Passionate about our vision to create a disability confident Australia, our people are flexible, collaborative, open minded and results focused.
We explore new ways of doing things and are committed to continuous learning and improvement in order to maximise our impact.
We know that working in partnership with organisations we can make a difference to people with disability accessing business as customers, employees and stakeholders.
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.
Prior to joining AND, Rachael had worked in a variety of sectors including mining, telecommunications and service and support industries. Her most recent role was as CFO of Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries and Land Manager where she led a comprehensive overhaul and deployment of all IT platforms.
At Southern Phone Company Ltd, as CFO and Company Secretary, Rachael was involved in the transformation of a company under the disruption of the introduction of the NBN and was a key member of the acquisitions team who acquired and integrated into the business multiple customer bases.
Rachael has held a number of finance and administration roles over her varied career and is known for supporting organisations with governance frameworks, project planning and the integration of customer journey into IT infrastructure. Her system, process and analytical skills ensure that business processes operate efficiently her insights into processes ensure that improvement align to the organisation strategies.
A keen volunteer, Rachael can be seen assisting the Moruya Surf Lifesaving Club Special Nipper program or out in the estuaries teaching children to fish as a Fishcare Volunteer.
Rachael has a Bachelor of Commerce, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and is a Graduate of the AICD.
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.
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.
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.
With a desire to do social good and a passion for equity, Amber joined AND to use her consulting skills to drive and empower organisations to make a difference. With her project management skills, Amber designs national pioneering projects and theories of change to create lasting and sustainable impact in the not-for-profit sector.
Amber joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) in December 2017 bringing her business analyst and social research background. Amber’s career path has always focused on consulting where she enjoys deep analysis to understand a market and environment. In the past, Amber’s work has focused on inclusion strategies, policy and system development, behavioural change and workshop training and facilitation.
Amber has extensive experience advising C-Suite decision makers on change management strategies to improve access and inclusion of the business, increase market share and generate revenue growth.
If you’ve ever been on a video call with Amber, you would know that she also has two miniature dachshunds that like to contribute during meetings. Carly (aged 14 months) is particularly vocal when it comes to the inclusion of people with disability.
Amber holds a BComm in Management and Marketing and DipLang in Indonesian from the University of Melbourne.
Our expert staff
Victoria Armstrong
Marketing and Events Administrator
Victoria Armstrong
Marketing and Events Administrator
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.
Aston joined the Australian Network on Disability in 2022 as a Content Creator and Designer.
A recent graduate from University of Technology Sydney, they hold a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications with First Class Honours, and have recently been nominated for the Design Institute of Australia’s Graduate of The Year award in the Visual Communications category.
Aston is passionate about the ways graphic design can advance accessibility and inclusion, and is excited to bring that passion to the Australian Network on Disability
Hayley Brooks
Relationship Manager
Hayley Brooks
Relationship Manager
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.
Ashly Dahdal
Program Coordinator
Ashly Dahdal
Program Coordinator
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.
Bianca Georgakopoulos
Program Coordinator
Bianca Georgakopoulos
Program Coordinator
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.
Tia Kwan
Program Coordinator
Tia Kwan
Program Coordinator
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 Lane
Program Coordinator
Rosie Lane
Program Coordinator
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.
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.
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.
Emily Matthews
Member Experience Manager (on Parental Leave)
Emily Matthews
Member Experience Manager (on Parental Leave)
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.
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.
Michele Nealon
Relationship Manager
Michele Nealon
Relationship Manager
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.
Ari joined the Australian Network on Disability (AND) as a Business Analyst, part-time in Jan 2022, and then becoming permanent in May 2022.
Prior to Joining AND, Ari has worked as a Senior Project Manager, managing Business and Technical transformation projects, implementation of major products into organisations, as well as business projects.
He has also worked as a Business Analyst and programmer and has a wealth of knowledge in the IT industry, having worked in Insurance, Government, Data Analytics, Financial Companies.
Ari is passionate about all aspects of Information Technology and how it can enable people to perform to the best of their ability.
Clara Pirani joined the Australian Network on Disability in May, 2022. She is an experienced journalist and editor and most recently worked at The Australian newspaper for 20 years in a variety of roles including Medical Reporter, Health Editor, Business Chief of Staff and Associate Editor.
She is passionate about public health and social equity and is currently studying a Master of Public Health at the University of Technology Sydney.
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.
Tess Whelan
Program Coordinator
Tess Whelan
Program Coordinator
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 White
Relationship Manager
Sam White
Relationship Manager
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.
