Chair: Georgina Smart

Georgina (George) has a background in early childhood, finance/accounting, workplace planning and operations management. Currently employed at the Womens and Girls Emergency Centre as their Quality and Operations Manager, George is really passionate about creating effective systems for efficient, relatable, compliant and relevant NGO governance. As a board member of Full Stop Australia since 2019, George has seen significant organisational change and is very excited about what lies ahead for Full Stop Australia.

Board member: Dr Neeraja Sanmuhanathan

Dr Neeraja Sanmuhanathan is a Senior Sexual Assault Counsellor at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital providing trauma and violence informed counselling support to those impacted by sexual violence. In this role, she also provides specialist support to University of Sydney students as part of the Safer Communities project in partnership with NSW Health. Neeraja completed her PhD thesis at the University of Sydney exploring Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and intergenerational trauma. She is also a sessional lecturer within the Master of Counselling program at the University of Notre Dame.

Neeraja is passionate about human rights including the right to live free from violence. Neeraja has advocated for better understanding of the complexities surrounding sexual assault disclosures including authoring an article on The Conversation which was republished on ABC (https://theconversation.com/im-a-sexual-assault-counsellor-heres-why-its-so-hard-for-survivors-to-come-forward-and-what-happens-when-they-do-156038). She is currently collaborating on a research project between Sydney Local Health District and UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion exploring barriers to disclosures.

In her previous role, Neeraja worked at STARTTS (NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors) providing psychological support to asylum seekers. This role allowed her to better understand the intersection of gender inequality, structural inequality, and migration in women’s experiences of violence. Identifying as an Australian Tamil, Neeraja believes there is a need to create culturally safe and community centred projects to address gender based violence in our communities.

Board member: Charity Danquah

Charity Danquah is senior project officer at the NSW Department of Communities and Justice. Charity has worked in diverse roles providing advisory, training and policy analysis in the areas of domestic and family violence, sexual assault, and sexual misconduct. Charity has worked in caseworker roles supporting immigrant and refugee women experiencing domestic and family violence.

Charity also has extensive experience within the trade union movement organising and advocating on behalf of a variety of workers in the private and public sectors.

Charity has an Arts/Science degree from UNSW.

Board member: Carol Gutierrez

Carol Gutierrez is a registered Psychologist, living and working on Gundungurra country. Carol has 20 years experience working in the trauma space in government & non-government roles such as child protection caseworker, placement & carer assessor, therapeutic group facilitator, training facilitator & consultant. Carol also worked at Full Stop Foundation (previously known as RDVSA) from 2011-2017 in various roles, starting as a telephone & online counsellor and completing her time there as the Training Manager, where she was developing & delivering programs, & presenting at conferences around Australia on behalf of the organisation.

Carol currently works in private practice in Bowral NSW, offering a tailored service to groups & individuals which guides people through their concerns using a trauma specialist and evidence-based approach.

Carol is passionate about advocating for people impacted by trauma, as well as educating & supporting professionals who work in the trauma field. Carol brings a lens from a regional perspective & hopes to increase specialist support & services to areas outside of the major cities.

Board Member: Yatungka Gordon

Executive Officer – Breaking Silent Codes

Yatungka Gordon is a Goreng Goreng Kabi Kabi Munanjali woman, with a background in education and human services. She holds a Bachelor of Education, Post Graduate Degree in Human Services and Advanced Diploma in Trauma Specialist Counselling. Yatungka has an extensive history working in the trauma sector and is the current Executive Officer of the national campaign – Breaking Silent Codes (a campaign across Australia and the Pacific against sexual abuse and domestic violence for First Nations women).

Board Member: Kowana Welsh

Senior Project Manager – WAGEC

Kowana is a proud Dharawal, Gumbaynggirr and Gamilaroi women. She has grown up in and is an active member of the Redfern and Waterloo communities, she is a mother of 5 and victim-survivor of domestic violence. Kowana currently works in the primary prevention of gender-based violence. Kowana is a co-founder of Breaking Silent Codes (a campaign across Australia and the Pacific against sexual abuse and domestic violence for First Nations women), a member of the Domestic Violence NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Steering Committee and is a Voices for Change Advocate. Kowana has delivered primary prevention and domestic and family violence education across NSW and has an Early childhood education background and is passionate about gender justice for First Nations women and girls.