Libby has a strong presence in the international and development community and was awarded an Order of Australia for her contribution to international relations and refugees.  Libby has filled a number of management positions in Immigration and Community Services within the Australian Public Service; has been a senior staff member and consultant to the UNHCR, and a senior coordinator and executive director in several large community organisations in Canberra.  From 2002-2005, Libby was the President of UNIFEM Australia; Co-instigator and Board member of the White Ribbon Campaign/Foundation (2003-2013); Chair of the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children and its successor council Violence against Women Advisory Group (2008-11).

Sally was the initiator and founding Chair of indigo foundation, and served as Chair for over 15 years. Over the past 30 years, Sally has worked in community development, humanitarian relief and public health, in Australia and internationally, with organisations such as Medecins sans Frontieres and the World Health Organisation. She was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the community in Australia and overseas. Sally is currently the General Manager of the Illawarra Women’s Health Centre.

Lyla has extensive consulting and management experience in the public and nonprofit sectors. She is a highly respected facilitator and organisation development consultant, known for her work in strategic planning and governance and assisting different sectors in program and policy development, evaluation and accountability.

She was a founding director and principal consultant with RPR Consulting, providing services to non-profit organisations, federal and state government agencies. From 2008-2013 she worked from Geneva and Boston, assisting nonprofit organisations in the humanitarian and development sectors. She has since resumed her consulting services to NGOs and government agencies in Australia and retains international clients. Formerly she was Deputy Director of ACOSS and a lecturer at two universities in Sydney in the areas of non-profit management, political processes and social policy.

Ron has extensive professional accounting and general business experience, including as a former partner in KPMG, CFO of multinational companies and General Manager –  CPA Australia (NSW). He is a Chartered Accountant, CPA and graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Currently, Ron teaches at The University of Sydney, consults in the Not-for-Profit sector and chairs a number of audit committees. His interest in the NFP sector, general community involvement and a strong commitment to good governance for the overall betterment of society has attracted Ron to the vision of indigo foundation.

Megan has over 20 years experience in the international humanitarian and development sector, with expertise in strategic leadership, senior management, training and program quality roles and a passion for gender equity. Most recently she was CARE International’s Country Director in Vanuatu and Director Pacific Regional Team.

Megan draws on her deep experience in managing humanitarian preparedness and response operations with a particular focus on program quality and gender. She has led humanitarian preparedness and response operations in the Middle East, Asia, Pacific and Latin America. She has recently returned to Australia and is now the Regional Operations Director with the Australian Red Cross.

Alison comes to us with a passion for human rights and social justice and extensive experience in policy, advocacy, media and campaigning. Most recently she was Policy and Campaigns Manager and Policy Lead with Oxfam, based in Jerusalem and working across the West Bank and Gaza advocating on issues relating to International Humanitarian Law and development. Previously she led Advocacy and Campaigns in South Sudan for Oxfam, based in Juba. She has led lobby trips to Europe, the UK and the US, targeting diplomatic representatives, Members of Parliament, European Union representatives and United Nations delegates. She was also a Communications Advisor with the European Climate Foundation and an Advisor to Australian Members of Parliament.

Alison is also a published writer and has written, edited and commissioned reports, and articles, some of which were published in leading global outlets, as well as short fiction.

Tamana Mirzada is an Afghan Australian youth advocate who is passionate about creating spaces that support newly arrived communities in their settlement journey. She arrived in Australia in 2007 from Germany making it her final settlement country. In the past Tamana has worked with Afghan Women Educational Center, the Lebanese Muslim Association, Community Migrant Resource Centre, The Refugee Council of Australia and Shakti NSW Refugee and Migrant Women Support Group on various initiatives including education, employment and health.

Tamana has extensive experience and expertise working on capacity-building programs for refugee and migrant communities and supporting youth by developing innovative solutions to access employment and education opportunities in Australia. In 2019, she was awarded the Refugee Council of Australia and the STARTTS Humanitarian Youth Award. In her recent role as Program Development Manager with the Afghan Women’s Education Center in Kabul, Tamana worked on gender-responsive capacity building for communities across Afghanistan.

Elena Pak is the Head of Australia at Development Pathways, a leading global development consultancy specialising in designing and developing social protection systems. Development Pathways implements The Australian Government initiative to develop formal social protection systems in Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and Timor-Leste.

Previously, Elena served as the inaugural head of North America of The Fred Hollows Foundation. Before that, she led fundraising departments at US-based nonprofits, including Girl Scouts of the USA and United Way of New York City. Elena also worked at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in foreign affairs, where she was the Director of the Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum and the U.S. Director of the British-North American Committee. Educated in the US and Kazakhstan, Elena holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in communication. She completed the American Express Leadership Academy and the American Express Aspen Institute Leadership Program. She is a Young Leader of the French-American Foundation.

