No to Violence Board

Stefan Grun
Chair
Stefan Grun is a senior leader in the community sector, having worked across family violence, public health and disability. He is a former AFL umpire, Board Director at Women’s Sport Australia and passionate about addressing inequities across our society – including in sport – that lead to family violence.

Leanne Sinclair
Deputy Chair
Leanne Sinclair is the Associate Director Family Violence Response at Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) and is responsible for leading VLA’s whole-of-organisation efforts to implement reform and innovation in family violence service delivery for the benefit of clients affected by family violence and of the community as a whole.

Sonila Rudi
Treasurer
Sonila joined the No to Violence Board in 2017. She believes that the family unit is the one environment where women, men and children can be safe and be themselves and that can only happen in an environment which is free of violence, both physical and mental.

Debra Filippin
Board member
Debra Filippin is a senior business development and marketing communications professional, with extensive experience working in global law firms in both Australia and Japan. Debra has been responsible for leading teams of business development and digital marketing professionals across the Asia Pacific region, as well as developing and advising on business development strategies targeting the Asia Pacific.

Troy Edwards
Board member
Troy Edwards has 20 years’ experience working in and around the public sector on diverse, community-focused projects, including Victorian local government, the Commonwealth public service and the private sector.

Sarah Rainbird
Board member
Sarah is a lawyer and senior management professional with over 22 years’ experience, including philanthropy, program delivery, teaching, research, and corporate law. Sarah’s social services experience was gained at Save the Children Australia. As the National Manager for Individual and Family Philanthropy, Sarah’s was responsible for connecting donors to programs.

Tim Lo Surdo
Board member
Tim Lo Surdo has 17 years’ governance experience across 10 different non-profit boards, including current service on the board of Plan International Australia, the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Flemington & Kensington Community Legal Centre and Environment Victoria.

Michelle Wicks
Board member
Michelle Wicks is a Business and Digital Transformation Consultant with over 30 years’ experience implementing programs to help organisations fulfil their strategic objectives. Throughout her career, Michelle has delivered work to federal and state governments, as well as not-for-profit and private organisations.

Jilly Charlwoord
Board member
Jilly Charlwood is a marketing and communications specialist with extensive experience working for not-for-profit organisations. Jilly is the current Head of Brand and Marketing for Beyond Blue, where she is responsible for leading a marketing team to deliver Beyond Blue’s external brand and product marketing activities.

Ryan Batchelor
Board member
Ryan Batchelor has 15 years’ experience as a senior executive and adviser in State and Commonwealth governments. Ryan also has experience as an Executive Director of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, during which time, he performed a range of policy and governance roles, including an executive leadership role in the response to the Family Violence Royal Commission.
Executive Management Team

Jacqui Watt
Chief Executive Officer
Since 2015 Jacqui has led No to Violence (NTV) through transformational change, growing and building further NTV’s credibility as Australia’s leading best practice organisation in men’s family violence interventions.
This is Jacqui’s third CEO role with previous peak roles advocating for community housing. She has worked at senior levels in the fields of alcohol and drugs, mental health, disability, social housing and social enterprise.
Jacqui holds an Honours degree in Social Policy from University of Edinburgh and a Masters in Management and Social Responsibility from Bristol University. Jacqui is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ruth Rozario
Chief Operating Officer
Ruth Rozario is an experienced financial and risk executive having had major responsibilities in financial and management accounting, Board reporting, financial and business governance reporting, risk reporting and project management gained largely from large financial institutions in Australia.

Amanda Smillie
General Manager, Services
Amanda is an experienced strategic leader, managing significant business and service delivery functions and multi-disciplinary teams.
She is adept at forming and maintaining stakeholder relationships at all levels of an organisation, across government and with community.
Amanda brings project, people and change management experience and the knowledge and skills necessary for designing, delivering and evaluating services; policy development and project management governed by legislative and regulatory frameworks within and across complex systems.

Joanne Yates
General Manager, Advocacy and Communications
Joanne has a background in strategic advice, policy development, advocacy and stakeholder engagement across diverse sectors. She was previously senior advisor to the NSW Attorney General and most recently Director of Policy at the Defence and Veterans Suicide Royal Commission.
Leadership Team

Melonie Sheehan
Head of Services
Melonie comes to No to Violence from 1800RESPECT where she was the senior manager responsible for National Governance and Stakeholder engagement.
She has extensive experience in overall management and accountability for the 1800RESPECT Federal contract, managing the 1800 crisis services, overseeing the management of the implementation of IT systems and initiatives, workforce planning and service planning, clinical governance and operations across the broader Medibank Health services.

Daniel Witthaus
Strategic Projects Officer
Daniel Witthaus has worked with No To Violence since 2007 with a focus on training everyday men in bystander interventions, coordinating collective action and engaging new audiences of men to prevent men’s violence against women.
Daniel has spent over two decades challenging homophobia in schools, rural communities and across Australia and in developing countries. He is the author several books challenging homophobia, and founded NICHE Australia, a charity that focuses on the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in regional, rural and remote Australia.

Lizette Twisleton
Head of Sector Development
Lizette Twisleton has worked in the human and community services sector for 30 years for NGO’s and in local government. Lizette has experience in domestic and family violence having worked with victim-survivors, and men who use family violence.
She has a background in nursing, youth work, health promotion and community development. She has specialised in men’s behaviour change work over the past eighteen years, twelve years as a men’s behaviour change program facilitator, three years delivering partner contact and three years leading Sector Development projects and strategies at No to Violence.

Tori Cooke
Head of Workforce Development
Tori Cooke is a Senior Social Work Practitioner and a well-known specialist trainer in the field of family violence in Australia.
She has delivered training and consultant advice to government, police, child protection, magistrate’s court and the family law environment.
Tori has worked in a range of contexts at senior practice levels in Western Australia and Victoria.