Our People

Janice Nadew

INTERIM CHAIR

Janice brings 20 years of experience in leadership, engagement, and strategic communications working across the not-for-profit, public and private sectors. She is known for driving outcomes through her leadership, strategic thinking, and stakeholder engagement skills. She can form connections and bring teams together, working towards a shared vision. She can cut through the clutter to deliver holistic and engaging communications. She helps leaders create their vision and deliver their priorities through storytelling. When faced with a problem to solve or an outcome to achieve, she will be resourceful and strategic, and make it happen.

As a member of the culturally and linguistically diverse community, she is committed to supporting individuals gain confidence in their abilities and uniqueness so they thrive in Australian workplaces. She serves as a mentor and coach, helps individuals gain clarity on their strengths, and be comfortable with who they are.

She has worked in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Africa. Her qualifications include a Master of Arts in International Communications from Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Arts in Organisational Communication from De La Salle University (Philippines). She is also a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Jane Rybarz

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – TREASURER

Jane Rybarz is a Chartered Accountant and CPA who commenced her career working for the “big 4” firm KPMG where she stayed for 7 years working in both their Adelaide and Cairns offices.

She then established the boutique practice Rybarz Zappulla Chartered Accountants which she operated for 6 1/2 years until the practice was successfully sold.

During this time Jane won the inaugural Cairns Business Woman of the Year Encouragement Award and also a North Queensland Radio Marketing award.

After moving to Sydney in 1999 she worked in a number of interesting and challenging roles including that of Management Accountant with Southern Star Endemol, Film & TV Production Accountant with Moneypenny, Financial Controller of Bazmark Inq the operating entity of Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, Director of Finance and Audit for NITV the National Indigenous Television Channel, CFO of Link-Up (NSW) Aboriginal Corporation who reunite members of the Stolen Generation, CFO of Vanessa Stoykov’s financial education Evolution Media Group, and Financial Controller of the Australian Club, a private members’ club.

Her current role is head of the finance team at the Ettalong Diggers Club on the
NSW Central Coast where she is enjoying being involved in the local community.

She is also researching and co-writing an historical book “The District Commissioner” which is the memoirs of David Milbourne Marsh OBE and his nation building work in Papua New Guinea during 1940 to 1975.

Jane has served on the Boards of the Aurora Community Television Ltd (including positions of Deputy Board Chairperson and Chairperson of the Audit and Finance Committee), WIFT – Women in Film and Television Association of NSW, FTA – Film & Television Association (FNQ), Cairns Regional Gallery VIPs Association, Far North Cultural Industry Association, and the Australian American Association Inc Cairns, and was an honorary consultant with Arts Law in Cairns.

Vicki Gordon

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – PRODUCER

Vicki is a Helpmann Award winning Music Producer who has been a passionate advocate for gender and cultural equality her entire career. She has extensive experience in the Australian music industry and the performing arts, having worked as a musician, music theatre producer, festival director, cultural consultant, tour manager, artist manager, marketing director, record label executive and ARIA board director.

In the early 90s, Vicki founded the Australian Women’s Rock Institute, producing Australia’s first training program for female DJs, first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Contemporary Music Festival and first fanzine for female musicians. In 2013 Vicki curated, produced and toured the internationally acclaimed First Nations ensemble Barefoot Divas to the US, Canada and Hawaii, selling out the Hong Kong Concert Hall in 2015. She is commissioning producer for the multi-award-winning rock musical Barbara & the Camp Dogs, picking up four Green Room Awards and four Helpmann Awards in 2019 including Best Musical and Best Score.

In 2019, Vicki was the only Australian Music Executive in the TOP 100 AFR Women of Influence and a finalist in the 2020 Telstra Business Women’s Awards. She has been awarded a Human Rights Commendation, Community Cultural Development, Women in the Arts Fellowships and Gold and Platinum ARIA awards in recognition of her contribution to the industry. She is founding Executive Producer and Program Director for Australian Women in Music Awards (AWMA) & Conference Program, and Director for Vicki Gordon Music Productions. She holds a Certificate of Completion in Indigenous Cultural Protocols for Business.

Dami Im

BOARD DIRECTOR

Beginning her musical journey as a virtuoso pianist, Dami is renowned for her emotive and powerful vocals since capturing our hearts when she won The X Factor Australia.

She has released a string of hit albums and singles such as ‘Alive’, ‘Super Love’ and ‘Gladiator’. She went onto become ‘Eurovision Royalty’ in 2016 when she earned the highest score ever achieved by an Australian entry with her smash hit Sound of Silence charting in 38 countries across the globe.

Dami’s self-titled album debuted at #1 on the charts and went on to be a platinum seller. She has released a further four studio albums, which all have been top ten charting albums.

Her latest album In Between debuted in the ARIA Top 5 album charts. Dami is also an ambassador for Destiny Rescue to provide freedom for children trapped in sexual slavery!

