Who we are
AIDN leverages and shines a spotlight on the good work being undertaken in the International Development sector. We have a deliberately small executive team and our reach is extended by the hands-on support and guidance of a very active Board and Advisory Council of sector experts.
WHO WE ARE
Board of Directors & Executive Team
Simon Lewis
CO-FOUNDER & CHAIR
Simon is an experienced board member, trustee and former senior executive in the trustee, philanthropy and family office sector. He is the founding partner of the boutique firm GoodWolf Partners where his team advises organisations and foundations in the for purpose sector to invest in a stronger, fairer and more sustainable civil society. Born in Zimbabwe, Simon was a catalyst in the formation of AIDN in 2018.
Mark Cubit
CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR
Mark has been active in the International giving space since 2005. In that time, foundations he has managed have funded over 200 NGOs in 38 countries. Mark’s current responsibilities are with Partners For Equity, Cubit Family Foundation, Ripple Foundation, Planet Wheeler Foundation, Crap Foundation and he is Chair of The School of St Jude.
Prior to his involvement in the philanthropic community, Mark was Managing Director, Australian Equities at Merrill Lynch Equities for 15 years.
Linda Fox
CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR
Since 2015, Linda has been the CEO of Partners For Equity, an Australian charity which provides aid (via its international partners) to disadvantaged communities overseas. She also works part time for the Planet Wheeler Foundation.
Prior to PFE, Linda was the General Counsel of Cooper Investors for 14 years; and before that worked as a commercial/finance lawyer in Sydney and London.
Julie Rosenberg
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Prior to commencing her role at AIDN, Julie Rosenberg worked with Mark Carnegie as Director of his Foundation developing and implementing a form of venture philanthropy.
Simultaneously she founded and is the Director of the International Fistula Alliance, a representative organisation whose members support the work of Dr Catherine Hamlin in Ethiopia and now in Uganda.
Julie has had over 30 years’ experience in a range of senior roles in the commercial and for purpose sector throughout Australia and internationally.
Emily Umbers
MARKETING & ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Emily brings over 15 years of expertise in marketing, communications, and fundraising within the for-purpose sector, spanning international development, education, welfare, and disability.
Alongside her role at AIDN, Emily serves as Portfolio Marketing & Development Manager at Partners for Equity, collaborating with locally-led organisations across East Africa. She works closely with visionary leaders and their teams to refine their narratives, strengthen their brands, and amplify their messages. Emily also co-designed and co-leads an annual professional development program in Melbourne, tailored to early-stage organisations focused on social cohesion. With experience living and working in East Africa and frequent visits to the region, she holds a Bachelor of International Development and is passionate about the power of clear messaging, bold branding, and meaningful relationships in driving positive community impact.
Hannah McNicol
COMMUNICATIONS & RESEARCH Lead
Hannah is an international development researcher, writer and communications professional.
Hannah is a Cookson Scholar (international development PhD researcher) at the University of Melbourne and the University of Manchester. Her doctoral research sits at the intersection of development studies, Chinese foreign aid and geopolitics. She conducted her doctoral fieldwork in Cambodia in 2023, and is affiliated with the Global Development Institute and the Second Cold War Observatory.
Prior to her role at AIDN, Hannah previously worked with Good Return, the Australian Red Cross and Gilbert + Tobin. Hannah holds a Masters of Development Studies, specialising in gender, from the University of Melbourne (Dean’s Honours List 2020) and a BA in History and Politics from the University of Oxford (Magdalen College, 2018).
Advisory Council
Abhilash Mudaliar
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Abhilash Mudaliar has 20 years of experience in the worlds of social impact and international development. As the founder of Grey Area Partners, he currently advises leadership at nonprofits, foundations and impact investors on impact strategy, fund- and capital raising, impact measurement and capacity building. Abhilash is a non-executive Director on a number of Boards, including First Australians Capital, Myriad Australia, Shine for Kids and 100 Story Building.
Prior to Grey Area Partners, he held a variety of analytic and leadership roles in impact investing, research & evaluation, social enterprise and management consulting organisations in India, Australia, and the USA.
Abhilash’s international development work has primarily focused on India. He began his work in this space at Unitus, working closely with early-stage microfinance institutions to help them scale and commercialise. He then helped establish Elevar Equity in India, investing venture capital in social impact-focused enterprises. He also worked on a World Bank research study seeking to improve learning outcomes for students in government schools across the country.
Abhilash has Honours degrees in Commerce and Arts from the University of Melbourne and an MPA in International Development from Harvard University. In his spare time, he enjoys writing fiction and playing racquet sports.
Anna Demant
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Anna is a Principal at First Tier Media and an experienced philanthropy, fundraising and communications executive whose most recent position was Head of Impact at the Australian Communities Foundation.
She is on the Funding Committee of Scanlon Foundation and on the board of Refugee Advice and Case Service (RACS) and chairs the RACS Fundraising Committee.
Anna is a founding board member of Inclusive Development International and is on the committee of Australian International Development Network. Previously, she was Foundation Manager of Planet Wheeler Foundation, and Foundation Manager at Lonely Planet Foundation.
Anna is a founding member of Refugee Leadership Alliance, designed to increase links, funds and opportunities for refugee leaders in our region. She is a pro-bono technical advisor to Asia Pacific Network of Refugees, and has a particular focus on working to promote meaningful refugee leadership.
She has an arts degree from Melbourne University and a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing from RMIT.
Anubha Rawat
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Anubha Rawat has over 20 years of experience working in the international development sector. She has worked in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, specialising in women’s health and MNCH (maternal, newborn and child health).
