Our board

Jo has achieved a reputation for visionary leadership and her ability to enrol diverse stakeholders in ambitious goals for social change and entrepreneurial growth at the local, national and international levels.

Jo has served on boards, ministerial councils for the Australian Government, and presented at various national and international conferences for progressing the rights of children and disadvantaged communities.

She completed a Churchill Fellowship in North America to bring evidence to advocacy for improving outcomes for children placed in out of home care.

Jo has been recognised for her social justice efforts and entrepreneurial efforts by numerous awards including Order of Australia in 2013 and the Women of Influence Award for Social Enterprise/Not-For-Profits in 2014. In 2015, Jo accepted the position of Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design Swinburne University of Technology.

She values collaboration and welcomes the opportunity of joining the Good Things Foundation Board to engage with social and digital inclusion for all to contribute to strengthening communities and to ensure we leave our communities and world a better place for our children and grandchildren.

Dr. Manisha Amin is a leader in innovation and cultural change, dedicated to harnessing inclusive design for social good. As founder and CEO of the Inclusive Design Collective (IDCo.), she specialises in co-designed facilitation, systems change, and tech for good. Previously, she served as CEO of the Centre for Inclusive Design and hosted the With, Not For podcast.

With a background in marketing, fundraising, and inclusion, Manisha has held roles at Barnardos, Cancer Council, and Guide Dogs Australia, alongside board positions at Diversity Council Australia, Bambuddha, nautanki theatre and ADHD Australia. Currently, she serves on the SBS Community Advisory Board, the Human Rights Includability Expert Panel and the Board of the Indian (Sub-Cont) Crisis and Support Agency (ICSA).

A published novelist and Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, Manisha identifies as a neurospicy person of colour and champions the intersection of social justice and business growth, believing that when we combine the two, we get gold.

Roy recently returned to the UK from New Zealand where he held the post of Director of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Prior to that, he served as Chief Executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council of England and as the Director of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. He previously served in the Royal Navy, reaching the rank of Rear Admiral.

Also an experienced board member, Roy has a ‘life-long commitment to increasing public value of arts and culture, overcoming barriers to participation and expanding digital opportunities for learning’.

Alice joined the Board of Good Things Foundation after a career in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which focussed on North Asia and the Pacific. With extensive experience in policy advice, bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, as well as development assistance, she has served on the governing councils of Pacific regional organisations and held ex officio roles on a range of business and academic advisory boards overseas and in Australia.

Alice is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and currently serves on the board of a Canberra-based disability charity. She is an active committee member of several community sporting organisations and volunteers as an English tutor to migrant and refugee women.

Alice is a passionate advocate for leveraging digital technology for social equity and life-long learning and contributes her skills and perspectives to Good Things Foundation’s innovative model, empowering individuals and communities to maximise the benefits of digital technology on their terms.

Nadia Jamal is a financial crime analyst, qualified lawyer and author.

She began her career in journalism, working for 15 years at The Sydney Morning Herald/The Sun-Herald as a reporter, editor and news manager. She was instrumental in leading the newspaper’s transition to the online version, smh.com.au, which is one of the English-speaking world’s top news websites.

Nadia’s book, The Glory Garage, about growing up with a Lebanese Muslim background in Australia, was shortlisted for the 2006 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards – Ethel Turner Prize. Her latest book, Headstrong Daughters, published in 2018, delves into how Muslim women in Australia straddle different cultural and religious expectations.

Janet is the Head of Social Impact and Community Partnerships at ANZ. Janet and her team has oversight over the governance, reporting and implementation of ANZ’s community investment programs across 29 markets.

Janet holds an MBA (Social Impact) from UNSW and is an avid reader of historical non-fiction. 

Vishy is an accomplished digital transformation executive with compelling expertise across marketing and technology, strategy and implementation. He has held leadership roles in high profile ASX listed companies and blue chip professional services practices as well as in innovative start-up businesses.

As Partner and Chief Digital and Information Officer at PwC Australia, his role is to drive change and help strengthen PwC’s innovative culture and the digital mindset across the whole of the business and deliver even better value for our clients by making the right investments into the future.

He is a regular speaker at conferences on digital transformation, online customer engagement, diversity & inclusion and the management of complex digital programs. He is a non-executive advisor to Curious Thing (an Australian AI startup), Batting For Change and the ASPIRE Foundation (promoting early education in Chennai, India).

He lives in Sydney with his wife and two kids and is a sports and tech enthusiast.

Lesley Podesta is founder of Red Mitten which provides professional services to social impact organisations. She is the CEO of Kilfinan Australia bringing together executive leaders as mentors to over 600 CEOs of Australian social impact organisations.

Lesley is Chair of the Young & Resilient Research Centre Advisory Board, University of Western Sydney; Board Member, UNICEF Australia; and Board Member of the World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights.

She is the former CEO of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation and former Head of Global Partnerships, The Fred Hollows Foundation. She was formerly a senior public servant in the Victorian and Australian governments. She was a long term Commissioner of the Women’s National Basketball League.

Lesley loves libraries, public transport and live music.

Heather is a passionate sustainability and social impact leader.

As Telstra’s Senior Advisor for Digital Inclusion, she drives public policy advocacy, community partnerships, research initiatives and the development of products and services to improve digital access, affordability and capability across Australia.

Through Telstra’s Sustainability Centre of Expertise, she has co-designed and scaled innovative programs that deliver both social impact outcomes and business value.

A keen collaborator and passionate advocate for a more equitable society, Heather has deep experience building effective partnerships with corporates, government and community organisations, as evidenced by the success of the Tech Savvy Seniors and Deadly Digital Communities programs.

Heather has also helped shape the most comprehensive measure of digital inclusion in Australia, the Australian Digital Inclusion Index, which underpins not only Telstra’s advocacy work but that of many organisations working in this area.

Heather lives with her family on Ngunnawal Country.

Amanda is a non-executive director with a focus on governance in the public interest, and digital and media literacy. She is a communications consultant and writer with a lifetime’s experience as a journalist, news media executive, and a public-sector communications leader.  

When she was appointed as The Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald in 2011 Amanda became the first woman in the organisation’s 180-year history to hold this role. She has also worked as a journalist for The Australian and, in Britain, for the Financial Times, The Times, The Sunday Times and Sunday Express. In Hong Kong, she worked as a journalist on The South China Morning Post.

Amanda is also a Member of the NSW Board of the Medical Board of Australia, the Australian Medical Council, the NSW Serious Offenders Review Council, and the Strategic Review Panel for the Wicking Trust, which funds research into ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and an experienced not-for-profit Chair. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2023 for significant services to the community, and to the media and communication sectors.