Board of Directors

Martin Stewart-Weeks - Chair

In his consulting work over the past 18 years, Martin Stewart-Weeks has specialised in strategy, policy analysis, facilitation and market and social research. At Cisco, as Director for IBSG's public sector practice in Asia-Pacific, he works at the senior executive and political level to help shape Internet business solutions and online strategies at both an agency and whole-of-government level. Martin has been a key member of the global team developing a new e-government framework, the ‘connected republic, for Cisco's public sector work. Martin Chairs the Australian Social Innovation Exchange (ASIX)

Steve Lawrence - ASIX Executive Officer

Prior to ASIX Steve was, for 29 years, Founder, CEO and Social Entrepreneur with WorkVentures, an entrepreneurial non-profit organisation, based in Sydney. Established in 1979, WorkVentures has annual revenues around $16million, employs 150 staff and places hundreds of unemployed Australians in jobs each year. Over the last 30 years Steve has also been part of creating over 13 new nonprofit organisations, most of which are still operating. They include JOB futures, United Way Sydney, Jobs Australia, Social Ventures Australia. Steve has qualifications in social work and management, he lectures regularly on social enterprise, local economic development and non-profit management. He is co-author of ‘Nonprofits in Business’ (1995). In 2004 Steve received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award for Social Enterprise for NSW & ACT. In 2005 WorkVentures and Microsoft won the Prime Ministers Community Business Partnership Longevity Award for their 20 year collaboration to bring technology resources and skills to disadvantaged Australians. Steve is a Board member of Currency House Inc, a non-profit organisation which promotes the performing arts in Australia and a member of the committee establishing the Australian School for Social Entrepreneurs.

Alex Varley

Alex Varley is the CEO of Media Access Australia (www.mediaaccess.org.au), a not-for-profit, public benevolent institution that develops and promotes access to media through technology for disadvantaged people. Its current major areas of focus are captioning, audio description and access to the Internet and computers for disabled people. Since leaving the oil industry in the late 1980s, Alex has had extensive experience in the management of not-for-profit organisations, including senior roles at Sydney Theatre Company and the Australian National Maritime Museum, as well as the Australian Caption Centre. He is also the inaugural Chairman of ACCAN (Australian Communications Consumers Action Network) a peak consumer body in the area of communications. His academic achievements include a business degree and post-graduate qualifications in urban planning, which is surprisingly useful in the world of electronic media! He has written articles, papers and submissions on a wide range of issues, including petrol pricing, social planning, disability policy and the impacts of media policy on access. For fun Alex is a keen football (soccer) player, manager and coach with the Hurlstone Park Wanderers.

Jennifer Dobbin

Jennifer Dobbin is a senior advisor to business and government. A successful entrepreneur with international expertise in the commercial, government and non-profit sectors. As the former CEO of Nonprofit Australia, an independent organization established to build the capacity of the Australian nonprofit sector, Jennifer spearheaded public and private initiatives to stimulate and drive partnership, collaboration and innovation across the sector. Previously, Jennifer worked with Arthur Andersen LLP, for the US Government’s Health & Human Services Department, Medicare Agency, a $191 Billion Government Program. Retained to assist Medicare optimize business performance and create a new agency department to communicate Medicare to its 42million beneficiaries. Jennifer is a graduate of the University of N.S.W, with a BA in Industrial Relations & Political Science.

Elaine Henry 

Elaine Henry has been a leader in the non-profit sector for over the past 25 years; formerly as the Executive Director of the Cancer Council (NSW) and until the end of 2010 as Chief Executive of The Smith Family, a leading social enterprise focused on breaking the cycle of disadvantage through the power of education. She was also a non-executive Director of AXA Trustees from 1998 to 200l.

Over a 30-year period Ms Henry has served on a wealth of committees and boards at the state, national and international levels. During the past decade she served as the Inaugural Chair of the Commonwealth Government’s Stronger Families and Communities Partnership 2001-07 and the Australian Families & Children’s Council as well as being a member of the former Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership and Deputy Chair of the Commonwealth Government’s Welfare to Work Consultative Forum.

Elaine is a Founding Director of Social Ventures Australia, the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth and was the Inaugural Chair of Nonprofit Australia Ltd from 2003-10 and Deputy Chair of the Community Council for Australia in 2010. She is a Director of the Australian Social Innovation Exchange and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

She has served on a number of Advisory Boards of Universities including the University of NSW, Wollongong, Sydney and Curtin; is a Governor of the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), a Member of the Advisory Council of The Global Foundation, the Australian Statistics Advisory Council and a Director of the Public Interest Journalism Foundation.

Elaine was a member of the Consumer and Financial Literacy Taskforce, the Financial Literacy Foundation and is now a Member of the Financial Literacy Board. Ms Henry was awarded the Medal in the Order of Australia for services to community health in 1994; was selected as one of 50 Australian women to be profiled in the 2000 Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame; recognised as one of the Australian Financial Review’s BOSS True Leaders in 2001, again in 2004, 2007 and 2010 and in 2009 honoured by Research Australia with their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hugh Morrow