Our People
Message from the Chairman
Well known for selecting the Western Australian finalists for the Australian of the Year Awards, Auspire is also strategically positioned to bring about a greater vision for our State and Australia.
Since our organisation’s establishment in 1977, through to today as a registered charity, Auspire seeks to bring all Western Australians towards a united and socially cohesive society. We do this through our three strategic pillars:
Acknowledging our history through cultural awareness and reconciliation;
Rejoicing in the present with our recognition programs that identify and champion those people delivering community-strengthening and capacity-building outcomes; and
Looking confidently to our future by promoting and encouraging diversity, inclusiveness and social cohesion.
The team at Auspire is proud of the work we do through a variety of programs that promote positive community role models and those universal values we can all share as Australians. Values like respect, tolerance, courage and resilience, taking responsibility, having a fair go and giving one in return.
If you would like to donate, get involved, contribute in some way to our programs or partner with us to develop and deliver an important initiative, we encourage you to get in touch.
Bradley Woods
Chairman of the Board
Board
Auspire - Australia Day Council of WA Inc, is led by a Board of Directors, who oversee the strategic direction of the organisation.
Staff
Management
Aboriginal Advisory
Auspire – Australia Day Council WA enlists the assistance of experienced and knowledgeable advisors of Aboriginal culture and history to ensure we deliver programs and events to a high standard.
Multicultural Advisory
Auspire – Australia Day Council WA enlists the assistance of experienced and knowledgeable Multicultural advisors to ensure we deliver programs and events to a high standard.
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Bradley Woods
Chairman
For 25 years Bradley has been one of Australia’s leading advocates for the hotel, hospitality and tourism industry.
Bradley has been the CEO of the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) since 1998 and was previously the CEO of the AHA Tasmania and AHA National Office Government Relations Manager in Canberra.
Bradley is a Board Member of Tourism Australia, The Australian Government’s international tourism marketing agency and National Chairman of the Commonwealth’s Tourism, Travel and Hospitality IRC, responsible for Australia’s tourism and hospitality industry’s vocational training packages.
Bradley has a degree in International Business Relations and is also a board member of Tourism Accommodation Australia, Chairman of Hospitality Group Training and a Board Member of Ronald McDonald House Perth.
Regarded as an industry expert in tourism, accommodation and hospitality, Bradley has led industry through major crises including the Tasmanian Tourism sector’s strategic response after the Port Arthur massacre, the collapse of Ansett and responding to critical international incidents impacting on the reputation of the Australian tourism industry, such as the disappearance of MH370 and the WA gas shortage crisis.
Morgen Lewis
Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director, Board Secretary
Morgen is an experienced senior executive, company director and brand/marketing strategist. After serving on the Auspire board for two years, Morgen was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director in December 2015 bringing with her over 25 years’ experience in leadership roles working in Marketing communications, Stakeholder Management, Change Management and Business Strategy Development.
Prior to Auspire, Morgen held Marketing Director roles in the retail, higher education and utilities’ sector, most recently as Group Business Director with The Brand Agency, providing strategic brand and marketing communication solutions to the corporate and not-for-profit sector.
Morgen has demonstrated success leading teams to achieve targets and has been nationally recognised for her programs and campaigns and their effectiveness in commercial and social outcomes for stakeholders in highly competitive and complex environments.
Morgen has a Bachelors Degree is Arts, a Post Graduate Diploma in Business and is a McKinsey Executive Leadership Alumna. She is is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, a Certified Practicing Marketer and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
David Hinton
Non-Executive Director, Finance Director
David is a finance executive with over 20 years experience in senior management roles in ASX listed companies. He was appointed to the Board in April 2018 after being appointed to the Finance and Risk Committee in October 2017. David has worked in a diverse range of industries and has specialised in the ICT space where he is currently the CFO and Company Secretary of the ASX listed global IT services provider, Empired Ltd, and prior to that the national telecommunications provider Amcom Telecommunications Ltd.
Ken Michael
Non-Executive Director
Dr Ken Michael AC is known for his tireless and respected contribution to many aspects of government, business and community activity spanning more than 40 years in WA.
