I am Ian Howie

President

Adjunct Professor, International Studies, RMIT University Ian is currently Adjunct Professor in International Studies at RMIT University, Melbourne. Ian has spent more than 30 years working in the field of international development. The main of this time was spent with the United Nations as a career official and included multi-year assignments as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative in China (with responsibilities also for Mongolia and North Korea), Viet Nam, Ghana, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea. He also spent seven years at UN Headquarters, New York, following his appointment as Director, Division of Human Resources. Earlier, he served as a Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) managing primary health care projects in rural Bangladesh, in the plantation sector in Sri Lanka and in the industrial estates of Kenya and the slums of Nairobi. Prior to joining the UN, Ian spent a number of years in the South Pacific working as a university lecturer, a trade union official and as a ministerial adviser. Ian has also been the recipient of a number of national awards including Distinguished Service medals from Viet Nam, China and Mongolia and a presidential citation from Ghana. Currently, Ian is on the boards of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, the Hotham Mission Asylum Seeker Project, and the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance, and is a patron of Marie Stopes International.

I am Monica Lillas

Vice President

As a legal counsel at Telstra, Monica provides advice on dispute resolution and risk; the company's whistleblowing policy and domestic and international intellectual property matters. She is also on the Telstra pro bono committee, provides email advice to young people around Australia in conjunction with community legal centre Youth law Australia and coordinates a legal education program at Lalor High School. Monica previously worked at international law firm K&L Gates where her work focused on enforcing and defending intellectual property rights. Monica received the K&L Gates National Managing Partner's Women's Achievement Award in 2014 and the K&L Gates Achievement in Community Service in 2018. Monica previously served on the board of Youthlaw, Young People's Legal Rights Centre, and was chairperson from 2012 to 2016. She is a member of Victorian Women Lawyers and participates annually as a mentor in their mentoring program. Together with Kathryn Smith Monica is co-president of the UNAA Victoria Young Professionals Network.

I am Tony Dobson

Treasurer

Tony is a CPA qualified accountant and Registered Tax Agent who has a wealth of experience and expertise working in both the commercial and not for profit sectors, assisting a wide variety of small to medium sized organisations. Skilled in compliance, reporting and business strategy, Tony has a proven track record dealing with a diverse range of people and business situations. Tony has a strong desire to share his knowledge and experience to organisations and people and contribute to their growth and prosperity. Tony's qualifications include Master of Business Administration, CPA Professional Status and Bachelor of Business in Finance & Accounting.

I am Sonia Mohanan

Secretary

As the Head of Digital Domain Orchestration at NAB, Sonia provides ownership and oversight of digital delivery for internet banking and mobile banking applications. Sonia previously worked at Judo Bank and Telstra where she focused on creating a portfolio management office including project management and change management frameworks, governance and delivery of key strategic projects and continuous improvement, enterprise prioritisation of delivery, portfolio capital funding, ongoing budget management, portfolio and key strategic project updates to the Board, CEO leadership team and regulators.  In 2018, Sonia received the Telstra Excelerate Award – Telstra’s annual award for high achievers and Executive Director Award for the automation of addressing interactions between Telstra and nbn for the rollout of Australia’s national broadband network. Sonia has an MBA from Melbourne Business School, Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®). Sonia is excited to be part of the UNAAV Board as it provides her the opportunity to provide back to the community and it promotes the UN sustainable development goals in Australia.

I am Carlisle Richardson

Carlisle Richardson is a former Ambassador of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations, and a former Economic Affairs Officer of the United Nations. As Ambassador, he worked on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the preparations for the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. As Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations, he was one of the organisers of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, and the negotiating process for the SDGs. He is currently Special Advisor to ICLEI Oceania on Small Island Developing States. He is also author of the Book, “Island Journeys: The Impact of the Island Way of Life at Home and Abroad” www.islandjourneysbook.com

