Board & Team

Stacey Thomas is one of Australia’s most respected leaders in philanthropy. Her deep knowledge of the sector, together with her personal values of equity and social justice, and a preternatural instinct for collaboration, underpin her leadership at Wyatt.

“The opportunity to lead an organisation with such a long history was very appealing,” Stacey says of her decision to join the team in 2019. “I have strong social justice principles, and with Wyatt focusing on poverty and inequality it was a perfect match.”

While philanthropy is often described as a balancing act between head and heart, Stacey knows that creating lasting impact requires both.

“Working in the sector exposes you to so much you would never have normally had the opportunity to see,” she explains. “Sometimes it is very confronting, and other times it’s incredibly heart-warming; either way it’s an absolute privilege.”

“At Wyatt we aim to generate the highest impact possible for the people who need it most. I’m very fortunate that in my role I get to work across all areas of the organisation,” Stacey says.

“I love listening to the stories of individuals we support, seeing the impact and plans of our organisational partners, working with our Board to increase our impact via our investments. I plan to do even more listening and learning from our partners so that we continue to grow our impact together.”

Stacey previously held roles at the Fay Fuller Foundation, Myer Family Company and Telstra Foundation. She is a Director at Philanthropy Australia and Community Foundations Australia, the country’s peak bodies for philanthropy and community foundations respectively.

With a background in administration and finance, Leanne Crisp has worked across a range of sectors including publishing, engineering and consumer goods, as well as running her own bookkeeping business.

At Wyatt, Leanne takes care of payroll and assists with various finance functions. Working with the team at Wyatt, she says, provides a deep sense of purpose and satisfaction.

“I love the passion and purpose of the people at Wyatt and the way that they care so deeply about helping those less fortunate,” Leanne explains.

“I love knowing that my time and knowledge contribute to keeping the support frameworks of day-to-day operations ticking along for staff, as well as suppliers and grant recipients.”

As Wyatt continues to innovate and re-imagine its work in order to help more South Australians who are experiencing poverty and inequality, Leanne says she is looking forward to playing her part in the organisation’s evolution.

“It warms my heart to be a small part of Wyatt’s future growth and success,” she says.

One of the things Jo Edwards loves most about her role as Relationship Manager is witnessing philanthropy’s catalytic power.

“It’s that alchemy where community interest, a proposal and an injection of resources and connections can create such positive energy,” Jo says.

Before joining the team at Wyatt, Jo dedicated 15 years to working across disability, youth, higher education and health in a range of programs and services.

“Philanthropy was new and a bit foreign to me,” she explains, “but the scope of this role at Wyatt just sang to me and it all felt so right.”

Jo works closely with Wyatt’s non-profit partner organisations to help every South Australian live a life free from poverty and disadvantage.

“As Relationship Manager, I value my daily discussions with partner contacts across South Australia,” she says. “They are solid gold.”

After leaving the corporate world in 2016 to take up roles in the community sector, Wyatt’s Relationship Manager for the Linker Network, Alex Emmerich has never looked back.

Having worked in and studied mental health and psychosocial support services, Alex has not only helped people find, access and connect with the support they need, she also developed initiatives that make service navigation easier.

“I believe everybody deserves to be able to live their best life,” Alex explains. “There’s such a great need in our community and it's extremely rewarding to support people to improve their quality of life, whatever that means to them.

“I have a lot of empathy for anyone who finds themself in situations where they’re facing a lot of challenges and barriers. I have lived experience of being a carer myself, so I know how difficult it can be for carers too.”

The Wyatt Trust’s commitment to respecting lived and living experience, particularly in the context of the Linker Network, was perfectly matched to Alex’s professional skills and personal values.  

“The Wyatt Trust is really walking the talk with the Linker Network,” she says. “It’s a service that is setting a high benchmark in terms of being person-centred and values driven and I’m excited to be joining the team at a time when it’s moving beyond prototyping and service testing into service delivery.”

Angela Meegan’s natural empathy and deep commitment to community service has shaped her career. She has worked across the public, private and non-profit sectors including disability services, project work in Kakadu and Uluru Kata Tjuta National Parks and most recently, as a financial counsellor.

“Working as a financial counsellor, I developed a deep understanding of the extent of disadvantage in our community, with all of the complexities and often related issues such as trauma, mental health, addiction and homelessness,” Angela says.

“I learned that the Wyatt Trust was often there to fund specific needs for clients where other funding was unavailable. The Trust is widely respected and fills a real funding need.”

Angela seized the opportunity to join the Wyatt team, which she says is “passionate about service delivery and better outcomes” in early 2019.

“As Relationship Manager, I enjoy hearing about the back stories of the applications we receive,” Angela explains. “Clients share very personal and real details of their lives and it’s a constant reminder of why we are here and why we do what we do. It is very humbling and grounding, as well as rewarding.”

