Our Leadership

Krystian has extensive experience shaping policy and regulatory frameworks, with a particular focus on the not-for-profit sector and philanthropy. He serves as an Associate Commissioner at the Productivity Commission, where he is part of the team leading its wide-ranging inquiry focused on philanthropy.

Krystian was previously an Industry Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology, and the Advocacy & Insight Manager at Philanthropy Australia. He continues to contribute to the work of Philanthropy Australia, through his role as its Policy and Practice Specialist.

As an adviser to a former Australian Assistant Treasurer in the Australian Government, Krystian managed the delivery of major reforms focused on the not-for-profit sector, including the establishment of Australia’s first independent charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), and the passage of Australia’s first statutory definition of charity, the Charities Act 2013 (Cth)

Marcia Gough is the Chief People & Culture Officer at Austin Health. She has significant Human Resources and Leadership experience gained across a number of sectors, including, education, manufacturing, consulting, professional services, telecommunications and high technology.

She has held global responsibility for Human Resources for a number of years, most recently with Swinburne, RMIT and the Leica Group. Marcia is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a qualified Psychologist with Post Graduate qualifications in Human Resources and Psychology.

Tony Jorm is a researcher with particular interest in building the community’s capacity to take action on mental health. He is an Emeritus Professor at the Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. With Betty Kitchener, he was a co-founder of Mental Health First Aid.

He has had numerous honorary positions, including President of the Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research, Editor-in-Chief of Mental Health & Prevention and the Australasian Journal on Ageing, and Board member of the Mental Health Council of Australia. He has had a long association with Australian Rotary Health, including as Chair of its Research Committee.

Nicole is passionate about raising awareness for mental health, reducing the associated stigma and encouraging early intervention. Previously a management consultant specialising in change management, Nicole brings 16 years of experience in Australia and London leading global organisations through workforce transformation programs.

She is currently a Councillor for the City of Stonnington and a Director at On The Line Australia which delivers counselling, mental health and suicide prevention services.

Kerry is an experienced non-executive director across the listed, private, Government and non-profit sectors and in a range of industries including retail, AFL, professional services, education, fitness and wellbeing. Her other current board roles include Retail Food Group, Aligned Leisure and Kids First Australia. She is also an external member of the Parliament of Victoria Audit and Risk Committee and the Risk, Compliance and Integrity Committee of the Richmond Football Club. Kerry’s professional background is in law.

She has over 20 years’ experience as a commercial lawyer and was a former partner at an international law firm, where she practised predominantly in the consumer markets area. Kerry also has experience working across international markets, having spent some years in Asia and assisting clients with their international business dealings. Kerry is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.

Kathryn is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has extensive knowledge of accounting, funds management and banking sectors. Her work experience includes auditing, regulatory compliance and risk management roles with international experience in the UK and New Zealand. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is also RG146 qualified and has a Diploma in Superannuation through the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).

Kathryn sits on a number of boards and audit and risk committees in the not-for-profit sector. She also sits on the Disciplinary Tribunal for Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand and the Financial Services and Credit Panel (ASIC).

Angus is an experienced CEO with diverse senior executive experience across the federal government, health, family violence, community and disability sectors. His strength lies in using his strong stakeholder and change management skills to bring together diverse and often competing groups within complex organisations and across sectors to achieve better service outcomes.

In his most recent role as CEO of On the Line Australia, the clinical service provider of Mensline, National Suicide Service, and Suicide Line Victoria, Angus initiated and facilitated the merger between the organisation with community crisis support leader Lifeline Australia. He previously served as CEO of sector peak body Mental Health Victoria, where he successfully advocated for a Royal Commission in Victoria’s mental health system that has so far seen $6 billion invested into reform initiatives.

Angus has held numerous governance and advisory roles. He is currently a director of the Mental Health Legal Centre and the Victorian Government Regional Mental Health & Wellbeing Board member. He is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute UK, and Member and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ebony Whitehouse as the Director of the Australia Program at Mental Health First Aid International, provides leadership to each of the teams that are responsible for developing, maintaining, and supporting quality standards for the delivery of the Mental Health First Aid Australia Program.  

With over 15 years’ experience in leading both face to face and remote teams, Ebony uses clear and effective communication to build positive relationships and produce strong results. Passionate about education, Ebony is skilled in using feedback to innovate, coach staff, engage stakeholders and develop capacity within teams to ensure best practice delivery to meet learning outcomes. As a natural problem solver, Ebony thinks strategically, with empathy to ensure there is a key purpose behind all decision making.

Before commencing in her role at Mental Health First Aid in January 2022, Ebony led and directed the overall management, development, and direction of the National Education Portfolio at Swinburne Online, a partner for Online Education Services.

Ebony is passionate about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, to bridge the gaps in life outcomes, and more specifically mental health awareness and support. 

As the Director of Australian Operations, Steve leads our Human Resources, Technology and Office Services Teams, as well as overseeing intellectual property, trademarks, commercial and legal issues.

An experienced leader in Operations and Business Transformation, with a people and systems focus, Steve has 30 years of executive management experience in professional services, for-purpose, and the education sectors.

Prior to joining Mental Health First Aid Australia in 2021, Steve was COO at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and was COO and HR Director at Minter Ellison Lawyers.

Steve is passionate about mental health awareness in the community and the protection and safety of all members in community sports.

As the Director of Curriculum and Research at Mental Health First Aid Australia, Amber leads both the Research and Curriculum teams to design high quality, research informed and evaluated training products.

An advocate for human-centred, co-creative design approaches to solve business challenge, Amber has experience in leading large, multifunctional teams working in agile and dynamic project environments.

Prior to joining Mental Health First Aid Australia, Amber held a variety of senior leadership positions across faculty and central portfolios of RMIT University. A fully qualified and registered teacher, Amber has dedicated her professional life to improving educational quality and teaching practice in all sectors of education including Primary, Vocational Education and Higher Education.

Amber has gained her learning and teaching experience across multiple sectors of education which provides her with a unique lens across educational pedagogy and adult learning theory.

As the Director of Finance & Risk, Vanessa leads a team of professionals dedicated to the continuous improvement of systems and process to ensure strong financial management, reporting & analysis, risk minimisation, and robust infrastructure.

Vanessa brings to her role 25 plus years’ experience in senior leadership roles in finance, risk management, and information technology across a wide range of industries within both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. Her more recent executive roles were as General Manager Corporate Services for Windana Drug & Alcohol Recovery, and also at Mannacare, an aged care and NDIS provider.

In recent years Vanessa has found herself drawn to working with community-based organisations that are committed to making a difference to peoples’ lives and is delighted to be working for Mental Health First Aid International.

Dr Claire Kelly is Director of International Programs at Mental Health First Aid International. She is a researcher, curriculum developer and educator who values evidence, relationships and centring the voices of lived experience in all aspects of all work in the mental health sphere. Claire draws from both an academic and lived experience perspective, having a history of depression and anxiety that began in adolescence and is a driver for much her work.

Claire has over twenty years of experience with Mental Health First Aid, in a variety of roles. She became a Mental Health First Aid instructor in 2003 and is an author on the manuals and handbooks used in MHFA courses and has worked on the MHFA Guidelines used to inform our work.

In her current role, Claire works with international licensees to adapt and disseminate their programs in their local communities and contributes subject matter expertise to new program development.