Anubha is the Projects Director at the DAK Foundation, a private foundation focused on sub-saharan Africa and Asia in three areas – women’s health programmes, focussed on birth injury repair and family planning, restorative eyesight surgery and the distribution of medical equipment with a special focus on oxygen systems. Anubha also sits on the Board of Advisors for the Gould Family Foundation. She holds a Masters in Child Development from Delhi University and a Graduate Diploma in International Studies from the University of Sydney. She is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Cathy Sowden
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Cathy has wide experience as a fundraiser and philanthropy specialist in the Not for Profit sector, primarily in international development and was previously on the board of Australian Doctors International. Until January 2020 she was Head of Fundraising at Good Return, building a corporate, philanthropic and impact investing support base and was a keynote speaker at Saleforce’s global Dreamforce conference in 2019.
After leaving Good Return Cathy set about trying to gain a broader understanding of the different perspectives within international philanthropy in Australia, by working with the both NonProfit Alliance and AIDN. She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to build a cross sector organisation, which creates a bridge between stakeholders through improved trust, information and knowledge. She is currently National Philanthropy Manager at Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
Clay O'Brien
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Clay O’Brien has worked as an Advisor on Financial Inclusion, Microfinance and International Development for more than 20 years. He is currently based in Myanmar, having lived there a total of nearly four years over the past decade.
Clay’s previous positions include: 18 months in Indonesia running an Agricultural Finance project; as the Senior Sector Specialist for Financial Inclusion at AusAID/the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Managing Director of AYANI Inclusive Financial Sector Consultants; and various roles with a global microfinance network, Opportunity International, and the INGO World Vision.
Prior to moving into the development field in 2002, Clay was the CEO of an investment bank, ING Barings, and began his career as a lawyer with Allens in Sydney and Singapore.
Emily Moreton
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Emily is the Director of Effectiveness and Engagement at the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak body for Australian NGOs involved in international development and humanitarian action. She is responsible for leading the development of strategy and programs which aim to strengthen the practice, accountability and effectiveness of ACFID’s 130 members. Emily is passionate about creating spaces for learning and knowledge sharing across the sector, including with international civil society and local partners, and connecting research with practice.
Previously Emily worked in education for over 10 years, including as a teacher trainer in Indonesia. She has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development and has taught as part of university courses on disaster risk reduction.
Emily is Chair of the Global Standard Partnership, a network of 12 international civil society peak bodies across all regions of the world, and serves on the leadership team for Women in Aid and Development. She has a wide range of experience as a volunteer in community and not-profit organisations.
Eve Omala
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Evelyn Omala has spent over 10 years working in philanthropy and championing social change across 3 continents.
After an exciting and highly rewarding time as the Director of Operations at Segal Family Foundation, where she oversaw the foundation’s grantmaking activities to over 200 grantee partners across Sub-Saharan Africa, Evelyn embarked on a new journey advising and supporting philanthropic organisations on their Africa grantmaking strategies. Through this work, she oversees Partners for Equity’s Africa grassroots portfolio as well as managing Segal Family Foundation’s impact investing portfolio.
Prior to joining the philanthropic sector, Evelyn worked as the Monitoring & Evaluation Manager at Reach Out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative Uganda and was also a Global Health Corps Fellow in Washington D.C where she worked as an HIV Prevention Programs Assistant at HIPS. She also worked as a Systems Analyst at Warid Telecom for 3 years.
In addition to her professional roles, Evelyn is the Chair of the African Visionary Fund and serves on the boards of Segal Family Foundation and Fundi Bots. She has an MBA from Griffith University and a Bsc in Information Technology from Makerere University.
Rachel Findlay
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Rachel has over 15 years of experience working with funders across Australia and the UK. She is currently the Senior Project Manager of the Growth Initiative at the Siddle Family Foundation—a 10-year funding program that supports entrepreneurial community leadership in the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions of NSW. The initiative provides multi-year investments, organisational development support, and access to innovation and capital funding.
Previously, Rachel held a range of leadership roles in the philanthropic sector, including Executive Director of Membership and Engagement at Philanthropy Australia, the national peak body for philanthropy, and as a Philanthropic Adviser at Australian Philanthropic Services.
Rachel also brings deep experience in international development. She was Foundation Manager for a major UK-based family foundation focused on innovative, sustainable, and entrepreneurial solutions in water and sanitation, with funding directed to South and Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. She also worked as an Internal Auditor at Plan International in their West Africa Regional Office, based in Dakar, Senegal.
Rachel is a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Upenyu Mawande
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Upenyu is an international development professional, passionate about people, partnerships and improving the lives of the world’s poor and vulnerable and addressing systemic inequity. Utilising her combination of program, strategic and financial management skills and her undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in Professional Accounting, International Business, and Human Resource Management, Upenyu has over 15 years’ experience in strategic leadership and program management in the international aid and development and not-for-profit sector.
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Upenyu has leveraged her cross-cultural experience and been responsible for leading teams and working with partners in the design, implementation and quality assurance of programs in over 45 African, Asian, Pacific and Latin American countries. These programs covered multiple sectors, ranging from small to large multi-country, multi-stakeholder programs across the emergency response to development spectrum. With collaboration and realising synergistic impact across the sector at her core, Upenyu has worked with and consulted for over 300 partner organisations and sat on various committees of the international development peak bodies of Australia and New Zealand to strengthen the sector at large.
Upenyu is the Head of Programs for the Africa portfolio at the Judith Neilson Foundation.