With a respected career in planning and engineering over several decades plus several significant leadership roles, Dr Michael brings a wealth of experience and insight from multiple sectors.
He has served as a Director and Chairman on many of Western Australia’s key public and private industry bodies and institutions including the WA Planning Commission, Public Service Commission, East Perth Redevelopment Authority, WA Museum Board of Trustees, The University of Western Australia Senate and many other not-for-profit and charitable organisations.
Dr Michael has been recognised twice in the Order or Australia awards and in 2001, honoured as WA Citizen of the Year. In 2006, Dr Michael was sworn in as the 30th Governor of Western Australia and remained in the position until 2011.
Peter King
Deputy Chairman
Peter has spent 2 decades as a Senior Executive in prominent Australian organisations. His career spans corporate services and operations and includes expertise in leadership, business development, logistics, organisational change and operational management of multi-site, state-wide operations.
Peter has a Graduate Certificate in Business, studied at the London Business School and he has also held several Board positions within non-government organisations.
In 2008, his contributions received national recognition through the Australian Honours system. He is currently Chief Executive Officer for Ronald McDonald House Perth.
Rabia Siddique
Non-Executive Director
Rabia Siddique BA LLB QCVS FAIM CSP
Rabia is a multi award winning international humanitarian lawyer, retired British Army senior officer, former war crimes and terrorism prosecutor and hostage survivor.
Born in Perth, the eldest of two children, Rabia attributes the discrimination and racism she witnessed her Indian Muslim migrant father suffer in the mid 1970s, as well as being a child abuse survivor, to her passion for and commitment to justice, equality and inclusion.
Rabia graduated with a Bachelors of Arts and Law from the University of Western Australia and after several years of practising law in Western Australia and Singapore, she moved to the United Kingdom in the late 1990s to pursue her calling as a humanitarian lawyer.
Over the next 13 years Rabia undertook humanitarian aid work in Asia, South America, Europe and the Middle East, for which she was decorated by Queen Elizabeth II. She served in the British Army from 2001 – 2008, during which time she was involved in a high profile hostage incident in Iraq, which later resulted in her being diagnosed with PTSD and suing the British Armed Forces and Government for discrimination .
This landmark case held both the British government and military to account for their systemic discrimination of women and ethnic minorities, and led to profound changes in policies, attitudes and workplace culture.
In 2011 Rabia returned to Australia with her family and in 2013 published her best-selling memoir “Equal Justice: My Journey as a Woman, a Soldier and a Muslim”.
Rabia was a WA finalist in the 2016 Australian of the Year Awards, was named by Westpac and the Australian Financial Review as one of Australia’s top 100 Women of Influence, and is a non-executive board member of the Museum of Freedom and Tolerance, the International Foundation of Non-Violence, Wesley College and Calan Williams Racing. She is also an ambassador for several WA and Australian based charities and not for profit organisations, including 100 Women, Angelhands, Ishar Multicultural Health Services and Inner Ninja Mental Health Support Services.
In addition to her legal practice, Rabia is now also an acclaimed story teller, inspirational speaker, leadership consultant, media commentator and human rights advocate, as well as a proud wife and mother of triplet boys, step mother of three girls and a boy, and human mother of Holly the Westiepoo puppy!
Nick Sloan
Non-Executive Director
Nick Sloan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA). Prior to joining WALGA Nick was the Executive Director, Planning and Service Delivery at the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. Nick has extensive experience at Executive level in State Government including roles in regional WA. During this time, Nick managed complex policy agendas at both State and Local Government level.
Nick is a Board Member of Local Government Insurance Services WA, a member of the Minister for Volunteering’s ‘Volunteer Community Reference Group’ and Chairman of Nature Play WA.
Jeremy Chetty
Non-Executive Director
Jeremy Chetty is Executive Director, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Student Edge – Australia’s largest student membership community. Today Student Edge over 1.2 million members and growing internationally in the USA, UK, India & South East Asia
He is also active in the community serving as the WA Youth Ambassador for the Royal Commonwealth Society, Entrepreneur in Residence at Murdoch University, Facilitator for the National Indigenous Business Summer School, Advisory Committee member at CQ University & Council member at Murdoch Business School.
