Our Board

Wendy Prowse – Chair

CEO, ADACAS (ACT)

Wendy joined the Board of DANA in 2021. Wendy has been the CEO of ADACAS since 2020, an organisation that provides advocacy and information services to people with disability, people experiencing mental ill-health, older people, and their carers. ADACAS provides these services in Canberra and on the South Coast of NSW. 

Prior to working at ADACAS, Wendy held various senior management positions in the finance, health, and community sectors, working for national as well as local Canberra organisations. She has experience working in the commercial and not for profit sector. 

Wendy’s passion and dedication to social justice and human rights has underpinned all her working and volunteer roles.  Wendy has held various non-executive board director positions and is currently a Board Director for the Australian Red Cross. 

Wendy is a member of the ACT Government’s Inclusion Council, a member of the ACT Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders.

David Petherick – Deputy Chair  

Executive Officer, Barwin Disability Resource Council Inc (Victoria)

David was re-elected to the Board in 2022. Having previously been a member of the DANA Board from 2017-2021, is passionate about collective action and is committed to the work of DANA, believing it is critical to the ongoing success of advocacy in Australia.

David started as Executive Officer of the BDRC in June 2021 and is excited to continue on with the great advocacy work that the BDRC has been doing in Geelong since 1975. With a commitment to learning from everyone in the disability advocacy community, David has worked in the disability sector for over 30 years with 18 years of that in advocacy.

He has had leadership roles in several disability organisations, including VALID, the Australian Camps Association People Outdoors and the Office of the Public Advocate and I is passionate about full inclusion for all.

As a member of the Geelong Accessible City Taskforce, David is excited about Geelong becoming the most accessible city in Australia. He is also a member of the Victorian Rural Advocacy Network which includes advocacy services covering all Regional and Rural Victoria and they endorse my nomination for the DANA Board. 

Jenny Karavolos – Treasurer

CEO, Disability Advocacy & Complaints Service of South Australia Inc (DACSSA) (South Australia)

Jenny joined the Board of DANA in 2023. She has 20 years of leadership experience in disability, defence, transport, and energy, and is highly skilled in systemic advocacy, stakeholder relationships, collaboration, strategic planning, governance, and financial sustainability.

Currently CEO of DACSSA and Co-Chair of NDIA’s Fraud Reform group, Jenny is actively involved in various roles including Co-Chair of the Australian Autism Alliance, member of the National Health and Mental Health Roadmap for Autism, and the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council. She is also the Chair-Elect for the Augmented Ability CRC, focusing on enhancing human capacity.

Jenny has a track record of securing commitments from both state and federal governments for autism strategies and roadmaps. Previously, she held roles as CEO of Autism SA and Commercial Adviser at Saab Australia.

She has also held Chair and Non-Executive Director positions in defence and disability for over 15 years. Her most important role is a parent of a gorgeous Autistic child. 

Denise Boyd – Minutes Secretary

Executive Officer, STAR Victoria (Victoria)

Denise was elected to the DANA Board in 2022. She has almost three decades experience in the not-for-profit sector, specialising in effective campaigns and strategic planning. Denise began her campaign career with Greenpeace Australia in the early ‘90s, and has extensive experience of political advocacy representing people, animals, and places both here in Australia, and on government and non-governmental delegations to several international forums.

Denise joined STAR Victoria in September 2019 and has worked with the Committee of Management to refresh the organisation’s operations and set a new direction with the publication of the current Strategic Plan. She has a passion for fairness, change for good, and good governance in the charitable sector.

Tanya O’Neil – Director

CEO, Advocacy for Disability Access and Inclusion (South Australia)

With over 25 years of experience in the disability sector, Tanya is passionate about advocacy for people with disability and brings with her a wealth of knowledge from education, health, community, commercial and not-for-profit experience.

Tanya holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and successful scholar of the 2024-25 Governance Foundations for Not-for-Profit Directors course.  She has served in executive leadership roles at Autism SA and Early Start Australia. As a qualified speech pathologist and autism diagnostician, Tanya previously provided in-depth support to families navigating the complex and challenging web of diagnosis, education, supports, services, and funding.

Tanya is a well-connected and respected member of the South Australian disability advocacy community and convenes the Independent Disability Advocacy Collective of South Australia.  Driven by personal experience of barriers to access and inclusion for people with disability, Tanya speaks with courage and conviction to get to the heart of a matter and achieve tangible results. 

Ally Scott – Director

CEO, Disability Resources Centre (Victoria)

Ally is a deaf social justice campaigner and filmmaker who is inspired by the possibility of a world rooted in equality, biocentrism, environmental justice and kindness.

Ally is Executive Officer at Disability Resources Centre, a disability led advocacy and campaigning organisation. DRC is radically inclusive, welcoming and connecting people with disability across culture, identity, geography and disability experience.  It also upholds Disability Justice and champions Disability Culture and Pride. This includes acknowledging and celebrating the disability movement elders and forbears.

Previous work includes many years at the BBC as Producer / Director in Documentaries; Director at Social Health Australia, an organisation dedicated to evolving innovative solutions to social isolation and loneliness; and co-founder of The Unity Project in London which provides vital support to migrant families in need.

Stuart Schonell – Director

CEO, Advocacy WA (Western Australia)

I have had a multi-discipline career, from a small business owner in South-West WA, to CEO of a Training Organisation, to a university academic, to a researcher investigating emotion’s impact on ethics. Throughout this career I have navigated the challenges of work, with the added challenge of being in a wheelchair, and the associated biases and discrimination that comes from having a disability in the Australian workforce. For the past two years I have been the CEO of Advocacy WA, a not-for-profit focussed on regional WA, advocating for people living with disability.

One of my primary passions is to improve outcomes for regional, rural and remote people living with disability, one of the most marginalised sections of the Australian community. As such, I have lifted the systemic advocacy profile of Advocacy WA, talking at conferences, writing to and meeting with politicians and their advisors, surveying regional people living with disability to understand the critical issues, and writing academic style papers about some of the issues we face in the regions.

Andrew Vodic – Director

CEO, Community Disability Alliance Hunter (New South Wales)

Andrew brings over 25 years of experience in community services, leadership, and management. With a lifelong personal experience of disability, Andrew combines professional expertise with lived experience to lead meaningful change.

Throughout his career, Andrew has extensive experience in crisis counselling, mentoring, mediation, advocacy, and adult training and assessment. His leadership roles have taken him across regional, rural, and remote community settings, where he has demonstrated a deep commitment to grassroots community development and peer-led support initiatives.

Andrew’s diverse career path and unique skill set reflect his passion for fostering genuine inclusive communities. His dedication to CDAH’s work aligns closely with his own values of advocacy, accountability and collaboration.