Our Board and CEO

With over six years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector, Maddy has worked in parents-based and climate justice advocacy groups leading campaigns and community organising. She is currently Campaign Director at the not-for-profit advocacy organisation, The Parenthood, with a current focus on early childhood education access for regional, rural and remote Australia. Maddy has a background in communications, volunteer management and digital and in-person campaigning.

Having been raised by a single mother, and now a single mother herself to two joyous children, Maddy is passionate about the rights of single mothers and their children, and is dedicated to uplifting the voices of those directly impacted.

Rowena is a CPA and is Finance Senior within the Higher Education and Workforce Branch in the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions. Her experience is in financial management in the public sector and non-profit sector in Australia and New Zealand. She is a single mother of two.

Emer has nine years’ experience working in fundraising and development roles and over 25 years’ involvement in the not-for-profit sector as a program manager, researcher, policy advisor, campaign and event manager.

Using a ‘strategy first’ approach, Emer has supported organisations across education, the arts, health and human rights to attract committed, long-term investors and supporters.

Emer has a BA Community Development and applies human rights, inclusion, and justice frameworks to her fundraising strategies. She believes that mobilising individuals and their networks in the pursuit of an organisation’s core mission and values is at the core of her work.

Desley is a consultant and communications specialist with an independent statutory authority. She has over 30 years experience in campaign leadership roles for human rights, environmental protection and sustainability NGOs, and Victorian and local governments.

With a strong commitment to gender equality, Desley is driven by work that results in single mother families being valued, and by the removal of barriers to women and their children living their lives with opportunity and dignity.

Desley’s joy is her amazing 13 year-old boy.

Adejoke is a CPA with over 17 years’ experience in audit, accounting, and financial management. Her experience spans across Big 4 accounting firms, large corporate organisations, local government, and state government in Australia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in finance.

Adejoke is a dedicated advocate for women and children, with a deep commitment to improving their well-being, empowering them to thrive, and ensuring their voices are heard.

She is a proud mum of a nine-year-old daughter and six-year-old twin girls.

Teresa is a mum to a five-year old boy. She is a customer strategy specialist in the Victorian Government’s transport sector. She utilises her skills in customer insights and strategic planning to ensure accessibility and equity are at the forefront of decision making.

She is also an experienced board member for several non-for-profit associations, dedicated to promoting and preserving the culture and traditions of the Portuguese community in Australia.

Teresa is committed to work towards an inclusive society, where children of single mothers, like all children, have access to support and resources they need to achieve their fullest potential.

Emma Dawson is Executive Director of the Chifley Research Centre. Previously she was Executive Director and a co-founder of Per Capita. She has worked as a researcher at Monash University and the University of Melbourne; in policy and public affairs for SBS and Telstra; and as a senior policy adviser in the Rudd and Gillard Governments.

Emma is a regular contributor to policy and political analysis through the Australian mainstream media and has appeared as an expert witness before parliamentary inquiries. She is a sought-after speaker at public events and conferences in Australia and internationally.

Emma is the co-editor, with Professor Janet McCalman, of the collection of essays What happens next? Reconstructing Australia after COVID-19, published by Melbourne University Press in September 2020. She is a Fellow of the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and an Adjunct Professor at the UTS Business School.

Since the loss of her husband in early 2023, Emma is the single mother of a wonderful daughter.

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