Jenny brings over 30 years’ experience working within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander portfolios at national and state levels. She has also worked within Human Rights and international relations, tertiary education, housing, disability, aged care, women and youth. Jenny shares, “With all the knowledge I have gathered through the years, I still feel that what is most important for me is to have the living experience of being an Aboriginal person. My leadership style is based on wisdom handed down to me by my ancestors.”
Jenny joined Australian Red Cross in December 2015 and is pivotal to the reconciliation focus. She heads up the First Nations Strategy & Impact portfolio and leads the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Leadership Team. She has made significant and positive change for the teams she leads, communities she supports, and the many First Nations employees, volunteers and members she touches through her humility and ongoing advocacy work.
Jenny works to ensure that the Humanitarian movement is culturally safe and inclusive and that much-needed cultural healing is grounded in strategy, policy, practice and program design, having a strong focus on place-based systems, people change, innovation and community-based solutions. In 2021/22, Jenny was critical in forming a trusted partnership between Australian Red Cross and The Healing Foundation, initially to support the work to enable Australian Red Cross to become more inclusive and a place where all Red Cross people feel respected, valued and culturally safe.
Jenny is a strong advocate and influencer internally and externally to Australian Red Cross. Her work has been recognised externally on many occasions, including most recently as a finalist in Leadership HQ’s 2022 Outstanding Leadership Awards, which celebrate courageous, authentic and inclusive leadership.