Board of Directors

Helen Conway (President)

B Arts, B Law

Location: Sydney

Helen Conway is an experienced lawyer, senior executive and director. She spent 10 years in private legal practice, including 7 years as a partner in a major law firm in Sydney, and then moved into the corporate sector where she worked as a senior executive in the insurance, transport, energy, retail and construction industries for 18 years. At the same time, she undertook various directorships in the health, transport and superannuation sectors. Helen is an expert in workplace gender equality. Between 2011 and 2015, she was the CEO of the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency, a statutory authority with regulatory and other responsibilities.

Helen has a long track record of undertaking a broad range of voluntary activities including those in support of women. She was a member of the New South Wales Equal Opportunity Tribunal for 10 years including 3 years as its Senior Judicial Member.

In 2005, Helen was awarded the Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year by the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association.

Helen is a Director on the Boards of commercial organisations in the insurance and energy sectors. She is also a Director of not-for-profit entities involved in education and housing and related services.  In addition, she is a volunteer mentor with Kilfinan Australia.

Molly George (Vice President)

B Arts (Fine Arts), GC Social Impact (in progress)

Location: Melbourne

Molly is a creative, curious and perceptive Social Impact professional. She has contributed extensively to the not-for-profit sector in both paid and voluntary capacities. Molly currently works as a Program Advisor at the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, and has previously worked at SYN Media in various positions. She was Youth Representative at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) from 2018-29, and a 2019 Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) ‘Young Social Pioneer’ for her proposal to improve governance diversity and inclusion policies and practices.

Molly has been a non-executive Director at YWCA Australia from 2019, and a non-executive Director at YWCA Housing and YWCA National Housing since 2020. She currently chairs the Nominations Committee and has previously sat on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and People, Culture and Governance Committee.

Bec Blurton

GradCertProjMgt, JD (in progress)

Location: Sydney

Bec is currently an Executive Manager in Group Sustainability at Westpac and completing her Juris Doctor at UTS. A proud Nyoongar-Australian woman, she has lived experience and connections across the country.

Bec has held several board positions both locally and globally. She has also held a number of leadership positions in not-for-profit and private sectors.

Bec was previously the co-founder of a women’s charity, she has been the Memberships and Diversity Coordinator for a Young UN Women chapter, and in the top ’50 women you need to know’ in the Herald Sun for contributions to women in leadership. She is passionate and committed to gender equality and women’s leadership.

Apoorva Kallianpur

B Comm (Finance, Accounting), CA

Location: Sydney

Apoorva is a dedicated Chartered Accountant and strategic leader, with 12 years of professional experience in financial planning, strategy development & execution, and audit.  At 17, Apoorva commenced her Finance career at Deloitte and consistently strived to develop Young Women, through mentoring, speaking at UNSW leadership panels and facilitating youth empowerment workshops at High Resolves Australia.  On the Pymble Ladies’ College Alumni Board, Apoorva contributed to female mentoring programs and implementation of Indigenous scholarship initiatives. 

Apoorva is a Senior Commercial Manager at Vocus and sits on the organisation’s Diversity & Belonging Council to foster an environment of equal access to opportunities, inclusion & education on gender and culture. She serves as a Non-Executive Board Director & Treasurer at Regional Disability Advocacy Service, ensuring its long-term financial sustainability and drives initiatives to support people with disabilities in regional Australia. 

In 2021, Apoorva was Acuity magazine’s Future Leader Under 35, for her strategic roadmap and commitment to drive positive change in the community & Finance profession. 

As a Director at YWCA, Apoorva aims to close the gender equality gap, empower young women to challenge the status quo and overcome barriers impacting female representation at management levels.  Apoorva will leverage her professional expertise, authentic purpose-driven attitude, and intersectional lens to deliver the YeS 2026 strategy. 