His previous community roles included advisory positions at The Office of Multicultural Interests, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship NYC, Australian Airforce Cadets & Willetton SHS.
Lenda Oshalem
Non-Executive Director
Lenda is Partner and WA Office Head of Newgate Communications, a National strategic communications firm with clients across energy, resources, waste, health, property, government, not-for-profit and defence sectors. She has experience developing and implementing strategies, internal communications, media engagement, social media communications, stakeholder and community engagement campaigns and has worked at senior levels of government for over ten years with the Australian Labor Party.
Prior to Newgate, Lenda held the role of Assistant State Campaign Director of the WA Labor Party and was responsible for state-wide and local campaigns, organisation-wide training, introducing modern campaign techniques and delivering professional development strategies to team members at all levels. She was also a key operative in the Dying with Dignity campaign, to foster political and community support for assisted dying legislation, and ultimately historic legislative change, in Western Australia. Before moving to WA, Lenda worked in NSW for a Federal Senator and as a policy adviser for the NSW Government across a range of portfolios.
Lenda has a deep understanding of public process and policy development. Throughout her career, she was worked across the political spectrum to negotiate and build support to see the successful passage of numerous Parliamentary procedural matters.
Lenda has a particular interest in community engagement, data and research driven strategies.
Meg Coffey
Non-Executive Director
Meg is the Founder of Coffey and Tea, a WA based Social Media Marketing Agency servicing the lifestyle, hospitality and tourism sector nationally. Originally from Texas and now proudly Australian, Meg is also the founder of State of Social, Australia’s largest social media conference, and #SMPerth, the city’s ‘go-to source for the latest news in the digital space and a community for those to learn and share.’
Meg regularly contributes to the digital marketing community as a speaker, lecturer, and panellist and has judged several industry awards and is regularly called on as a media commentator appearing on Sunrise, The Today Show, Channel Nine News, 6PR and the Daily Telegraph. In 2017 Meg was named as one of Australia’s Top 50 Small Business Leaders and recently nominated as a finalist for Campaign Brief’s 2021 Ad Person of the Year.
Clive Bingwa
Non-Executive Director
Clive Bingwa is the Managing Director of Nine Entertainment Co in Perth.
Clive has over 20 years in the Advertising and Communications industry and prior to joining Nine, Clive held roles as the Managing Director of Initiative Media Perth, and spent 16 years as the National Media Director and Director of 303 (303LOWE). During this time, Clive managed the complex strategic communication needs of some of Australia’s leading brands.
Born in Zimbabwe, and educated at Aquinas College and Curtin University in Perth, Clive holds a Bachelor of Commerce.
Clive is a Board Member of Aquinas College, and has previously served in advisory roles to Pentanet Ltd pre and post IPO, Murdoch Business School, as well as on the Boards of St Pius X School and Triathlon WA.
Clive is passionate about giving back to the WA community and regularly participates in raising funds for important causes and has supported fundraising for The Royal Flying Doctors, Ronald McDonald House Charities WA, and Youth Focus.
Barry Winmar
Non-Executive Director
Barry is currently CEO at the Institute of Indigenous Wellbeing and Sport, Councillor at the City of Kwinana and Managing Director of Winmar Enterprises. He also serves on the WA State Government’s Aboriginal Cultural Centre Cultural Authority – the steering committee to oversee the planning and stakeholder engagement for the new Aboriginal Cultural Centre.
Prior to this Mr Winmar has held senior policy roles within the WA State Government in areas of Emergency Services, Corrective Services, Aboriginal Advisory Services, Child Protection and Aboriginal Justice after almost fifteen years serving as a Police Sergeant in the WA Police Force.
Mr Winmar is a Whadjuk Noongar man with connections also to the Ballardong region. He has a Master of Business Administration, an Advanced Diploma of Business Management and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
A proud member of the Kwinana community, Mr Winmar is also an active Rotarian and has served as a Director on the Ballardong Aboriginal Corporation as part of the wider South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council.
