Our Staff

Suha Ali – General Manager

Sue Pestana - Lewis – Office Manager

Esther Deng – Client Services Manager

Glenda Bignell – Volunteer Services Manager

Indra Croasdale – Opening Doors Coordinator

Terri Sellen – FareGo Coordinator

Ehsan Nazamyar – Case Worker

Marcus Botello – Case Worker

ROSEMARY HUDSON MILLER (CHAIRPERSON)

With a life-long commitment to justice and advocacy alongside marginalised and oppressed people, Rosemary’s skills in working with people were developed through her professional backgrounds in nursing and youth work. Rosemary’s Christian faith is formative in her ethics and approach to the intrinsic value of each human being. Her long-standing involvement and commitment to social justice also reflects her deep sense of vocation in the church and in the wider community. This commitment has lead Rosemary to pursue advocacy, action and policy development work in areas of indigenous issues, refugees, asylum seekers and detainees, mental health, work rights, and international justice matters. She continues to engage community and government to bring about change for a more just society.

BRONWYN GRIEVE (VICE CHAIRPERSON)

Trained as an international and human rights lawyer, I have spent much of my career working in fragile and post-conflict countries in Africa and Asia with the World Bank, supporting programs to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty. Since returning to Perth, I have held senior executive positions in State Government and am currently the Chief People Officer for Mineral Resources.

I am passionate about promoting social justice and advancing an inclusive, respectful and compassionate community. CARAD plays such an important role in welcoming and supporting refugees, asylum seekers and detainees and I feel truly privileged to be a part of its mission.

JUDITH CHERNYSH (SECRETARY)

Judith is a social worker and has worked for more than 30 years in the WA State Government in policy and program development as well as the administration of funding to the non-government sector in the areas of disability, family and domestic violence, and homelessness. Judith aims to use the skills and knowledge she has to contribute to the governance of CARAD as it continues to meet the challenges posed by the Commonwealth Government’s refugee policies. Judith is honoured and feels privileged to be part of CARAD as it continues to welcome and support asylum seekers, refugees and detainees and their families to live with decency and dignity in our community.

ALICE TORMEY

Alice Tormey is currently employed as a contracts adviser for major energy project contracts. Alice completed a bachelor of laws and bachelor of arts (Asian Studies) at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Alice has previously held leadership roles in UN Women, Blackstone UWA law students’ society and the European Student Network (Norway committee). Alice established a volunteering organisation for law students at UWA which included partnerships with community groups supporting refugees and people seeking asylum. It was from this engagement that she gained insight into the important services provided by these organisations and started volunteering with the Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors (ASeTTS) as a homework club volunteer at East Maddington Primary School. Alice is passionate about social justice and loves scuba diving, travelling and learning about geopolitics in her spare time. 

ANNE SURMA

Anne Surma has had a long career as an academic: teaching, supervising, researching, and publishing in the areas of literary studies and professional and creative writing. Much of her research has explored the use of public language and its effects in the shaping of cultural norms. Anne is also an experienced editor and writer and has worked on a range of large and small projects in the government and private sectors. As the daughter of post-war refugees from Europe, she has an abiding personal interest in the treatment of people seeking asylum. She has also written journal articles and book chapters exploring the ways in which people seeking asylum are represented in public (including literary) discourses.

Anne is proud to be a member of CARAD, and passionately committed to its focus on giving active voice to and supporting the rights, safety, welfare, and dignity of all our clients.

ELLA MCNEILL

Ella McNeill is a senior arts management professional and independent consultant across arts, not for profit, impact and philanthropy, specialising in strategy and business planning. 

Previously the Director of Arts & Culture at Minderoo Foundation, one of Australasia's largest philanthropies, and CEO of the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival, Ella's experience spans the private, public and NFP sectors working with some of the largest art organisations around the globe. 

Ella is dedicated to creating meaningful social change and advocating for more inclusive and compassionate communities. The right to safety, support, and dignity for refugees and asylum seekers is an area of particular passion, and Ella is proud to assist CARAD in achieving its goals.

MICHAEL VAN KOESVELD

Michael is proud to serve CARAD’s staff, volunteers, and, importantly clients. He has a background in social work, humanitarian aid and management consulting, including experiences providing services to refugees, asylum seekers and people impacted by conflict in East Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and more recently, Australia. He has previously worked with ASeTTS, the British Red Cross, CARE International, and MERLIN/Save the Children.  He is currently a Director with Nous Group and has experience supporting not-for-profit organisations with strategic planning, service design and operational management. He’s in awe of CARAD’s 20 year history and is excited for our future.

Dr ROSEMARY SAYER

Rosemary’s career is founded in writing and communications and includes diverse experiences in general management in Australia and Asia over many years. She worked in senior positions at Wesfarmers Limited and Lion Nathan in Australia and in Asia Pacific regional management roles at international bank, Standard Chartered and international communications consultancy, Golin Harris.

Rosemary is a former journalist and has written three non-fiction books while a fourth draft manuscript of stories about refugee women is with a publisher. In 2019 she completed her PhD at Curtin University which explored her dual interests in writing and human rights. In recent years she has worked as a sessional lecturer, tutor and research assistant in the school of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, and at the Centre for Human Rights Education at Curtin University. She is currently an Adjunct Post-Doctoral Fellow at Curtin University.

Rosemary also serves on the board of the Edmund Rice Centre.