Caroline Lambert

BA (Hons), MA, Postgraduate Diploma (International Law), PhD, GAICD

Location: Melbourne

Caroline works as an independent consultant with feminist and human rights organisations, focusing on the how of change as much as the what and why. She works from the premise that our collective brains and hearts can do better for our world and is passionate about working collaboratively to create that change. Caroline is interested in telling new stories about gender, find new approaches to reduce inequalities, work for climate justice, and unpack systems and beliefs of prejudice.

Caroline is an experienced advocate with deep expertise in feminist organisational development and practice, policy advocacy, impact evaluation and research, particularly in the areas of gender equality and human rights. She works with clients in Australia and internationally. In her work, Caroline draws on over 25 years’ experience as a high-performing governance and management executive in the not-for-profit sector, and in feminist research and advocacy. She writes, dances, cooks, reads and gets her hands into the dirt to stay grounded in these times.

Khayshie Tilak Ramesh

B Law (Hons), GDLP (in progress), Certificate of Mediation Accreditation

Location: Bendigo, Victoria

Khayshie is a passionate advocate for youth, multiculturalism and diverse representation at influential decision-making tables. She is an experienced board director, youth mentor, legal advisor and is the Multicultural Youth Commissioner of Victoria. 

Khayshie’s expertise in governance, risk and strategy, alongside her lived experience has created value within a number of organisations including Ambulance Victoria, ARCJustice, Inaugural City of Greater Bendigo Youth Council and various State government appointments. As a pioneer of youth leadership within the community, her long-standing dedication has been recognised through accolades including Young Citizen of the Year, Law Student of the Year 2019, Premier’s Volunteer Champion 2019 and being named in the top 100 future leaders of Australia.  Khayshie seeks to bring an intersectional lens to the YWCA and is most excited to champion capacity building for the voices of diverse young women in leadership on a national stage.

Marina Rofe

B Bus, CA 

Location: Sydney

Marina is a commercial finance leader with 16+ years of experience across finance, business partnering, transformation and strategy. She has led and developed group-wide solutions for transformation programs by providing strategic and financial expertise across key business activities and drivers. Marina is a Chartered Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Business from UTS, and was a finalist in AFR BOSS Young Executives 2021.  

Marina is passionate about change and driving gender equality by recognising that different backgrounds and life experiences colour one’s circumstances. She believes that education and empowering women is essential for gender equality. Marina strongly values diversity and inclusion in the workplace and the broader community. Creating a community of diverse people and ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute, influence and feel safe is key to achieving a healthy society. Marina’s experiences to date both professionally and personally provide strong appreciation and key foundational skills to support the core activities of YWCA Australia and YeS 2026.  

Lina Tchung

B Comm, B Bus (Mgmt), CA

Location: Sydney

Lina is an experienced director and Chartered Accountant with extensive experience across finance, audit, risk and governance. With time as her precious commodity, Lina carves her time between her family and friends, her work as an auditor and giving back to the community.

Lina is an example of YWCA’s commitment to women’s leadership. She was appointed as an U30 Director of YWCA NSW in 2009 and served on the Board, Finance Committee and later as a strong advocate on the NSW Merger Committee until the organisations integrated on 1 June 2018. Lina threw her hat in the ring and was elected to the YWCA Australia board in November 2019 and then again in 2020, after standing for re-election.

Lina spent 17 years at EY in the financial services assurance practice before joining Macquarie as a Division Director in Internal Audit. She continues to be passionate about young women’s leadership and the empowerment of women.

Rebecca Thomas

B Sc (Hons), Investment Management Certificate

Location: Sydney

Rebecca is a banking and funds management professional with deep experience in debt and equity financing, having led large scale investments across both Europe and Australia over the last 15 years. She has a strong passion for driving change, especially in the Australian housing sector believing that everyone should have a safe place to call home.

Rebecca is responsible for directing institutional investment into the for-purpose sector in her current role as Director, Impact Investing at Social Ventures Australia. . The team currently manages a number of funds and investments delivering both social and financial returns. Rebecca joined the YWCA Board last year having previously been a Director on the Y Housing Board.

