectual disability, including National Competitions and coordinating travelling teams. She also managed a leadership and mentoring program for athletes to develop their skills on and off the playing field.

Throughout her career to date, Amy has worked closely with a number of key stakeholders, including local governments, corporate organisations and disability service providers to enhance the inclusion of people with disability.

Email: amy.whalley@and.org.au
Phone: 02 8270 9250

Carolyn joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as the Finance and Operations Manager in January 2020.

Prior to her role at AND, Carolyn was Finance and Operations Manager for Tour de Cure and held various roles within IBM finance, incentives and leasing teams. She has extensive corporate, manufacturing and investment banking finance experience in both Australia and the UK and has worked with the Not-For-Profit sector helping organisations achieve their targets through grant funding. Her keen analytical and system implementation skills ensure that processes operate efficiently allowing business to focus on meeting their objectives.

Carolyn has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from Monash University and is currently studying to be a CPA.

Email: carolyn.ekins@and.org.au
Phone: 02 8270 9211

Isabel has a keen interest in promoting inclusive practices within all aspects of the community. After attending a Diversity Masterclass run by Oaktree, she joined the Australian Network on Disability as Stepping Into and PACE Mentoring Program Coordinator, then one year later transitioned into Program Manager.

She has experience working in not-for-profit organisations and social enterprise, in roles spanning from recruitment, volunteer engagement and mentoring, to logistics management and consulting. She has a dual degree from the University of Queensland in Business Management and Arts, with an extended major of Psychology.

Isabel enjoys putting her skills to use while combining her interest in work with a social purpose. She loves working in youth and jobseeker-oriented projects, where she is able to facilitate the development of individual’s professional skills while building disability confidence throughout the workforce.

Email: isabel.heiner@and.org.au
Phone: 02 8270 9211

Megan joined AND as our Marketing and Communications Manager in February 2021. She is an experienced marketer and people leader who is passionate about building brands with purpose.

Megan has led marketing strategy and campaigns for some of Australia’s best-known brands, working in both the corporate and government sector. With a strong interest in customer behaviour and psychology she utilises audience insights to deliver relevant and engaging communications and customer experiences.

She enjoys educating through story-telling and emotive content and aims to deliver both rational and emotional connection through all activity. Megan is excited to bring her skills and experience to a brand that aligns with her personal values.

Email: megan.jones@and.org.au
Phone: 02 8270 2276

Emily joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as a Relationship Manager and PACE Program Manager in August 2015. In March 2019, she joined AND’s Leadership Team in her role as Member Experience Manager. Emily leads the Member Experience Team and is responsible, with her team, for ensuring Members are active, engaged and working closely with AND to meet their access and inclusion goals.

Prior to joining AND, Emily worked in both corporate and not-for-profit environments, focusing on relationship management, training and program management.

Throughout her career, Emily has effectively developed relationships with key stakeholders, including government departments, community organisations and corporate partners, to facilitate community, business and school-based mentoring programs. Emily is a passionate advocate for creating positive change through opportunity, education and awareness.

Emily has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology and holds a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Email: emily.matthews@and.org.au
Phone: 02 8270 9280

Suzanne was the founding Chief Executive of the Australian Network on Disability and stepped down from that role in December 2020. During that time, Suzanne took the organisation from 2 employers with 40 employees to 310 members who collectively employ 1.75 million Australians.

Under Suzanne’s leadership, AND initiated many innovative supports for employers including publications, policies, learning and development sessions, the Access and Inclusion Index and the Disability Confident Recruiter recognition program.

She pioneered many programs such as the internationally acclaimed Stepping into Internship Program, mentoring programs and the highly effective and successful Intellectual Disability Business Administration Traineeship II program. Suzanne also developed the ground breaking ‘Engage, Equip and Deliver’ model that was piloted during the NSW ‘High Growth Jobs’ project and the Victorian Employer Enablement Project.

Suzanne has specialised in encouraging and nurturing Executive Champions and commenced the first network in Canberra in 2008. Since then, Executive networks have extended to Sydney and Melbourne with over 80 senior executives who are championing inclusion of people with disability in their own organisations. Suzanne will continue to support executive champions with briefings and networking meetings in 2021.

Suzanne’s significant experience combined with her foresight to create systemic change, led her to contribute to many Federal and State Governments advisory committees including the National People with Disability and Carer Council; the Australian Human Rights Commission Reference Group on Willing to Work: A National Inquiry into Employment Discrimination Against Older Australian and Australians with Disability; the NSW Disability Employment Advisory Committee (Advisory to NSW Public Service Commission); the Disability Employment Service Reference Group and the City of Sydney’s Inclusion (Disability) Advisory Panel.