As Office Coordinator, Michelle Quach’s welcoming smile is one of the first things you’ll see when you visit Inparrila.

With a background in administration, Michelle has worked in human resource departments for local and state government, SAPOL and not-for-profits. Thriving in busy and collaborative environments, Michelle says joining the Wyatt team, was a perfectly aligned opportunity to bring her organisational expertise to a purpose-driven workplace.

“Working for an organisation with strong values, like The Wyatt Trust, is very important to me and I really love organising and ensuring that things run smoothly for people,” Michelle says.

“I love that I get to meet the members and visitors coming to Inparrila who are all doing such interesting work. I want to make sure everyone has a positive experience and gets the most out of their time here.”

Michelle says there are many issues that are dear to her heart, and chief among them is inclusion.

“Basically, it comes down to ensuring that all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender identity or ability understand that they are a valued member of society and that they’ve got plenty to offer the world."

Before joining the team at Wyatt, Gavin Reid, a self-described ‘passionate South Australian’, worked in finance and accounting for large corporates for more than three decades.

“I wanted a change in direction from the corporate world where I could use my skills to benefit another sector or organisation,” Gavin explains.

“I love the ‘vibe’ of the philanthropic sector and the fact that you have people who are doing great things to support people in need. I enjoy knowing that our work is making a real difference to people’s lives.”

Joining as Business and Operations Lead, Gavin ensured Wyatt’s business and operational systems including investments, accounting, IT and admin were as effective and efficient as possible. He took particular pride in ensuring the systems “are always improving so they can more effectively support all those who rely on them.”

From 2024, Gavin has moved into a new role supporting Wyatt's Investment Committee to deliver a portfolio that achieves Wyatt's financial, ethical and social impact outcomes.

Nicole Richards has specialised in communications for not-for-profits for more than two decades. Before joining the Wyatt team, she headed up communications for one of Australia’s largest community foundation and was the inaugural Chief Storyteller at peak body Philanthropy Australia.

With philanthropy being uniquely placed to support and spark new approaches to old problems, Nicole is an advocate for ethical storytelling that brings forward the voices of the people closest to the issues that funders aim to address. 

“Sharing the stories of people with lived and living experience has the power to help change the narrative on issues like poverty,” she says. “If we listen, we learn.”

“I love that The Wyatt Trust, despite being one of Australia’s oldest philanthropic organisations, is also one of its boldest in terms of taking action on things like truth telling, catalytic local investments and co-designing programs with the people they are trying to help.”

In her role at Wyatt, Nicole captures and communicates the impact and insights gleaned from the Trust’s work.

“When we share real-world examples of philanthropy’s ability to seed new initiatives and do things differently, we help others see what’s possible and hopefully inspire them to try different approaches too.”

Keren Sutton brings a wealth of valuable experience to Wyatt in her role as Programs and Impact Lead. Beginning her career as a primary school teacher, Keren went on to work for the South Australian State Government in community and industry engagement programs before switching to donor engagement and governance for non-profit groups providing access to healthcare and education for people living in poverty in Uganda.

The alignment between her own personal values and the organisational focus of Wyatt made Keren’s decision to join the team an easy one.

“Wyatt’s focus on making a difference to people in my community who are experiencing poverty and inequality really spoke to my passion for social justice,” she explains.

“The team here works to empower our South Australian community to address poverty compassionately, with clear actions that bring positive change and hope to families and individuals.”

Working with like-minded people across the philanthropic sector to create positive impact is one of the things Keren enjoys most about her role.

“Having the opportunity to influence change and see people-focused approaches developed and actioned is very important to me,” she says. “I’m looking forward to engaging with people across all walks of life, and listening and learning to enable Wyatt to have greater long-term impact on people experiencing poverty.”

Throughout his career, Ken Wilson has been committed to making a difference, through training and development, impact investing, governance and strategy, volunteering and his impact measurement studies at Oxford University.

“All of these opportunities helped me see how different organisations can create impact if they set the right metrics and monitoring,” Ken says.

“With poverty being such an enormous challenge, no one organisation can make inroads without partnering and adopting a systemic approach,” Ken says. “When I saw the quality of the Wyatt team and the way they partner with the organisations they support, I knew it strongly aligned with my own values and interests.”

In his role as Business & Operations Lead, Ken works across the organisation ensuring operations and processes run smoothly and efficiently. He also oversees the operations of Inparrila where The Wyatt Trust and other organisations with shared values and common purpose come to work, gather and create.

“It’s wonderful that Inparrila has become a hub that makes it possible for others to collaborate and grow and leverage their impact. I think it’s a great example of how philanthropy can be a catalyst that brings people and different enterprises together for greater impact.”