Jenny is a proud First Nations woman from the Wandi Wandian clan of the Yuin nation, with strong ancestral connections to south-eastern New South Wales in Australia. She is a saltwater person; her tribal totem is the black cockatoo and the Yuin nation’s black duck.

She joined the Australian Red Cross in December 2015 whit the sole aspiration of creating change and advocacy for Australia’s First Nation peoples so that they could be included at the heart of humanity.

Having a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Sydney as well as a Social Science degree, Jenny is passionate about community-based research.

Today she heads the Australian Red Cross ‘Walking Alongside First Nation peoples’ project. She is responsible for ensuring that the Humanitarian movement is culturally safe and inclusive and that the much-needed cultural healing is grounded in strategy, policy and program design. The programme has a strong focus on place-based systems, people change, innovation and community-based solutions.

Jenny is a strong advocate and influencer within the Australian Red Cross’ having key roles in developing the commitment to advancing reconciliation. This is done creating genuine and long-term relationships with First Nation peoples and their communities. It has also been important to build an Inclusive and Diverse Red Cross and a First Nation’s Strategy with a policy and practice design.

Jenny has over 30 years' experience working with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander portfolios at National and State levels. She has also worked within Human Rights and International relations, tertiary education, housing, people with disabilities, elderly, women and youth issues.

Jenny explains, “With all the knowledge I have gathered through the years I still feels that what is most important for me is to have the living experience of being an Aboriginal person. My leadership style is based on the wisdom handed down to me by my ancestors.”