In 2010, Suzanne was awarded an AM in the Australia Day Honours list. In 2013, she was inducted into Disability Employment Australia’s Hall of Fame and was included in the AFR/Westpac 100 Women of Influence. Suzanne is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Patron of Achilles Running Club in Australia.

Email: rida.leung@and.org.au (Executive Assistant)
Phone: 02 8270 9203

Victoria joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as Marketing and Events Administrator in May 2019.

A recent graduate from Macquarie University, she holds a degree in Commerce, majoring in Marketing.’

Prior to joining AND, Victoria worked as a Recruitment Resourcer, focusing on recruitment within the built environment. She also has more than eight years’ experience in customer service.

Victoria is passionate about equitable inclusion, and is eager to develop her knowledge about accessibility and inclusion of people with disability in the workforce.

Email: victoria.armstrong@and.org.au
Phone: 02 8270 9200

Krysia joined the team at Australian Network on Disability as a Relationship Manager in 2018. Prior to joining AND, Krysia was involved in various programs and projects in the delivery of human services. Her most recent work focused on developing online learning tools that enabled disability services to improve their understanding of restrictive practices and how their use can be prevented in both Victoria and Tasmania.

Krysia was shortlisted for various awards for her innovative approach towards stakeholder engagement in these program areas, including her work with members of the Yorta Yorta people in Northern Victoria. Krysia also collaborated with the National Disability Services (NDS) in the development of the ‘Zero Tolerance’ Restrictive Practices learning bites.

Throughout her career, Krysia has effectively developed relationships with key stakeholders including government departments and community organisations. She has also mentored digital start-up programs in the digital accessibility area, with both national and international organisations. Her work has also been shared with academics and policy delivery areas in the United Kingdom.

Krysia is a passionate advocate who believes changing employer and community attitudes towards employment of people with disability is a critical part of improving the social and economic participation of people with disability.

Krysia has a Bachelor of Business (Property) from the Royal Melbourne University of Technology (RMIT), a Masters in Art in Public Space (RMIT) and she has recently completed her Professional Writing and Editing qualification (RMIT).

Email: krysia.birman@and.org.au
Phone: 03 9620 1201

Bianca joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as Administration Officer in December 2018, then in June 2021 transitioned into the role of Program Coordinator.

Prior to joining AND, Bianca worked in an office administrative position for more than four years, organising and maintaining day-to-day operations across four separate business divisions.

With qualifications in business and retail, and more than five years’ experience in customer service, Bianca’s strong interpersonal, time management and communication skills have been an asset to AND’s team and network of members.

Bianca is passionate about inclusion and believes everyone is entitled to a fair go.

Hayley joined the Australian Network on Disability as a Relationship Manager in August 2021. Before joining AND Hayley has worked in the disability sector for over 10 years in various roles which have included direct support work, project management, systemic advocacy, research, education, and case management.  These roles have not only supported people with disability but have also supported organisations to understand how to work with people with disability in respectful ways.

Hayley is passionate about empowering people with disability through co-design, advocacy, and person-centered approaches, with strong values that people with disability have the right to be able to participate in all aspects of society. Highlights of Hayley’s career has been the management of projects which focused on enhancing skills of both individuals with disability and organisations to prepare their responses to natural disasters. These projects were managed using co-design approaches where people with disability were project partners and subject matter experts guiding projects from planning and implementation to evaluation. In 2014, 2017, and 2018 these projects won awards in the Resilient Australia awards, for their innovative approaches to facilitating shared learning between people with disability and the emergency management sector.

Hayley uses strengths-based and collaborative approaches in her stakeholder engagement acting as a facilitator to create safe and supportive opportunities for shared learning to increase the mainstream community’s understandings of inclusion and accessibility.

Hayley has a Bachelor of Inclusive Education and Disability Studies, and Master of Social Work from the Australian Catholic University, where she was included on the Dean’s List and awarded Outstanding Graduate of 2013 by Catholic Care.

Hayley is excited to be working with and supporting AND’s members on their inclusion and accessibility journeys.

Nicole joined the Australian Network on Disability team in July 2021 as the Administration Coordinator.

She has had wide exposure in various roles and sectors and her career has involved the development of event and marketing campaigns, sponsorship and
learning & development programs – with a continuous focus on client relationship management.

Nicole is focused on the well-being of all individuals and understands and respects that everybody has their own story to tell.

Ashly joined the Australian Network on Disability as a Program Coordinator in February 2021.

Prior to joining AND, she worked in a diverse range of areas that allowed her to hone her organizational, teamwork and management skills. Ashly has years of experience in customer service, where she also held a senior position. She has worked in HR administration, as an equity ambassador and has even dabbled a bit in social media!

Throughout her work history she became quite passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace and beyond.

She is a recent graduate who holds qualifications in both Communications and Human Resources.

