Board member since May 2020
Penny has spent 30 years working to improve the lives of people facing disadvantage, with a human rights focus centred on: refugees and asylum seekers; the support of human rights advocacy; people with disability, support of maternal health projects and working with small Australia-based international development organisations.
She joined the board of the JEC in 2020, and is Chair of the Community Engagement committee. Penny is Co-Chair HRW Australia Committee, and a director of the Australia Foundation in Support of Human rights Watch Limited. She is a Director of the Hand Up Foundation, as well as Palmera Projects, doing development work in post-conflict Sri Lanka. She was Director Marketing and Fundraising for Participate Australia, a provider of person-centred support for people with disabilities, and Chair of the Aminata Maternal Foundation, working to stem maternal and newborn deaths in Sierra Leone. She has served as a disability policy officer with the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Penny has advocated for asylum seekers as a volunteer registered migration agent at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service, with Australia for UNHCR’s Women’s Steering Committee on Maternal Health and as an advocate for long-term detainees in immigration detention. She holds a Master of International Law, a Master of Arts (Japanese) and a Master of Development Studies from the University of Sydney, and completed studies in Migration Law at UNSW to become a Registered Migration Agent.
