Our Management Committee

Kath Snell GAICD

Chair

Kath is the CEO of Shelter WA, the independent peak body for housing. She joined the Orana Management Committee in May 2019 and became Chair in 2022, bringing 15 years of experience on not-for-profit Boards.

Kath was CEO of United Way WA from 2017 – 2022 and was previously CEO of Volunteer Task Force (now Chorus). She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has a BA Hons from the University of Sheffield.

Kath is passionate about opportunity, equity and empowerment. She has worked in Community Services, Sports Tourism Management, Commercial Radio and Marketing. Kath finds her most significant purpose working in and volunteering for NFPs and is driven to support women and children to live safely with opportunity, freedom and choice.

Madeleine Green

Secretary

Madeleine joined Orana’s Management Committee in 2017, becoming Secretary in 2018. She is a Corporate Lawyer with a strong focus on governance and compliance. Madeleine holds a Bachelor of Laws and Commerce (Corporate Finance) from the University of Western Australia. After spending many years in private practice as a Corporate Lawyer for HWL Ebsworth and Ashurst, she is currently a senior listing Compliance Officer at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) 

Rowena Reid

Treasurer

Rowena has been the Treasurer for Orana House for three years and for the West Australian Youth Theatre Company from 2017 to 2020. She currently works as a director for PwC in the Financial Advisory Practice, specifically within Research and Development and Government Incentives, assisting companies undertaking innovation and other projects to access funding.

Rowena is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Western Australia, majoring in Financial Accounting and Economics and a Graduate Diploma of Taxation Law from the University of Melbourne.

Rowena is also raising three young children, so she wanted to contribute to an organisation that helps women and children who have experienced family and domestic violence.

Jennie Burns

Jennie has worked in the Community Services Sector throughout her extensive career, focusing on working with children, young people and families. She is passionate about improving outcomes for those who have experienced or witnessed violence.

She is a powerful advocate for trauma-informed education, streamlined access to services and early intervention for those at risk of FDV.

Throughout her work, Jennie’s strength is seeing potential in others and creating a sense of belonging, whatever that happens to look like for the individual. Her sense of empathy, combined with a strong governance lens, are powerful attributes.

Laura Buck

Laura is an experienced HR practitioner with over 15 years of experience leading cultural and transformation change and partnering with executives to develop fit-for-purpose people, projects and interventions. Laura has worked across various industries supporting organisations to deliver on their strategic goals through their workforce strategies and initiatives. Achieving this through genuine partnering, applying leading practice methodology and working collaboratively to understand unique challenges and opportunities to inform and drive successful organisational decisions and outcomes. Laura is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and has worked extensively with organisations and government initiatives to create psychological safety and respectful behaviours in the workplace.

Laura holds a Master’s of Human Resource Management, a Graduate Certificate in Business, and a Diploma in Project Management. She is a Certified HR Practitioner from the Australian Human Resources Institute.

Alan Fairhead FAIM

Alan Fairhead is an experienced strategist, business planner, facilitator, project manager, and organisational change specialist with over 25 years of practice leading and managing strategic programs within the private, public, and mining sectors.  His field of expertise includes organisational change management, strategic and business planning, governance and reporting, policy development, and outcomes-based management.

Alan has performed various senior leadership roles for Rio Tinto, Department of Communities, WA Police Force, Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor, and within the local government sector. During his 12-year tenure at the WA Police Force, he played an integral role in the planning and developing of various community-orientated strategies, including Crime Prevention, Road Safety, and Family and Domestic Violence.

With a Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Management, Alan is a Fellow member with the Australian Institute of Management WA, and volunteers on their Professional Managers’ Network.  Alan has a young daughter and is extremely passionate about assisting Orana House in delivering on its mission to end family and domestic violence in the local community.

Tony Lazzara

Tony has an extensive background in the Australian Higher Education sector and is strongly committed to reconciliation, equity and access. His experience includes strategic and operational planning, internal and external relationship building, responding to Government policy settings and legislative compliance. His previous roles include:

Director and Treasurer of Engagement Australia

Director of Policy, Planning, Quality and Equity at ECU

Internal and External Auditor at the WA office of the Auditor General

Tony is committed to a truly collaborative approach, focusing on supporting the team and building strong and productive professional relationships.

Amber Van Dam

Amber has worked in risk management for over 8 years, first in the finance industry at BankWest, where she was involved in several projects to help frontline staff identify signs of family and domestic violence. She ensured that regulatory obligations around privacy were complied with by implementing risk methodologies.

She is now a Senior Risk Manager at the WA Police Force, implementing considered controls and assessing potential risks.  Amber enjoys helping organisations to manage their risk exposure and using governance practices to achieve strategic goals.

Mel Rowe

General Manager

Mel Rowe has been General Manager at Orana House for over four years. Before, she was Manager of the Eastern Region Domestic Violence Services Network (Koolkuna) for more than ten years and has worked with youth at risk in the community and residential settings in WA and the UK.

She has professional Social Work qualifications (Reading University, UK, 1991) and a Master’s in Therapeutic Childcare (Reading University, UK, 1998). She also has a Diploma in Management completed at MODAL in Perth (2005), which examined management’s role in the community sector.

Mel is passionate about working with women and children and has worked across both NFP and Government sectors in multiple Service Delivery and Management roles. She is proud to manage an organisation that positively advocates and supports women and children who have experienced family and domestic violence.