Jo knows and believes in indigo foundation’s partnership approach and guiding principles. She brings a strong understanding of the international development field, gender equity and income generation. She has more than 15 years of experience translating research into policy and practice for improving gender equality. Jo is currently the Director of Knowledge Translation and Equality Insights at the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). Jo is a founding member of the Australian Feminist Foreign Policy Coalition and previously she worked for ACFID as Director of Policy and Advocacy.

Stav joined indigo as Executive Director in November 2022 and brings a wealth of experience in the international development sector having held leadership positions with ActionAid and CARE in the Asia region and having worked for AusAID in the past.

Stav was drawn to indigo and this leadership position because she shares our guiding principles and believes in our approach to respectful partnerships and community-led development. We feel incredibly excited about Stav being the right person to lead the next stage of indigo’s development as an innovative, effective and increasingly sustainable international community development organisation.

Jess comes to indigo with 12 years of experience in several not-for-profit organisations in fundraising, communications and marketing across a range of industries, including animal welfare, conservation and health. Jess says she is “excited to be involved in the wonderful work indigo foundation does for women and girl’s empowerment, equality and education.”

Jade is a qualified accountant, CPA and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Community Directors. She has extensive experience managing the financial operations and supporting strategic planning within not for profits. Jade is passionate about making a positive impact on the community and enjoys working for organisations that align with her values of collaboration, integrity and innovation.

Jenny has been the Partnership Coordinator for Bougainville since 2022. Jenny has worked in the development sector for over three decades across a range of roles and agencies including non-government organisations, UN agencies, managing contractors, and as a private consultant. Her areas of expertise are community-led development; monitoring and evaluation; social protection; capacity development of civil society actors; and gender equality and women’s empowerment. Jenny worked with DFAT’s Investing in Women as the Lead: Monitoring and Evaluation. Prior to this, she was the Country Programs Manager at CARE Australia and Team Leader on the AusAID community governance program in Papua New Guinea. She is based in Noosa.

Jennifer Barton joined the indigo team in 2023 as Partnership Coordinator for our programs in India. Jennifer’s career spanned teaching, curriculum development, teacher education, writing, editing, and various management and consultancy roles in the public service. She has worked as a volunteer in Fiji, Tonga, Rwanda and India and has been closely involved with a school for destitute children in Mumbai since 2013. Jennifer has travelled widely in India since 2000, staying with families in rural and urban areas in both northern and southern India. In 2016, after several years as an indigo supporter, she had the opportunity to visit Mahalir Sakthi in Madurai and developed a keen interest in indigo’s work in India. Jennifer is based in Canberra.

Heidi has been the Partnership Coordinator for Timor-Leste since 2022. Heidi is the Partnership Lead at Our Watch, a national leader in the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia. She is experienced in community and international development and program management. She established Cooking Circles in Canberra to improve the social capital of women, following trips to Timor-Leste exploring cooking, gender roles and community connectedness. She has particular interests in stakeholder engagement, and grassroots projects and development, for social change. She is currently based in Canberra.

Debbie has been the Partnership Coordinator for Rwanda since 2024. She was previously PC for Kiribati. Debbie is an experienced consultant with a long history of working in the international development and NGO sector. She is a facilitator with extensive experience in supporting clients in workshops, conferences and coaching environments. She is passionate about bringing people together to find solutions that are locally-led with impactful outcomes. Debbie has many years of experience working with not-for-profit organisations in professional development and network management, with particular expertise in e-learning solutions. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Business Coaching, Certificate IV Training and Assessment, and BA (Hons) Sport Science and Recreational Management.

Safrina has been the Partnership Coordinator for Indonesia since 2023. Safrina has a strong background in research and social policy, with a particular focus on public health and a strong interest in gender equality. She has worked as a Senior Research Officer with the Western Sydney Local Health District and as an Advisor evaluating community-based health and social programs at Yogyakarta State University and for the UN Population Fund in Indonesia. She has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Indonesia, a PhD from ANU and has worked as a researcher for several universities across Australia. Safrina is originally from Indonesia and is now based in the Illawarra.

Ali Reza has been the Partnership Coordinator for Afghanistan since 2010.  Ali Reza is an academic in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he teaches experiential learning in politics and international relations. His PhD thesis examined admission practices in Afghanistan’s higher education. Ali Reza is also a dedicated advocate for the rights and resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia especially in his capacity as the Board member of Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA) and volunteer member of the Governance Group of the Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA). In 2021-2022, he served as a member of the Australian Government’s Ministerial Advisor on the Resettlement of Afghan Nationals. Previously, he worked as an Advisor for Australia’s Global Ambassador for Women and Girls in DFAT and as a lecturer in American University of Afghanistan. Ali Reza arrived as a refugee in Australia in 2005 and was a People of Australia Ambassador with Australian Multicultural Council in 2012. He is based in Melbourne.