Our Staff
From left back: Eva Touzeau, Natasha Chabbra, Will Devine, Anne Fitzpatrick, Nicola Gleeson, Marc Purcell, Kirsten Lawarik, Paul Brunton, Jocelyn Condon, Emily Moreton, Brendan, Hugh Piper.
From left front: Jessica Mackenzie, Raewyn Lans, Jules Frost, Aarti Betigeri, Moti Goode, Shweta Tank, Antonia Pannell
Absent: Brigid O’Farrell, Whitney Yip, Lanni Hamblin, Aina Studer
Chief Executive Officer
Marc Purcell
CEO
Marc has 25 years’ experience in the community, international development and human rights sectors in Australia. He worked as Oxfam Australia’s National Advocacy Manager and was Executive Officer for the Catholic Commission for Justice Development and Peace Executive. He has also worked as Country Program Manager for Africa at Australian Volunteers International; and worked with UNHCR in Nepal assisting Tibetan refugees.
Marc is a Director of the Community Council for Australia and the Campaign for Australian Aid Executive Committee. He has served on the boards of Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, the National Roundtable of Non Profit Organisations, the Refugee Immigration Legal Centre, A Just Australia, and Catholic Social Services Victoria.
Policy and Advocacy Team
Jocelyn Condon – Chief of Policy and Advocacy
 Jocelyn leads ACFID’s policy and advocacy team, leading action for a strong policy and enabling environment for international development assistance and humanitarian action. This includes working with the team to engage key stakeholders such as ACFID’s members,  the media, the Australian Government, issue specific coalitions, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Parliament; to communicate ACFID’s positions to the Australian Government and the Australian public.
Dr. Alex Edney-Browne – Government Relations and Policy Lead
Alex leads ACFID’s climate policy work and organizes our government and political engagement activities.
Naomi Brooks – Humanitarian Advisor
Naomi leads on all humanitarian immediate responses, developments, and long-term policy and advocacy efforts, including coordination of ACFID’s Humanitarian Reference Group and other humanitarian partnerships
Alan Hewson –Policy and Advocacy Lead
Alan aims to develop ACFID’s positions on international development policy, to support ACFID to engage in current policy debates and manages ACFID’s Grant Agreement and formal Partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Lanni Hamblin – Policy and Advocacy Advisor
Lanni works across a range of international development issues including our work on disability inclusion and civil society strengthening.
Will Devine – Policy and Advocacy Officer
Will supports ACDIF’s humanitarian advocacy work, aswell as our government and political engagement activities.
Business Operations and Services
Nicola Gleeson – Business Director
Nicola oversees ACFID’s finance, HR, IT, governance, and ACFID’s legal, regulatory, and contractual compliance.
Kirsten Lawarik –Strategic Partnerships & Major Events Lead
Kirsten focuses on creating and delivering shared value opportunities. This includes partnerships, sponsorships, major events, and other opportunities that connect organizations and individuals with a common purpose together
Maria Herrera – External Relations Coordinator
Maria manages communications through ACFID’s website and social media platforms, as well as serving as the in-house graphic designer
Brendan M – ICT and Operations Support Officer
Brendan provides ICT support for ACFID as well as assisting with the day-to-day operations of ACFID.
Effectiveness and Engagement Team
Emily Moreton – Effectiveness and Engagement Director
Emily is responsible for leading the development of strategy and programs related to ACFID’s Code of Conduct, learning program and member engagement.
Raewyn Lans – Member and Stakeholder Engagement Lead
Rae is responsible for expanding and deepening ACFID’s engagement with its members and other stakeholders within the sector. This includes coordinating the application process for new members, leading engagement activities for the membership, and maintaining a strategic overview of NGO involvement with the broader aid and development sector.
Aditri Saikia- Sector Knowledge and Insights Advisor
Aditri is responsible for the gathering, management, and communication of ACFID’s data, including the ACFID Statistical Survey. She also helps with the membership platform and in managing ACFID’s CRM system.
Marvin Cesario – Standards and Code Advisor
Marvin guides members’ compliance with the financial and governance standards in the Code of Conduct.
Whitney Yip– Standards and Code AdvisorÂ
Whitney works with ACFID members on their Code Self-Assessments (CSAs) and provides administrative support to the Code of Conduct Committee (CCC). She also provides project support for all matters related to the ACFID Code of Conduct.
Anne Fitzpatrick – Learning and Impact Advisor
Anne’s role is to support and enable learning and professional development for ACFID members through the provision of a range of learning resources and programs. Anne also provides secretariat support to ACFID’s Development Practice Committee.
Shweta Tank – Digital Learning AdvisorÂ
Shweta facilitates communication with members through various digital platforms and assists in marketing and communication efforts for the ACFID Conference. Additionally, she supports the delivery of learning and members events, promotes digital learning offerings, and aids in data analysis and infrastructure development.
Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue (AP4D)
Melissa Conley Tyler – Executive Director
Melissa oversees the work of AP4D to promote collaboration among development, diplomacy and defence experts and provide a platform for practical, future-facing ideas
Heather Wrathall – Senior Policy Analyst
Heather brings a wealth of development and security experience from her time in government and the not-for-profit sector, including roles with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and AusAID.
 Dr Dan Evans – Senior Policy Analyst
In his role Dan leads on convening consultations with Development, Diplomacy and Defence experts, facilitates and synthesises the resulting discussions, and presents the results to policymakers. Dr Evans has lived and worked in the Pacific islands region for over a decade, predominantly in the justice and security fields.
Tom Barber – Senior Policy Analyst
Tom is responsible for much of AP4D’s logistics and planning. He has previously worked as a research assistant at La Trobe Asia and Deakin University.
Grant Wyeth – Editor
Grant is involved in all stages of AP4D’s collaborative process, including facilitating, synthesizing, and presenting the results of consultations. He also has extensive writing and editing experience, and serves as The Diplomat’s Oceania columnist
The Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue (AP4D) creates a new dimension in Australia’s international policy-making by bringing together the development, diplomacy and defence communities. It combines the skills and experience of each to achieve new insights, develop new ideas and promote strategic collaboration around shared interests. ACFID is a founding partner of AP4D and provides program support, including through hosting the initiative.
Australian Civil Military Centre — Civil Society Liaison
ACFID has maintained a longstanding partnership with the Australian Civil Military Centre (ACMC). Jules Frost works as a liaison between ACMC and ACFID, as the Civil Society Engagement Advisor.
Jules Frost – Civil Society Engagement Advisor
In her role seconded to the Australian Civil-Military Centre, Jules Frost facilitates ACFID’s member engagement regarding civil-military-police coordination in humanitarian action.