Morgen Lewis
Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director, Board Secretary
Morgen is an experienced senior executive, company director and brand/marketing strategist. After serving on the Auspire board for two years, Morgen was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director in December 2015 bringing with her over 25 years’ experience in leadership roles working in Marketing communications, Stakeholder Management, Change Management and Business Strategy Development.
Prior to Auspire, Morgen held Marketing Director roles in the retail, higher education and utilities’ sector, most recently as Group Business Director with The Brand Agency, providing strategic brand and marketing communication solutions to the corporate and not-for-profit sector.
Morgen has demonstrated success leading teams to achieve targets and has been nationally recognised for her programs and campaigns and their effectiveness in commercial and social outcomes for stakeholders in highly competitive and complex environments.
Morgen has a Bachelors Degree is Arts, a Post Graduate Diploma in Business and is a McKinsey Executive Leadership Alumna. She is is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, a Certified Practicing Marketer and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Ashleigh Brand
General Manager - Programs & Awards
Coming soon
Erin Warren
Partnerships Manager
Erin is a corporate partnership and business development professional with over 13 years’ experience. She is passionate about supporting the community and using her skills to help not-for-profits attract and retain effective corporate partnerships and sponsorships that make a difference. Erin specialises in building positive and effective community partnerships by linking organisations that have a natural synergy and social impact goals.
With a background in marketing, Erin believes in innovative marketing and fundraising strategies that keep up to date with today’s changing business and social environment. Erin enjoyed growing-up and living overseas for many years and has a Bachelor of Communications from Edith Cowan University in Perth Western Australia.
Jacqui Swingler
Community Development Manager
Jacqui Swingler is the Community Development Manager with Auspire – the Australia Day Council WA. She is responsible for Auspire’s Community Engagement programs including Civics and Citizenship Workshops, Aboriginal Culture and Awareness Workshops, Intercultural Diversity and Inclusion Workshops, and our Multicultural Leadership Programs.
Jacqui has over 20 years’ experience spanning visual communication, training development, and event management. She started out as a corporate designer then moved into the education sector specialising in training, elearning, innovation, and organisational development. Jacqui has a Bachelor of Arts, is a professional member of the Australian Institute of Training & Development (AITD), and the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM).
Jacqui believes that building a strong sense of community will greatly increase our wellbeing and resilience as a society. This, as well as her passion for helping people connect and thrive is what attracted her to join Auspire.
Denyse McClements
Head of Events
Denyse is an experienced event management professional with a proven track record of delivering consistently high quality successful events.
The combination of knowledge, skills and project management experience gained during her career, together with a passion for events, have all served to make Denyse a highly effective event manager. She has an aptitude for client and stakeholder engagement by establishing strong relationships with key stakeholders and creating events that perfectly capture client expectations. Denyse thrives in a diverse and fast-paced environment and has spent the past twelve years working for a not-for-profit industry association.
Charlotte Viney
Marketing Communications Officer
Jenny Sophian
Business Support Officer
Born in Indonesia, Jenny migrated to Singapore when she was 10 years old and later moved to Perth to further her studies and earned her Bachelor Degree in Commerce from UWA. Upon graduation, she started her working career in sales for a local publication company and later as an Event Administrator in WA’s Building and Construction Association. As she now calls Australia home, she is passionate in actively serving her local community Church as a Sunday School teacher as well as a volunteer to feed the local underprivileged community of Perth.
Serene Snobar
Programs and Events Coordinator
As a recent migrant to Australia, Serene is passionate about exploring the multicultural aspect of Australian society. Serene’s firm belief in fair-go, respect and an all-inclusive community is what drew her to this role.
Her international experience and background in marketing, stakeholder management, events and communications contribute to her current role as Auspire’s Programs and Events Coordinator where she is responsible for supporting the implementation, administration, and logistics of all programs, events, and community development initiatives.
Danny Ford OAM
Aboriginal Culture Advisor and Facilitator
Mr Danny Ford OAM is Noongar man and a senior traditional custodian of Whadjuk Country, with connections to the wider Noongar Country and Aboriginal communities across Western Australia.
