Yvette Doyle (she/her) is a strategic leader with over 20 years’ experience in the homelessness sector working in specialist homelessness services and across youth, AOD, disability and young parent programs. Currently leading the Homelessness Sector Design & Stewardship team at Homes NSW, Yvette drives collaborative approaches to sector development, strategic planning, policy reform and inclusive service design. Yvette has helped to embed quality-driven approaches and innovation through the implementation of NSW’s first outcomes framework for homelessness services, and supporting sector-wide accreditation, workforce development programs and the design of programs such as Sustaining Tenancies in Social Housing and Together Home. With a background in social work and a postgraduate diploma in community sector management, her practice is grounded in trauma-informed and strengths-based approaches and she is known for her strengths in stakeholder engagement. Yvette continues to advocate for evidence-based design, culturally responsive policy and sustainable systems change towards making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring.

Rebecca Mawad (she/her) is a Program Officer in the Homelessness Sector Design & Stewardship Team at Homes NSW. An accredited social worker with a decade of experience in the social services sector, Rebecca brings a rich background spanning frontline service delivery, research, policy implementation and program design. At Homes NSW, she leads the implementation of the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) Outcomes Framework and coordinates the SHS Practitioner Advisory Group. A career highlight has been her work supporting the sector to implement the SHS Access, Eviction & Withdrawal of Services Policy. Rebecca is deeply committed to using policy and programming as levers for evidence-based, client-centred practice. She champions the integration of lived experience and sector voices to drive better outcomes for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

I am a proud Yuin (South Coast) woman raised on Darkinjung country (Central Coast) where I still reside and work. I have strong family connections from the South Coast (Yuin Nation) to Worimi Nation (Forster) and La Perouse Mission where my mum was born and raised. I have been the CEO of Bungree since 2014. My previous employment history has been working with both the Commonwealth and NSW Government State Agencies from Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Education, Ageing and Disability, Housing NSW, and Commonwealth Employment Services. Bungree is a large multi service Aboriginal community organisation delivering over 38 diverse range of services, programs and other products to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people through our five (5) operating sections, 1. Housing and Homelessness 2. Children, Youth and Family 3. My Age Care 4. Disability Services 5. Population Health. Bungree operates and delivers across multiple Local Government Areas including Central Coast, Lake Macquarie, Cessnock, Maitland, Newcastle, Raymond Terrace and Karuah. I am member of the Homelessness NSW Policy Council. Chairperson Aboriginal Communities of Practice – Homelessness NSW and a Board member of the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission. Suzanne has earned a widespread reputation for targeting and addressing the key tactical and strategic issues that result in positive outcomes for an organisation or business. Her passion, positive ‘can do’ attitude and ability to handle complex stakeholder relationships and to work towards successful partnerships that benefit Aboriginal clients, carers, families and the broader community.

Lynda has 20 years’ experience in community services, starting her career as a behaviour practitioner and then moved across to domestic violence support roles. The last 10 years Lynda has been in leadership roles across the homelessness and domestic violence sectors. She is committed to her role within these sectors and ensures through her leadership that change is made in working towards ending homelessness and minimising the impact of domestic and family violence within our communities. Lynda continually advocates for change at a local level and continues to raise awareness of homelessness and its impact across all levels of society. Lynda has written and been successful in grants which provide vital housing infrastructure to women and their children in regional NSW. She has embedded a culture of Housing First support models into the SHS and shares her knowledge across intersecting sectors. Lynda has a passion for neuropsychology and how trauma impacts people’s behaviour, which is all to common within the homelessness sector.

Charmaine Jones is the Project Manager of the Justice and Equity Centre’s lived experience advocacy program. Her work centres on empowering individuals who have experienced homelessness, social housing, and mental health systems to become influential voices in the policy development and decision-making processes within government. With over 20 years of experience in the community sector, Charmaine has worked extensively in the housing and homelessness fields. She has completed a tenure as a Ministerial appointee on the Rental Bond Board and has served as the Chair of the NSW Tenants Union. As an adult educator, she is committed to helping marginalised communities find sustainable solutions to the challenges they face and a firm believer in the value of the voices of lived experience in shaping more responsive and effective services.