Our Board
Chair
Remberto Rivera
Remberto has more than 25 years’ experience working in the banking and not-for-profit sectors including The Salvation Army, Connections UnitingCare and Bairnsdale Regional Health Service. Remberto has a Bachelor in Economics (Honours), Graduate Diploma in Business (Accounting), Graduate Diploma in Aged Care Management and a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant. Remberto has a special interest in not-for-profit governance and previously served on the Boards of Neami National and the Children’s Protection Society. Remberto arrived in Australia in 1988 as a refugee, fleeing civil war in El Salvador.
Deputy Chair
Kirsten Pilatti
Kirsten is CEO of Breast Cancer Network Australia, she has expertise in management, marketing and communications having also held senior roles at Cancer Council Victoria and working with some of Australia’s leading organisations and companies. Kirsten is passionate about delivering quality services and has made a significant contribution to the not-for-profit sectors through paid and voluntary work.
Treasurer
Shane Lucas
Over a diverse career, Shane has held executive positions in the non-government, government and private sectors focussed on the provision affordable housing, transport and metropolitan planning, and the prevention of gambling-related harm in the Victorian community.
Shane was Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation [2019-24] and was previously CEO of Early Learning Association Australia [2013-2017] and a Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Migration Division) [2017-2019].
Shane joined the Board of Foundation House in 2020 and presently serves as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee.
He has a BA (Hons) from Monash University, a Migration Law (Dip) from Victoria University, and is a graduate of the Victorian Leadership Academy and a Williamson Fellow of Leadership Victoria.
Secretary
James Flintoft
James has wide ranging board and executive background. He brings regional community development; social employment; government policy and service delivery (State and Federal); strategy; and finance experience.
His current and former roles include Board Member Social Traders; Board Member Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal; former CEO Regional Development Victoria; former First Assistant Secretary Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet; ANZ Bank; and McKinsey & Company.
Board Directors
Travers McLeod
Travers is Executive Director of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL), a social justice organisation that works to prevent and alleviate poverty across Australia.
Prior to joining BSL, Travers was the CEO of the Centre for Policy Development, an independent Australian policy institute he led for eight years and remains connected with as a Senior Fellow. Travers began his career in public law, working for the State Solicitor’s Office in Western Australia and for Justice Michael Kirby in the High Court of Australia. He holds a DPhil and MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar and was a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations.
Travers worked as a Policy Adviser for the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations, playing a lead role in their 2013 report Now for the Long Term. He is the author of Rule of Law in War, which was published by Oxford University Press in 2015 and is based on his postgraduate research on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Travers is a member of the Federal Government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee and the National Leadership Group for the Stronger Places, Stronger People Initiative. He is a Board member of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, an Honorary Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne, and an occasional moderator for the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. Travers grew up in Exmouth and Perth in Western Australia and is married to a Kiwi. They and their two young daughters now call Melbourne home.
Dr Gillian Singleton
Gill is a GP who has been providing care to refugees and people seeking asylum for over 15 years. She holds a Masters of Public Health, is the former medical director of the Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub and the CEO of In2health, a purpose-led digital health company that strives to save lives through prevention.
Gill is passionate about prevention, social justice, trauma-informed and culturally safe care and has been involved in medical education, guideline and standards development and provision of advice to the Federal Government on immigration detention and migration health for many years. Gill was an active member of the Victorian Refugee Health Network executive until August 2022.
Muhammad Akram
Muhammad Akram is a Senior Associate – Tax & Legal at PwC Australia. He is a Chartered Accountant and a full member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ). He holds a Graduate Diploma in Chartered Accounting from CA ANZ, Graduate Diploma in Tax from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Corporate Finance from the University of Adelaide.
Roberto Garcia
Roberto is a psychologist, with extensive experience in advancing health and safety performance through organisational development, executive leadership and culture transformation. His consultation experience spans Asia, North America, South America and the Middle East. Roberto is experienced in the development of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) strategies, transformations, culture change and integration of the EHS initiatives to overall organisational objectives. This includes leadership development and psychosocial risk management. He has a Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology and Human Bioscience, as well as a masters in Organisational Psychology.
Leisa Bayston
Leisa Bayston brings extensive experience in commercial law and legal risk management. She began her career in corporate tax with major consulting firms, moved into funds management, and held senior legal roles at a national mid-tier law firm and Macquarie Bank. Leisa co-founded a boutique commercial legal practice in Melbourne servicing a large range of business clients of all sizes and in diverse industries. This practice merged in 2022 with FCW Lawyers, a national law firm. Leisa particularly enjoys advising technology start-ups and guiding them through growth to scaling to exit, she is passionate about supporting female founders and founders from diverse backgrounds. She holds a Masters of Law (Corporate and Taxation) from the University of Sydney and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and in Law from the University of Tasmania.