Women in Aid & Development welcomed excellent speakers in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne for our first face-to-face events in over a year.
Our stellar panel of speakers focussed on their experience working in organisations that bring together private sector know-how with aid and development expertise. They provide government and business contract services that deliver high quality international development and humanitarian programs worldwide. They reflected on their career in a managing contract company, similarities and differences to the NGO sector and the opportunities for movement between the two.
Speakers also shared their experience, knowledge, challenges and support that made a difference in their journey to leadership in contracting.
Melbourne speakers
Eleanor Fenton
Eleanor is a Principal at Cardno, specialising in delivery of major infrastructure development programs. Eleanor has been with Cardno for 5 years and is a Project Director of large DFAT-funded infrastructure programs in PNG. She also provides infrastructure delivery and specialist advice to Cardno’s programs in other geographies.
Eleanor started her career with a Master of Architecture (sustainable buildings) after which she worked as an Ecologically Sustainable Design (ESD) consultant on infrastructure projects around Australia. In 2010 she started undertaking various in-country technical roles for development programs in the Solomon Islands, following which she spent three years as an infrastructure adviser to the Solomon Islands Government.
Throughout her career with several managing contractors Eleanor has provided consulting services in; project management (infrastructure and international development), design management, procurement, ESD and asset management.
Therese Faulkner
Therese has worked in international development for the best part of 30 years. This includes 25 years working in Government, with AusAID and DFAT, followed by seven years working with managing contractors. She is currently a Project Director with GHD, a professional services firm providing energy and resources, environmental, geosciences, project management, transportation and water services. Her role currently includes working on two international development programs for DFAT in the Asia-Pacific region - the Australian Sports Partnerships Program (“Team Up”), and Water for Women.
Therese has worked with Coffey on a range of programs across PNG, Indonesia, and Cambodia and at AusAID in multiple corporate management roles.
Therese is also Managing Director of the International Development Contractors Community (IDCC), a member-based peak body which Therese helped establish in 2018. The IDCC is an advocacy platform for companies and individual consultants engaged in international development, with 43 members and growing.
Georgia Naughton-Watt
Georgia is driven by a passion for women’s and girls’ empowerment, gender justice, and equity in education, particularly within development and humanitarian contexts.
Georgia is currently a junior consultant at Alinea-Whitelum, where she works across a range of consultancy projects and the business development team. She has previously worked with both global and grassroot organisations including in Australia, the Pacific and East Africa on projects focussed on education, gender equality and child rights issues.
Canberra speakers
Jacqui De Lacy
Jacqui is Abt Associates Australia’s Managing Director. Abt Associates is a global mission driven company with over 3000 staff working across over 50 countries committed to improving the lives of disadvantaged people.
Jacqui has a deep practical understanding of development issues and operations and has the capacity to shape, implement, and review individual programs and large development portfolios in ways that maximize impact. She is a thought leader on development issues in the Asia Pacific region.
Prior to joining Abt in 2014, Ms De Lacy represented the Australian Aid program (then AusAid, now DFAT) in multiple high-profile positions, including head of AusAid Indonesia, head of the Food Security Branch, Global Crisis Response Coordinator, and head of the PNG Branch in Canberra. She has extensive experience representing Australia on UN funds and programs, at conferences, and in development policy and issues, including ASEAN, APEC, and the G20.
Ms De Lacy holds a B.A. in Economics (Honours) from the University of Queensland, Australia. Jacqui is on the board of UNICEF Australia and a member of Chief Executive Women.
Sarah Clarke
Sarah is a global health professional based in Southeast Asia for more than 15 years.
Sarah now brings her extensive in-country experiences to inform DFAT’s international health programs. Her work has covered a variety of topics, including prevention and treatment of communicable diseases (with a focus on HIV); sanitation & hygiene; and engaging civil society in health responses. Underpinning all her work is an emphasis on meaningful monitoring, evaluation and learning to generate evidence for program improvement.
Sarah is a staunch advocate for equitable access to quality health services for all, including in resource-poor settings, and holds a Masters of Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Joanne Choe
Joanne is Cardno’s Regional Manager for the Pacific and Global Senior Principal for Gender and Inclusion, supporting initiatives such as the Pacific Women Support Unit, Women’s Leadership Initiative, Balance of Power and Vanuatu Health Program. She has been with Cardno for three years, following a stellar career of 15 years with AusAID and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Jo joined AusAID as a graduate in 2003 and spent seven years working on Australia's aid program in PNG, including five years living in Port Moresby. She managed the Law and Justice Sector Program before leading the subnational governance program. Jo completed a four year posting in Fiji with DFAT, where she was the counsellor for Development Assistance for Fiji and Tuvalu. When Fiji was hit by a category five cyclone in February 2016 Jo managed Australia's humanitarian response and recovery package.
Jo was director for DFAT's Gender Equality Branch, responsible for supporting DFAT's implementation of its Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Strategy.
Dr Bernadette Whitelum
Bernadette is the Director and founder of Alinea-Whitelum. Her experience and commitment to building thriving communities and responsive governments spans more than 25 years.
Bernadette works with governments, NGOs, and private sector clients to support them to think and act strategically, set goals, and establish pathways for their achievement. She is an expert in supporting clients structure-in adaptive management principles and practices to their work, and utilise evidence to inform policy and practice directions.
Throughout her career, Bernadette has worked within the Australian community development sector, the Australian Government aid program, and the United Nations Development Program. Her notable roles have included Counsellor for the Aceh Reconstruction Program in Indonesia in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, Head of the Poverty Reduction Unit for UNDP where she oversaw the Papua Development Program and the HIV/AIDs portfolio, and Program Director for the Australian Civilian Corps Deployment Support Services.
Sydney speakers
Lucy Hovanec
Lucy joined GHD in 2017 and has led the significant growth of GHD’s IDA business over the last few years. Lucy’s career spans 16 years’ consulting, business development and leadership experience with GHD, WaterAid, Coffey and LIW3 where she consulted to the governments of Tanzania, Botswana and Vietnam while completing her Masters in International Relations.
Lucy is now the Regional Market Leader for GHD’s ACT and Southern NSW business which is in addition to her Market Leader, IDA role. She supports growth across the Civil, Project Management, Architecture, Building Engineering Services, Water and Environment Business Groups and delivered projects for multilateral development banks since 2004.
Lucy and her family spent 2016 living Cambodia where she led WaterAid’s business development and consulted in organisational leadership to Fiji Airways.
Cristina Freitas-Benedek
Christina has Timorese, Portuguese and Australian nationality. She has in excess of 15 years’ experience in project design, monitoring & evaluation, management, client, stakeholder and community liaison governance initiatives, including effective governance and donor policy and regulatory frameworks in Timor Leste, Australia and PNG.
Cristina has worked with DFAT, the International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, several USAID projects, Timor-Leste’s government ministries (Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) and with individuals from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds.
Cristina is also a member and volunteer with the Rotary Club of Lower Blue Mountains, Sydney and was a past President for the Rotary Club of Dili, Timor-Leste.