Board and Governance

AMES Australia is an autonomous Adult Education Institution, accountable to the Victorian Minister for Skills and Training under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006.

The Board is established by the Constitution of the Adult Multicultural Education Services Order 2013 and comprises between nine and eleven members appointed by the Minister.

The Board members bring a broad range of experience and skills to AMES Australia in areas such as Management, Finance, Commerce, Law, Corporate Governance, Community, Education, Employment and Settlement and Asylum Seeker Programs, as well as an understanding of AMES Australia client communities.

Board members

Stuart Crosby (Chair)

Stuart Crosby has had a distinguished corporate career culminating as President and CEO of Computershare, an S&P/ASX 50 company with over $2 billion in revenue and over 14,000 employees worldwide.

Mr Crosby was also Chairman or Director of several joint venture companies in South Africa, India, Hong Kong, Germany and Japan; and Director and key driver of the Computershare Change-a-Life Foundation, which supported development and relief projects in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean (www.changealife.com.au).

Vedran Drakulic OAM

Vedran arrived in Australia in 1995 under the Australian Government’s refugee resettlement humanitarian program.  He brings with him significant experience in the humanitarian sector through his work for Australian Red Cross, International Red Cross and Oxfam, especially in marketing, fundraising and communications. These roles gave him a strong and deep understanding of the refugee and migrant settlement sectors and the issues related to CALD communities.

Vedran is currently the Chief Executive Officer for Gandel Philanthropy, one of the largest family foundations in Australia, and he is an Australia Day Ambassador. He is also a President of the International Social Service Australia and a Member of the Committee of Management of the Hobson’s Bay Community Fund. In 2017 Vedran received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the community through a range of charitable organisations.

Stelvio Vido 

Stelvio is an experienced Director and Chair with over 15 years Board experience in healthcare, group training and employment services, community legal services, community health and TAFE. Stelvio has 30 years’ executive experience in Not for Profits, consulting, local government and commercial media with a strong skill set in leadership, general management, business development and corporate governance.

Most recently he was the CEO of Spectrum MRC. Stelvio had previously held senior executive roles at Royal District Nursing Service, City of Yarra, the Nine Network and the Australian Medical Association.

Stelvio is currently a board director of Latrobe Community Health Service and Lengo Australia.

Catherina Toh
 
Catherina Toh is a Legal & Regulatory Compliance Consultant working with various clients in providing legal, regulatory and strategic advice and consulting to financial services and infrastructure organisations in Australia and Asia.
 
Catherina is currently Board Director and Audit Committee Chair at Independence Australia, Audit Committee Member of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria and Board Director and Finance and Investment Committee Chair at the Brotherhood of St Laurence. She was inaugural Chair of Social Venture Partners Melbourne and trustee director of its public ancillary fund, The Social Venture Partners Australia Fund, a start-up venture philanthropy organisation.

Ikenna Nwokolo
 
Ikenna has over twenty years legal experience and is currently a Partner at Slater and Gordon specialising in public / product liability. Ikenna has lived in Papua New Guinea and spent several years living with his family in Nigeria before returning to Melbourne to undertake law at Melbourne University.

Ikenna is the immediate Past President of the Nigerian Society of Victoria and has been actively involved in mentoring African Australian youth.

Jo Pride

Jo is an experienced not-for-profit leader with a background spanning international development, human rights, politics and law.

Until January 2020, Jo was the Chief Executive Officer of Hagar Australia, which as part of the global Hagar network, works to transform the lives of women and children recovering from the trauma of human trafficking, slavery and abuse in key countries across Asia. During her four years at Hagar, Jo was responsible for a significant strengthening of program quality and governance, achieved high-impact advocacy outcomes, raised Hagar’s profile through outstanding media coverage, and generated more funds than any other office globally.

Jo was previously the Head of Policy and Advocacy for Oxfam Australia. She has also drafted, advised on, interpreted and advocated a broad range of policies and laws, having previously worked in the South Australian Government as a lawyer with the Crown Solicitor's Office and as a political advisor in Federal Parliament.

Currently taking a career break, Jo is enjoying the opportunity to spend more time with family, while contributing her expertise to some pro bono projects and mentoring. 

Michelle Foster

Dr Michelle Foster is Professor, Associate Dean (Research), and Director of the International Refugee Law Research Programme with the Institute for International Law and the Humanities at Melbourne Law School.

Dr Foster’s career has included teaching in the university sector and she has published widely in the field of international refugee law, including her first book International Refugee Law and Socio-Economic Rights: Refuge from Deprivation (CUP, 2007). She is the co-author (with James Hathaway) of the second edition of the seminal Law of Refugee Status, (Second Edition, CUP, 2014).

Dr Foster’s experience includes conducting training workshops for the New Zealand Refugee Status Appeals Authority and the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal. She has been engaged as a consultant by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Michelle is an Advisory Board Member of the Melbourne Journal of International Law, and an Associate Member of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges.

Mimmie Claudine NGUM CHI Watts
 
Dr Chi Watts is a Lecturer at the College of Health & Biomedicine, Victoria University. Her skills and expertise include migrant and refugee health, women’s health, social inclusion, and health and community policy.  Mimmie is published in international journals and is a reviewer and editor in public health related journals.

Improving health needs for women, providing better education for girls and disadvantaged persons and increasing opportunities amongst disadvantaged groups are key areas of interest for Mimmie.

Mimmie is currently a Director on the board of Western Health and a Commissioner of the Victorian Multicultural Commission. She is also an Ambassador for the Universal Peace Federation and Women’s Federation for World Peace.

Stuart Alford

Stuart Alford is a chartered accountant with over 40 years’ experience in corporate governance, risk management, auditing and accounting. He was a partner at Ernst & Young until retiring in 2008 and is now Non-Executive Director.

Mr Alford is Chair of the Centre of Excellence for Intervention and Prevention Science and is on the boards of Eastern Health, Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board (the MFB) and Kilvington Grammar School. He also has Audit and Finance Committee roles with the Victorian Department of Education and Training, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, the Office of the Australian Accounting Standards Board, and the Office of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.

Tracy Le

Tracy is an experienced investment and finance professional with over 11 years of corporate finance and private equity experience following six years as a Chartered Accountant. She has spent the past three years working at Canaccord Genuity as a Director in the investment banking team with a particular focus on mid-market mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to Canaccord, Tracy spent six years working in principle investments with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) - World Bank Group, covering the Asia-Pacific region, including PNG, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji. IFC allowed Tracy to combine her passions for travel, investments and international development where all investments had commercial and development objectives.

Prior to IFC, Tracy lived in Vietnam for three years and worked for an international investment fund focusing on private equity investments in Vietnam. Tracy started her career as a chartered accountant, where she spent six years with Ernst & Young Melbourne.

Tracy is a chartered accountant, holds a Bachelor of Business from RMIT and a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University in Sydney.