Tanya joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as Content Marketing Officer in January 2021.

Prior to joining AND, Tanya worked for the public sector in numerous communication roles. With a love for writing, she was eager to ensure that every voice had a platform. Her most recent role was at the NSW’s Department of Communities and Justice, where she worked as Communications Support Officer. In this role, she interviewed, edited, and wrote for the all-staff organisational newsletter.

Tanya is passionate about equity and inclusion in the workplace.

Tanya holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications majoring in Creative Writing, with Honours, from the University of Technology, Sydney. She also has 11 years’ experience in customer service.

Emma joined the team at Australian Network on Disability (AND) in 2018 bringing with her 15+ years’ experience working in the community sector in both the disability and crisis services / homelessness fields.

Emma’s career path began at Kew Residential Services and has wound its way through the disability sector to include support work, coordination, leading teams and projects, and case management. Following the completion of a Master of Social Work (MSW), Emma shifted to work in the housing and homelessness sector first at The Salvation Army Crisis Services, then at Sacred Heart Mission’s Homefront (Women’s Crisis Accommodation). This pathway has shown Emma that there can be no real change for the individual without first breaking down the systemic barriers that impact on their situation.

As a woman with disability, Emma is passionate about disability representation and seeing her community thrive. In her work at AND, Emma has the opportunity to support Australian businesses to build their disability confidence to better support and include people with disability in all aspects of their business.

A constant student, Emma holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Disability Studies) and a Master of Arts (Writing and Literature) from Deakin University, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Melbourne.

Email:  emma.henningsen@and.org.au

Phone: 03 9629 2871

Tia joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) team in May 2021 as a Program Coordinator.

Prior to joining AND, Tia has worked in different roles in communication, social Media management, program management and not-for-profit organisations, which allow her to develop excellent teamwork, leadership and organisational skills.

Tia has made her life-long goals to empower individuals, with a desire to work in a challenging environment to inspire empathy and equity. Her previous experience in supporting people with disability has also developed her passion on advocating for diversity, accessibility and inclusion.

Tia is pursuing a Master degree in Communication and specialises in Public Relations and Digital Media.

Rosie joined the Australian Network on Disability as a Programs Coordinator in August 2019.

She has qualifications in media and communications and has worked as a marketing coordinator, successfully managing and growing multiple FMCG brands.

She has extensive customer service, team leadership and administration experience and is excited to bring these skills to the role.

Rosie comes to us with over seven years’ experience working with kids and teenagers, and is particularly interested in working with and supporting students and young people.

Rosie’s interpersonal, communications and organisational skills have been developed through her varied professional experiences, and she is delighted to bring these to the Programs team.

She is passionate about diversity and inclusion, particularly for youth, and enjoys working in roles where she can interact with and assist a range of people.

Email: rosie.lane@and.org.au
Phone: 03 9621 2276

Rida joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer in February 2017.

Prior to joining AND, Rida held various executive assistant positions providing high level and confidential support to senior executives in government, legal, commercial and multinational organisations. Besides providing one-on-one support, she has worked effectively with both internal and external stakeholders to achieve organisational goals and objectives. Rida also possesses extensive experience in office administration and people management.

Rida attained her Bachelor degree (major in administration and management) from the University of New England, Australia.

Email: rida.leung@and.org.au
Phone: 02 8270 9203

Stephanie joined the Australian Network on Disability as a Relationship Manager in May 2021. Stephanie’s background has been predominantly in the health and care sector having held roles with a strong focus on engaging a wide range of stakeholders and driving sustainable business growth.

Prior to AND, Stephanie worked at Bupa where she was involved in number of initiatives across both the health services and health insurance businesses over the last 5 years. Across this time some of the key pieces of work included the project management of new and rebranded Bupa Dental practices, development and delivery of bespoke training and onboarding, continuous improvement processes within the referral space and led the design and execution of their aged care referral program.

She has a passion for making impactful change through her work which has led her to join the team here at AND to continue delivering on that purpose.

Stephanie has a Bachelor of Business Commerce (Marketing) from Western Sydney University.

Mirabel joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) in October 2021. She joins with over 10 years’ experience as an HR professional, working in manufacturing and professional services industries across Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Throughout her career she has partnered with stakeholders and developed strong relationships to enable talent and a culture of high performance. She has a focus on continuous improvement and uses analysis and insights to influence change. Mirabel is passionate about equal employment opportunities for all and has volunteered in employment services for refugees, students and those in need.

Mirabel has Bachelors of Business and Arts from University of Auckland, majoring in Management, Employee Relations and History.

She is excited to be a part of the AND Member Experience Team and to be contributing to the meaningful work of the organisation.

