Tessa was born and grew up on unceded Gadigal land (Sydney), where she lives again after living overseas including in England, China and India.
Prior to joining ANROWS as CEO in 2024, Tessa was the founding CEO of Health Justice Australia, the national centre for health justice partnership. Originally a criminologist, she has worked in health, criminal justice and human rights organisations in Australia and internationally.
She was previously Deputy CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service and was the inaugural Fulbright Professional Scholar in Nonprofit Leadership.
Tessa’s PhD looked at the detention and release of mentally disordered offenders.
Tessa is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and combines her passions for enabling young people to thrive and for arts and culture as Chair of the Board of Gondwana Choirs, the leader in Australian choral performance. She is also the Chair of the Australian Pro Bono Centre and a Board Director of Australian Communities Foundation.
Tessa’s TEDx on health justice partnership explains why seeing a lawyer might be good for your health and her TEDx on philanthropy through partnership argues against ‘bizsplaining’ and builds on her work as the inaugural Fulbright Professional Scholar in Nonprofit Leadership.