Board and Staff

Karin (she/her) has had an extensive career in the disability, advocacy and social policy space where she is committed to people with disability living valued lives in the community. Karin is a past President of Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) and has an extensive background in governance roles for other non-government organisations (NGOs). Karin has represented the Australian Government and WWDA at the Commission on the Status of Women 57 (CSW 57) held at the United Nations, New York, providing high level, strategic advice to on women with disability and violence and presenting at various side events. Karin has also led training alongside the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and been a keynote speaker for WWDA in Indonesia and South Korea on gender and disability and the elimination of violence.

Karin has previously worked at Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) in various roles and provided strategic high-level advice and analysis on many contemporary disability issues and other social policies including: human rights, gender issues, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the Disability Royal Commission, housing, transport, welfare reform and employment.

Karin currently works as an independent consultant providing strategic high level advice, policy analysis and giving presentations to a diverse range of audiences on a range of key disability social policy issues.

Kat (they/them/theirs) has been a local queer advocate & community builder in the ACT for the last eight years. They are currently the CEO of Women With Disabilities ACT – a systemic advocacy and peer support organisation for women, girls and non-binary identified people with disabilities. Kat was recently awarded 2021 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year and one of Out for Australia’s 30 Under 30 for 2021.

Their activism and community building work spans many different intersections. Since the age of 17, they have advocated for the rights of people of colour, queer youth, trans and non-binary people and people with disabilities. They’ve held positions of leadership in both local and national organisations including the ANU Students’ Association and led the Australian Queer Students’ Network as the National Co-Convenor. Kat was a Council member on the ACT LGBTIQ+ Ministerial Advisory Council and advised on issues affecting queer youth from 2015-2018.

Kat is also a political performance artist and through their arts persona they recently finished work on Australia’s very first all trans and gender diverse original musical titled Lost in Transit with a cast of six local trans and gender diverse artists.

Professionally, Jess has previously worked in government and the not for profit sector in policy roles. She is now a lawyer who works for a national firm and is also a legal researcher, contributing to peer-reviewed articles on violence against women. 

Jess lives with disability and has been involved with WWDA for a number of years. Jess also has relatives living with disability and has been a carer.

Jess actively volunteers her skills with other organisations/committees and is passionate about her kids, gardening, live music and good governance.

Maria Scharnke is a proudly Disabled young person and a lifelong self-advocate.  Maria is a vehement and persistent voice for disability rights and disability justice as a writer, public speaker, and youth leader, both independently and through her roles in many Disabled People’s Organisations. She presented evidence at the Disability Royal Commission, in October 2020, as a Disabled high school student.

Maria is working towards the full and practised realisation of disability rights worldwide.  She has an interest in the interrelation between perceptions of disability and the concept of monstrosity.  Maria dislikes bioethics, but studies them anyway.

Maria is Culturally and Linguistically Diverse.

Board Member – Casey Gray

Casey lives on the Central Coast NSW, located on Darkinjung Country.

Casey has psychosocial disability and is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Casey holds a Bachelor of Social Science and is currently studying a Master degree in Disability Practice and a Diploma in Creative Arts in Health.

Casey has worked in the disability sector since the beginning of 2004 and currently sits on the NSW Disability Council where she has opportunity to participate in additional advisory groups.

Casey is an advocate for people with disability and has a particular awareness of hearing the voices of people receiving disability services, those who have profound and multiple learning disability and those who do not use words to communicate.

Casey’s current personal work is focussed on raising the profile of women, feminine identifying and non-binary artists with lived experience of disability and increasing the inclusion of people with disability in the LGBTQIA+ community by increasing the presence and contribution of individuals in our community.

Casey has just joined the campaign to introduce a NSW Human Rights Act to enable human rights protections and increase government accountability.  

Heidi La Paglia is an Autistic young woman with disability, community activist and new mum. Heidi has worked at Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) since the beginning of 2019, in which time she has worked on and co-managed a number of projects and represented women and girls with disability at local, national and international levels.

Heidi is currently the DIrector of Policy and Advocacy at WWDA and has particular interest in ensuring that women with disability are included in mainstream efforts to address inequalities between genders.

Heidi has previously completed Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degrees with the University of Tasmania (UTas) and has nearly a decade of experience advocating for the rights of all women and girls.

In her spare time, Heidi enjoys listening to audio books, going for bush walks and spending time with her family and three cats.

Jacinta (she/her) has worked in marketing and communications in various industries for over seven years. She completed a Bachelor of Business (Marketing and Management) at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and has since developed her digital marketing and branding skills.

While Jacinta is relatively new to advocacy, she is passionate about improving the lives and involvement of women, girls, feminine identifying and non-binary people with disability. She looks forward to making a positive contribution.

Margherita is a young disabled woman who lives on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land. She is passionate about intersectionality and youth representation within human rights issues. 

She has experience with representing young women at a variety of forums, events and through various organisations, including Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) and Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA). She is currently working towards a Degree in Law with a Human Rights Major at the ANU. Margherita also volunteers across a multitude of human rights issues including for the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) and does individual consulting on intersectional issues. 

In her free time Margherita likes to make art, see her friends and hang out with her black cat, Andrea. 

Claire Bertholli she/her , currently lives on the lands of the Awabakal people in Newcastle. She is a youth worker and disability advocate.  She uses her education and practice in sociology and anthropology in tandem with her lived experience of being a wheelchair user with a physical disability to influence social and community change. She has involved herself in many advocacy projects  in various disability, intersectional feminist and youth centric NGO’s  across Australia and internationally. 

 In her spare time she enjoys getting her wheels dirty on outdoor walks or in her beach wheelchair , enjoying food with friends and family, sharing pop culture recommendations with anyone who will pay attention  and being in the thick of it at live music events.

Claire is extremely excited to start her journey as youth development officer, as she has been passionately engaged in many ways WWDA initiatives since 2020/21 and knows what power and resilience can come from providing young people with platforms and opportunities to share valuable parts of themselves.

Since 2018, Cat has been working in the health industry as a clinician and health educator. More recently, Cat ventured into the adult sexual health education sector as she is passionate about the sexual and reproductive health rights of all people, with a particular interest in advocating for the sexual and reproductive health rights of people with disabilities and LGBTIQA+ communities and how these communities intersect with one another.

Cat completed her Bachelor of Health Science in 2018 and in 2022 gained her Master of Science in Medicine specialising in Sexual and Reproductive Health from The University of Sydney.

In her spare time, Cat loves spending time with her family, gardening, and reading.

Zoe lives in southern lutruwita / Tasmania and has worked in the human rights and environmental justice sectors for the past couple decades locally, nationally, and internationally. She has predominantly focussed on project management in grassroots organising and leadership development. 

Zoe has a Bachelor of Arts and a postgraduate Honours degree in Gender Studies from the University of Tasmania. She has worked on human rights campaigns with women and girls, as well as with individuals and groups from the communities of First Nations people, refugees and asylum seekers, LGBTIQA+ people, and more.

Zoe is passionate about working with people to increase individual and community engagement. She champions exploring the diverse ways we understand and realise leadership. Zoe thrives on identifying and creating opportunities for accessible and meaningful participation.

My name is Tanya Sinclair. I am currently working as a counsellor and have degrees in both law and social work. I have lived much of my life by the mantra “have degree, will travel” and this has lead to a range of adventures around Australia and overseas. I am currently in Perth. In my spare time, I’m involved in a local brass band, tennis and ice hockey, and I also enjoy photography, gardening and cooking. I live with two very spoilt cats. I am passionate about the rights of people with disabilities and ensuring their rights are upheld to the same standard as people without disabilities.