Stephanie joined the Australian Network on Disability in early 2015 as Program Coordinator on the Stepping Into internship and PACE Mentoring programs. Steph was appointed Program Manager in early 2016, supporting members to engage students and jobseekers with disability in meaningful work placements and mentoring opportunities. In 2018, Steph brought her experience to the role of Relationship Manager, and now supports the ongoing development of the Member Experience Team and continuous improvement of AND services as Senior Relationship Manager (appointed April 2021).

During her tenure at AND, Steph has developed strong relationships with key stakeholders, working collaboratively to deliver dynamic and impactful programs, learning solutions and consultancy services across various industries and sectors. Steph is passionate in her advocacy for greater awareness and understanding of access and inclusion across all aspects of business and the community, and she is thrilled to share her experience with the Network.

Steph holds a BA in Communications from the University of Technology, Sydney, a Master of Publishing from the University of Sydney, and an Advanced Diploma in Legal Studies from the University of New England.

Email: stephanie.littlewood@and.org.au
Phone: 02 8270 9200

Michele joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as a Relationship Manager in April 2021 and identifies as a person with disability. Passionate, inclusive and sustainable change is the focus of her work.

She has education and experience in leading organisations to raised awareness and the elimination of barriers to a productive workforce. As an advocate for the inclusion of people with disability, she has proven ability to motivate and lead teams to high performance while streamlining and improving work processes.

Michele joins AND with multi-disciplinary skills developed across multiple sectors including the public sector, disability, healthcare, information technology, sales and retail. The diversity of experience and perspective ensures a pragmatic, outcome-oriented approach to finding solutions for complex problems.

Michele holds a Master of Philosophy in Education (University of Newcastle) and a Master of Management (University of Technology, Sydney). She has volunteered on numerous boards including on the Australian Centre for Disability Law management committee, Deafness Forum of Australia board and the Disability Council of NSW advisory board. She has been privileged to support numerous people with disability along the way ensuring their voices were heard in decision making.

Michele joined AND with the passionate belief that changing employer and community attitudes through increased knowledge and education is a critical part of improving the social and economic participation of people with disability.

Email: michelle.nealon@and.org.au

Penny joined the Australian Network on Disability as a Relationship Manager in March 2021. Penny’s background is in diversity and inclusion in the higher education sector where she worked on programs to support the transition to university for students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds. She then moved into workplace diversity and inclusion, delivering an organisation-wide disability awareness training framework, the establishment of staff inclusion networks, strategic diversity and inclusion events, and programs to support career development for staff from diverse backgrounds.

Penny enjoys working from the ground up to help organisations to develop and deliver access and inclusion plans, support disability champions, grow engaged staff networks and build disability confidence across all areas of their business. She is passionate about ensuring the social, educational and economic participation of people with disability in Australian society.

Penny has a Bachelor of Social Science with majors in policy and psychology from the University of New South Wales. In her spare time, she’s a volunteer counsellor and community educator with the Australian Breastfeeding Association.

Amber joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as a Relationship Manager in December 2017. She has a consulting and business analyst background with experience in both market and social research. In the past, her work has focused on growth strategy, branding, communications and developmental research.

Amber has experience conducting qualitative research with diverse audiences, including; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from CALD backgrounds, families of low to high socio-economic status, children and young people, business workers, people with disability, and community leaders. Her work provided evidence-based strategic information and advice to all levels of Government.

Amber also has experience advising C-Suite decision makers. In this work she focused on delivering customer and change strategy advice to increase market share or generate revenue growth.

With a desire to do social good and a passion for equality and equity, Amber joined AND to use her consulting skills to drive and empower organisations to make real impact.

Amber holds a BComm in Management and Marketing and DipLang in Indonesian from the University of Melbourne.

Email: amber.tratter@and.org.au
Phone: 03 9614 0942

Tess joined the Australian Network on Disability team in April 2019 as a Program Coordinator.

She previously worked on a Victorian Government funded project to build a more inclusive youth sector through developing and delivering Disability Awareness workshops for youth workers. Tess also has experience in pre-employment programs for young people with a disability. Tess is passionate about creating opportunities for people with disability to reach their full potential within their chosen career.

Sam joined the Australian Network on Disability as a Relationship Manager in September 2021. He joins the AND team with a wide variety of stakeholder management experience in the emergency services, national security, and law enforcement sectors, with particular focus on mental health and wellness. He also has experience in working in sport, and the promotion of inclusion and diversity within both state and national sporting frameworks.

Sam is passionate about sport, coffee, cooking, and ancient history. His sporting passion for rugby union has led to many opportunities to travel as a player, coach, and fan, and strongly believes in the uniting power of inclusion through both sport and employment.

Sam has an Honours degree in Exercise and Sports Science (Biomechanics), and holds various strength and conditioning and coaching accreditations.