I am Lynette Phuong

Lynette Phuong currently works as a universal health coverage (UHC) consultant at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific Region. During her duty travel to Manila, Philippines, she supported the unit with the technical and administrative preparation and delivery of key regional meetings on UHC representing 21 Member States in the Region. Lynette is a public health practitioner with experiences spanning health promotion and advocacy, and digital health across Australia, Mongolia and Switzerland. Prior to enrolling into her master’s degree in public health, Lynette interned at the United Nations Association of Australia - Victorian Division from 2010 - 2011, where she executed the publicity campaigns for the 2010 UNAA Media Peace Awards, the monthly e-Newsletter for UNAA Victorian members and supported the delivery of three Model UN Conferences in secondary and tertiary institutions across the state.  In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Lynette worked on non-communicable disease prevention and control with the Mongolian Public Health Professionals’ Association and as part of COVID-19 response, she relocated to Geneva, Switzerland to work as a Technical Officer with WHO Headquarters to advance infodemic management worldwide. Upon her return, she worked on a more local COVID-19 response with the Victorian Department of Health. Her passion to empower communities to progress in health and education stems from her parents’ refugee background. Lynette has ten years’ volunteer experience with the Australian Red Cross as a member of the Victorian Youth Advisory Committee, where she advocated for broad youth engagement and acted as a sounding board for management and the Board. She also represented the National Society as a delegate at the 2009 World Red Cross Red Crescent "Youth on the Move" conference in Solferino, Italy. As an Alumni of Monash University and the University of Melbourne, Lynette has also launched two mentoring programs and mentored numerous graduate students.

I am Rosie Dalheim

Rosie began her association with UNAAV as an intern and later returned to work with the organisation in both the Education Program and coordinating the 2018 UN Day Media Awards. Leaving UNAAV to pursue an internship at UN HQ in NYC, Rosie went on to work for UN Women as a consultant. In her nearly three years with UN Women, Rosie worked with both the Civil Society Division, focussing on advancing meaningful youth engagement in UN Women’s policy and programmes, and the Strategic Partnerships Division, working to improve the organisation’s partnership intelligence, visibility and analysis practices, particularly with major government donors. She was also a focal point of the UN Women’s youth council, advocating for stronger and more consistent rights for young staff. Passionate about the peace and security agenda, Rosie completed a Master's degree in Conflict Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where her thesis considered local transitional justice mechanisms in post-conflict Bougainville. Rosie is now back in Melbourne working as a sustainability associate with L.E.K. Consulting.

I am Sophie Arnold

Sophie Arnold was Executive Manager of the UNAA’s Victorian Division from 2016 to 2022. A former metropolitan newspaper journalist, Sophie worked as a media adviser to Victorian Government Ministers and then Premier, Joan Kirner, before successfully running a successful media and communications practice for more than two decades. Sophie has been a member of the Committees of Management of several Victorian community sector organisations, including WIRE: Women’s Information; the Thornbury Women’s Neighbourhood House and the Melbourne Athenaeum Incorporated.

I am Lisa Zembrodt

Lisa Zembrodt is Principal and Senior Director of Schneider Electric’s Sustainability Business which manages EUR30B in annual energy spend and 128 million metric tons of carbon globally. Over her more than 15 years in the energy industry, Lisa has helped organisations and governments craft and implement holistic energy strategies in energy markets around the world, enabling emissions reductions and optimising financial outcomes. Lisa has supported organisations through transformations of their approach to energy and sustainability issues, helping to pioneer new approaches in the Australian market and advocate for policy that enables the net zero economy transformation with equitability for users and communities. Lisa advises some of Australia’s largest energy users and is a Certified Energy Risk Professional, Treasurer & Non-Executive Director of the Energy Users Association of Australia, and holds a Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate from GARP.

I am Andrew Hewett

Andrew is a Sessional Lecturer in the La Trobe University Masters of International Development and Masters of International Relations and the Victoria University Masters in International Community Development. Andrew worked for Oxfam Australia for nearly 22 years, including over 11 years as Executive Director. He has extensive international advocacy experience, was a member of the World Bank NGO Committee for four years and has participated in and observed numerous international conferences, including those of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. Andrew was formerly Deputy Chair of Diaspora Action Australia; a Vice-President of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and Chair of the Moreland Energy Foundation. He is now Chair of CERES.

I am Warwick Peel

Warwick is Regional Director, AU/NZ, for IdeaScale. A longstanding entrepreneur, Warwick is an advisor to startups, mentor to FYA Young Social Pioneers, innovation Co-Lab for UN SDGs, a.i for Good community, as well as Co-Founder of Entrepreneurs&Co. Warwick holds an international Masters of Business from Swinburne University, and Northeastern University, Boston, USA. Warwick is a Climate Reality Leader trained by Al Gore and he is passionate about social enterprise and enacting entrepreneurship towards the SDGs.