Meet the talented, dedicated team who make sure we’re always working towards YWCA’s vision and strategic plan. Our Executive Team uses their shared knowledge to manage our day-to-day operations and support our CEO, Michelle Phillips.
Click the below links to jump to individual profiles.
Michelle Phillips
Chief Executive Officer
Bachelor of Business, Chartered Accountant
Location: Gubbi Gubbi Land (Sunshine Coast, Queensland)
Michelle has almost 20 years’ senior executive leadership in I/NGO and commercial organisations with the advancement of women as the common thread. She has extensive international and local business experience in national strategy, change management, community engagement, funding and commercial partnerships.
From Country Director delivering and advocating for lifesaving women’s health services in Asia and Africa, to establishing the highly successful national Westfield W-League and CEO roles with the Hyundai A-League football clubs, Michelle is a true social business leader driven by improving social impact and financial performance.
Charlotte Dillon
General Manager, Housing
Location: Naarm (Melbourne, Victoria)
Charlotte is an experienced leader whose decade of experience spans the community housing and homelessness sector, in both government and not-for-profit roles.
Prior to working at YWCA, Charlotte’s career has been nurtured through various leadership positions in the housing sector working across Victoria, and regional Northern Territory.
Charlotte’s expertise is in business development and governance of programs to deliver government and organisational priorities.
Charlotte is passionate about social justice, driven by the belief that housing is a human right.
Anna Paris
General Manager, Service Delivery
Bachelor Social Science, Post Grad in Social Science, Research and Evaluation
Location: Naarm (Melbourne, Victoria)
Anna has 27 years’ experience in the specialist homelessness services and housing sectors, in Western Australia and Victoria, and now nationally.
Anna is passionate about leading organisational and sector transformation to deliver real impact, especially for women and those experiencing chronic homelessness.
Prior to joining YWCA Australia, she has contributed to regional, state and national reforms in the specialist homelessness services sector in both Victoria and Western Australia to progress a more socially just system and promote inclusive communities for people experiencing disadvantage. Anna has a long history of client-centred service design, service delivery, evaluation and outcomes measurement, most notably in the area of partnership models between homelessness services and housing to end homelessness.
Faisal Mukhtar
Chief Financial Officer
MBA, CA, ACCA, Grad Dip in Management, Grad Dip in Applied Corporate Governance, B.Sc. (Hons) Applied Accounting
Location: Gadigal Land (Sydney, New South Wales)
Faisal brings significant leadership and strategic experience in business transformation and consolidation, merger and integration, designing and implementing growth strategies, and business expansion.
He has previously worked for some iconic businesses within the not for profit, education, hospitality, private equity investee entities and professional services sectors including Marriott International Inc, University of London, Deloitte, RSM and Australian Institute of Management (a Scientia Education Group business owned by CHAMP Ventures).
Faisal is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Governance Institute of Australia, and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. He is a managing director of C-Kandar Pty Ltd., founding trustee of Sedum School of Special Children and a former director of Asian Association of Management Organisation secretariat.
Joanna Mallon
Director, Organisational Capability and People
Bachelor Social Science, Member of AHRI (Australian Human Resources Institute)
Location: Gadigal Land (Sydney, New South Wales)
The three words Joanna would use to describe YWCA? Passionate, inclusive and feminist. They’re values she brings to work everyday for her role as Director, People and Culture.
Joanna has more than 15 years’ human resource leadership experience across the manufacturing, retail, financial services and not-for-profit sectors. She’s also managed sales and service teams as Regional Manager with HCF.
She has particular expertise in developing and implementing programs and advising leaders in organisations on leadership, culture, change management, employment relations, remuneration strategy and WHS. Joanna is passionate about the support and development of people in an organisation and how people initiatives can contribute to an organisation’s strategic outcomes and success.
Hannah Murray
Company Secretary
BA (International Studies), M. International Relations
Location: Naarm (Melbourne, Victoria)
Hannah started with YWCA Australia in 2017, amassing a vast amount of historical knowledge about the YWCA movement and governance knowledge in that time. She is the proud owner of a Certificate in Governance Practice from the Governance Institute of Australia, a creative and effective communicator and lover of frameworks and processes to improve governance structures. Hannah is a firm believer that feminism without intersectionality is the patriarchy in a new hat and looks forward to working with YWCA as it transitions from emerging intersectionality to embedding it into practices.
Jon Ackary
General Manager, Song Businesses
Management – Hilton
Location: Gadigal Land (Sydney, New South Wales)
Jon is manager of YWCA Australia’s Song Businesses. His description of YWCA is simple: inclusive, kind and ambitious.
Jon has over 30 years’ experience including 20 years’ at General Manager level operating Hotels, Restaurants and Events for major Hotel and Event operators including Hilton Hotels and Event Hospitality.
He made the move to Profit For Purpose as he could see that a charity with a vibrant commercial division puts the organisation in a strong position to maintain independence and grow funding for programs and advocacy work.