She brings her enthusiasm and extensive expertise in investment in the social and affordable housing sector to her Board Director role.

Mannie Kaur Verma

B Law, Masters of Politics and Policy (in progress)

Location: Melbourne

Mannie Kaur Verma is recognised by Herald Sun as one of Melbourne’s most influential lawyers, for giving a voice to those who are often absent from our complex judicial system. She is also a finalist of Women of the Future 2021, a Women’s Weekly initiative celebrating the incredible social work of young women in Australia. 

As a Principal Lawyer and Founder of Regal Lawyers, Mannie is responsible for the strategic development and governance of the law practice. Regal Lawyers is an innovative disrupter in the legal industry, being one of the only law practices in Australia that places intersectionality at the core of its work. To extend her knowledge of intersectional feminism, Mannie is also conducting research with Deakin University to improve the representation of diverse women in politics. 

  For the last six years, Mannie has been representing and advocating for domestic violence victims and has worked with the Victorian government and organisations such as Whise and Intouch to deliver tailored and targeted programs to prevent family violence and provide temporary housing. 

 Mannie has contributed more than 750 hours of pro bono work and is a 2021 finalist of Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30 – Pro Bono. 

Renée Wirth

B Planning, Masters of Development Studies

Location: Sydney

Renée is passionate about affordable housing as a feminist issue and has spent her career working on policies, programs and initiatives to increase the supply of social and affordable housing for the community.

Renée has over 19 years’ experience in managing the planning and delivery of social and affordable housing including roles in the NSW Government, UK Government, local councils and the not-for-profit community housing industry. She currently works in the executive team of SGCH (St George Community Housing), the largest community housing provider operating in Sydney with 7,000 social and affordable homes under management.

Through a range of roles, Renée has gained experience developing government policies for social and affordable housing, delivering affordable housing through the planning system, funding and financing mechanisms for affordable housing, compliance and regulatory settings for community housing and developing and executing strategic growth initiatives.

Margherita Dall’Occo-Vaccaro

Location: Canberra

Margherita is a migrant, queer, young woman with a disability who currently lives on Ngunnawal Ngambri country.

Margherita is a young disability and intersectionality advocate who is committed to work that supports and fights for the rights of young people with disabilities and other intersecting backgrounds. She advocates from her own lived experience and the communities she is immersed in.

She currently works at Women With Disabilities Australia as a youth development officer, where she works on a wide range of projects which advocate for young women and non binary people with disability, as well as represent young people in policy, government and international spaces. She has been chosen as a 2022 Youth Delegate to the United Nations Conference of State Parties on the CRPD, where she will represent Australian Civil Society in New York. Margherita is also involved in various other advocacy networks including Children and Young People with Disabilities Youth Council and Commonwealth Children and Youth Disability Network Executive, where she passionately engages in community and loves to interact with others who are working towards intersectional justice.

Aditi Malhotra

B Occupational Therapy, Masters Health Economics

Location: Canberra

Aditi is an occupational therapist, volunteer and policy adviser.

Aditi is passionate about meaningful, equitable and dignified access to healthcare and social services and began advocating for her patients as an occupational therapist in Melbourne where she worked across the healthcare system in acute, community and NDIS and aged care settings. 

This passion for equity drove Aditi to work with the Women’s Information Referral Exchange, Thorne Harbour Health, women’s shelters and Money Girl to better support those experiencing and the prevention of gender-based violence. Most recently, Aditi championed the need for working collaboratively using an intersectional lens through her role as Chair of the Women’s Network at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Aditi has held a variety of roles at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet including the Office for Women, the Office of the G20 Sherpa and the team working on the Review of Parliamentary Complaints. Aditi currently works in the National Cabinet branch which worked to coordinate the National Plan to Australia’s National COVID-19 Response. In this role Aditi led the coordination of the Health National Cabinet Reform Committee and policy issues focusing on Women.