Anne Wiberg

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

After nine years as Chair of Music SA and six years as Associate Producer with the Adelaide Festival, Anne started her own business to continue working primarily in the music industry and the arts.

Her main clients included Darwin Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Adelaide Festival, State Government of South Australia, Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia and Australian Independent Records. She has over 25 years’ experience in project management, festival and event producing, programming and consultancy. Anne is also a qualified social worker and worked in youth development for 15 years prior to moving to the arts.

Anne is a collaborator, programmer, mentor, networker, live music lover and a DJ, and a Board Director with Tutti Arts, a ground-breaking multi-arts organisation for artists with disability. Anne is currently the Artistic Director at Light Adelaide, a not-for-profit organisation supporting the arts and hospitality. The new live performance venue “The Lab” and the award-winning restaurant “Aurora” in Light Square have already made their mark in the West End of Adelaide.

Merenia Marin

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Merenia is a multi-talented musician and singer-songwriter. She brings 18 years of experience in developing therapeutic music programs, having successfully facilitated programs in disabilities, for underprivileged communities, youth, asylum seekers and refugees from over 30 different ethnic groups worldwide.

Her experience is extensive and has culminated in the delivery of programs for young people in Vanuatu, including the outlying remote islands, Australia, North America, Canada, Hawaii and the Pacific. Merenia worked for four-and-a-half years as a caseworker with Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers and currently works as an Enterprise Facilitator for Settlement Services International’s Ignite Ability Program, working with newly arrived humanitarian entrants, asylum seekers and people living with disability.

Her expertise utilises the Sirolli method of enterprise facilitation, a world-first initiative focused on real economic development by harnessing the passion and entrepreneurship of these cohorts. With her heritage mix of Maori, Roma and Gypsy she combines her vast experience in the human services sector, and as an artist, to bring hope and change to young people’s lives all over the world.

Merenia is also a part of the internationally acclaimed performance group Barefoot Divas and is signed to ABC Music Publishing as a songwriter.

Jennie Sager

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jennie Sager is an executive known for creating and delivering global-first campaigns for top-tier companies. Throughout her career in television and tech, Jennie has produced award-winning programs for major television networks, including MTV, Discovery, NBC, ABC, CBS, and The Nine Network, and brought to life some of the world’s biggest events, including Superbowl XLVIII, The Academy Awards, and The Grammys.

As an Executive in the United States and a regional leader in Asia Pacific, Jennie has managed teams across many borders for global companies such as Twitter.

Now as the Global Head of Brand and Managing Director of Nextdoor Australia, Jennie uses her skills to drive positive change, focused on building kinder communities around the world. She is also on the Board of Directors of Sydney’s premier entertainment venue, the City Recital Hall, and is a proud mum to three boys, two rabbits, and a dog

Patricia Powell-Hughes

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Patricia is the Managing Director of the highly successful specialist executive search firm EP Australia. She has 30 years’ experience working in the creative industries. She is a champion for the Arts and its influence on our well-being and identity and has worked in a range of Directorships across screen, performing and visual arts, and education with a particular focus on reconciliation and women.

She is passionate about building resilient, sustainable, and successful careers for women in the creative industries.

Between her roles at EP Australia and MediaRING, she has played an integral role in the introduction of game-changing initiatives across the screen industry for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island filmmakers.

As a respected peer in the industry, PPH, as she is known, has been a judge for the AFI/ACCTA Awards, the Australian Teachers of Media Awards, and The Australian Subscription Television Awards, and has led panels on topics including ‘Leading the change: The role of the media in reconciliation’, ‘Screen Australia Gender Matters’, ‘Brilliant Careers – Mind the Gap’, ‘Women in Music, your roadmap to success’, ‘Generation Next – Talent regeneration’, and ‘Tackling diversity in Australian media and advertising’.

Patricia is Creator and Executive Producer of WARMBLOODS, a half-hour Live Action YA Mystery Sports Drama currently in development. She is a former board member of SPRUNG!! a not-for-profit and community-based organisation providing workshops and specialised dance and theatre training for people with disability, and an active member of SDIN (the Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network) and a member of WOB (Women on Boards) and Women in Music Australia.

Andrew Collis

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Rev. Andrew (BDes, BTh) is parish minister at the South Sydney Uniting Church in Redfern and Waterloo, and assistant managing editor of the South Sydney Herald newspaper (first published 2002). Formerly a chaplain to the University of New South Wales (1998-2005), he writes and performs with folk-blues project, the Refrains.

In 2016 Andrew was a visiting scholar in the philosophy department at Boston College, Massachusetts. In 2017 he commenced a master program at the National Art School in Sydney, with a special interest in “outsider art” and “anatheism”.

As a co-founder of the Orchard Gallery (artist-run space) in Waterloo, he is committed to the inter-relationship of spirituality and the arts, creativity and healing.