Our board

Our Board

The DVSM Board of Directors govern the strategic direction of the organisation. Working with the Senior Leadership Team to enable and support implementation of our constitutional commitments and strategic objectives. Our Board are a strong and dynamic team with varying backgrounds and experience who bring a range of skills and expertise to the organisation, in addition to unwavering commitment to the DVSM vision.

Anna Ross

(Chair)
She/Her

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Joined DVSM Board 2013.

Anna is a Partner of law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth and a Member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

Anna is an inquiry and public law specialist with deep expertise in complex and sensitive policy areas and compliance. She specialises in working with private and public sector clients operating in high profile sectors that receive considerable public interest and attention. Anna's practice involves helping clients involved in inquiries, prosecutions, Royal Commissions, FOI, class actions and investigations by regulators. She has extensive experience in dealing with international human rights complaints made against Australian entities, including governments.

Anna also regularly works with clients facing a broad range of commercial disputes and risks including in relation to contractual compliance, real property and consumer claims regarding medical technology.

As well as her commercial work, Anna is a passionate supporter of pro bono legal services and was Pro Bono Partner of Corrs Sydney office for many years. She has served as the Chair of DVSM since 2016.

Vicki Hartley

(Director, Treasurer)
She/Her

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Joined DVSM Board 2013.

Vicki is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Vicki has over 30 years of finance and accounting roles’ covering audit, operations, risk, strategy, listed and regulated entities with a focus on the financial services industry including banking, insurance, mortgages, annuities, listed and unlisted investment vehicles and asset classes. She has held senior executive roles at Challenger Ltd, was CFO of Lendi Ltd and Interim CFO of Pollination Group.

Vicki is an experienced Non-Executive Director in the not-for-profit area, Vicki also serves on the Board of Dress for Success Sydney and has finance advisory roles with Western Sydney University and NSW Aboriginal Land Council. Vicki is a Non-Executive Director of Defence Bank Ltd, Revolution Asset Management and Western Sydney University Enterprises.

Suzanne Evans

(Director, Company Secretary)
She/Her

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Joined DVSM Board 2013.

Suzanne holds a Masters in Applied Finance from Macquarie University and is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Suzanne is the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer for First Sentier Investors, a global asset manager. Suzanne services on the Boards of a number of entities within the First Sentier Group, in Australia and United Kingdom and is responsible for the Finance, Strategy and Corporate Sustainability functions, which includes accounting, tax, treasury and corporate strategy.

She has more than 25 years of experience across all aspects of capital markets including banking, life insurance, financial services and property sectors. Prior to First Sentier Investors, Suzanne held roles in investor relations, treasury, strategy and mergers and acquisitions for a number of publicly-listed entities including Westpac Banking Corporation, Challenger Limited, and Lendlease.

DR LEIGH GASSNER

(Director)
He/Him

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Joined DVSM Board 2018.

Leigh is an experienced Director and has been a Member of the Prime Ministers Commonwealth Government Violence against Women Advisory Group, Victorian Ministerial Advisory Committee on Mental Health Reform and Chair of the Victoria Coroners Family Violence Death Review Panels.

Dr Leigh Gassner was in Victoria Police for 35 years leaving as an Assistant Commissioner. His senior executive and leadership experience has included leading and managing two of the largest police regions in Victoria and being responsible for the wide range of services to the community that each region delivered. He has chaired Cabinet endorsed committees involving system reform including the State-wide Steering Committee to Reduce Family Violence and the State-wide Steering Committee to Reduce Sexual Assault involving both the community and government sectors.

Since leaving the public-sector Leigh has provided executive coaching and leadership development programs in the finance, manufacturing and retail sectors. Leigh has also worked numerous times in China with the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Supreme People’s Court of China on family violence legislative and system reform and in South Africa on system reform to violence against women

LIZETTE TWISLETON

(Director)
She/Her

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Joined DVSM Board 2018.

Lizette Twisleton has worked in the human and community services sector for 30 years for NGO’s and in local government. Lizette has experience in domestic and family violence having worked with victim-survivors, and men who use family violence.

She has a background in nursing, youth work, health promotion and community development. Lizette has specialised in men’s behaviour change work over the past twenty years, twelve years as a men’s behaviour change practitioner, three years delivering partner contact and six years leading sector development projects and strategies at No to Violence, Australia’s largest peak body leading the change to end men’s family violence in Australia.

Lizette has previously served on the Board of Youth Action, the NSW peak body for young people and youth services and as Chair on the Board of a regional youth service in Northern NSW.

Our board

Our Board

Anna Ross

Vicki Hartley

Suzanne Evans

DR LEIGH GASSNER

LIZETTE TWISLETON

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