He is a qualified teacher and social worker and has considerable public sector experience after almost 30 years across a range of departments, including child protection, family support, housing and training.
Danny has an empathetic and engaging presentation style and a track record of providing cultural awareness training, indigenous engagement advice and business services. He also sits on the boards of the Polly Farmer Foundation, Clontarf Foundation, ICEA and the Wungening Aboriginal Corporation.
Rosemary Walley
Aboriginal Culture Advisor and Facilitator
Mrs Rosemary Walley is a Wadjuk Nyoongar woman with connections to other clans throughout the southwest of WA. In 2014 Rose completed her Bachelor of Applied Science in Aboriginal Community Management and Development at Curtin University, shortly thereafter moving into a research role with the Telethon Kids Institute. After completing her bachelor’s degree, Rose commenced studying her master’s in philosophy which she is currently completing.
As well as her research and studies, Rose works as a cultural awareness trainer and assists organisations in developing Reconciliation Action Plans. She also lectures in social work with Curtin University and delivers workshops and keynote addresses to various health conferences throughout Australia.
Chui Lin Chong
Multicultural Advisor
Chui Lin is a multi-faceted senior marketing, communications and branding professional.
Her experience spans private, government and not-for-profit sectors, having worked for state-based, national and international firms based in Perth and Sydney. Her diverse industry exposure includes property and construction, health care, tertiary education, energy and resources, and technology.
Chui Lin is currently the Marketing Manager at Bridge42, as well as the Community Committee Chair and a Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group Member. She holds industry roles as Property Council of Australia WA Diversity and Inclusion Committee Member, Urban Development Institute of Australia WA Diversity Standing Advisory Group Member, and National Association of Women in Construction WA Partnerships Committee Member.
Henrietta Podgorska
Multicultural Advisor
Henrietta has 11 years of experience working in the community sector in various metropolitan and rural settings around Australia.
As a Senior Manager Communications and Engagement at Umbrella Multicultural Community Care Services Inc., she has successfully delivered several community projects to CaLD groups, served on national and state advisory groups and maintained an active profile in local community initiatives.
Henrietta was also the president of the Hungarian Association of WA and served on the Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) Divisional Council – Western Australia as a councillor and she is currently the Vice-Chair at the Bilingual Families Perth. Winner of the 2021 ACSA Aged Care Awards – Employee of the Year Award WA.
Hosam Achrafi
Multicultural Advisor
Hosam is a global citizen; Syrian by descent, born and raised in the UAE, lived and studied in the UK, married to a Portuguese, and currently living with his wife in Australia.
Since he was a child, he was always surrounded by friends and acquaintances with very diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and ideologies. Hosam’s professional life has also been with several global, multicultural businesses that require knowledge sharing and collaboration with global teams.
His experience from studying, working, and socialising in diverse environments is that every human has the strength to positively shape the culture of their communities and to share their best learnings in life when given the right opportunity to.
Iqbal Samnakay
Multicultural Advisor
Iqbal Samnakay migrated to Australia in the early 1970s, initially settling in the Pilbara.
Upon concluding his studies Iqbal has held a variety of positions in a number of government agencies over 25 years with operational, regulatory and policy experience. He has a strategic outlook that is focused towards improving outcomes in the community.
In addition to his professional career, he holds undergraduate and post-graduate qualifications in science, occupational health and safety, and public health.
Rashmi Watel
Multicultural Advisor
Migrating from India, Rashmi has set up home and business in Perth, Western Australia.
Despite being qualified as an Electronics and Telecommunications engineer and having an MBA, she found it difficult to achieve a sense of acceptance in a new cultural environment that is not user friendly to non-native English-speaking people. Rashmi uses this personal experience as the passionate motivation to help empower women and children from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds to achieve happiness, self-belief and confidence at work and in the community.
Her presentation inspires and motivates attendees to strive for and achieve a sense of well being in their newly adopted circumstances. She also helps non-native English speakers to hone the English language and to have confidence to communicate in public such that they can participate in the normal day-to-day economic life in Australia. Her notable achievements include being a TEDx Speaker and setting up a company to support non-native English speakers.