Iyari Cevallos

Iyari Cevallos - Chair

With a career spanning 20 years, Iyari’s desire and passion to make a positive impact on people’s lives came early. From leading youth early in her working life to leading multidisciplinary teams with unique challenges in ASX100 and Government owned entities, Iyari has been involved in engaging all levels of senior leadership and corporate boards within Australasia and internationally.

Born in Mexico, Iyari grew up in 2 countries, educated across two very different school systems, languages, cultures, community identities and value sets. Shaping her with vivid, colourful and sometimes traumatic scenes of inequality and complete environmental disregard.

Iyari is driven to never take anything for granted, striving to make a difference.

Today Iyari leads and and motivates teams in highly complex and intense environments, leading digital transformation change and governance with large clients, facilitating C-Suite executive strategy sessions and coaching start-up founders to realise their business aspirations and goals.

Dedicating a significant part of her free time to drive positive social impact and enable change in the communities around her.

Kirsten Downie

Kirsten Downie - Director

Kirsten brings over two decades of expertise in strategic and campaign marketing, communications, brand development, and sales across the creative sector, healthcare philanthropy, and higher education. Her national campaigns have set box office records at the Art Gallery of NSW and the National Gallery of Australia.

Kirsten has revitalised and transformed renowned Australian cultural and tertiary media brands, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Australian Museum, and the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). Her experience also includes leading membership, customer, and donor acquisition efforts in the not-for-profit sector, as well as collaborating with boards to drive strategic growth and operational excellence.

Passionate about the intersection of technology and communications, Kirsten is enthusiastic to be a member of the WiT board. She is dedicated to supporting the organisation’s mission to empower and advance women in STEM fields.

Kelly Wilkes

Kelly Wilkes - Director

Kelly grew up in Perth, Western Australia and had the luxury of a free range childhood, moving to Sydney in her teenage years. Travelling extensively in her youth, she has had a wide variety of experiences, opportunities and setbacks.

Kelly has spent the last 20 plus years working in a variety of IT and business roles ranging from Insurance and Banking to Government and Education, from global giants to a 3-person technology
start-up in Australia, Sri Lanka, Africa, Europe and the US. She is currently the Vice President of Operational Excellence for Vela Industries Goup.

Kelly is passionate about using what she has learnt to help people work better together and enable them to realise their full potential.

Kirsten KielChisholm

Kirsten KielChisholm - Director

Kirsten is an experienced governance professional and lawyer.  Kirsten commenced her career as a lawyer working in private practice in both Australia and the United States before moving to in-house legal and governance roles.  A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, for the past 15 years Kirsten has been fortunate enough to advise companies who contribute to the community through education, medical research and sustainability.

Kirsten holds degrees in Law and International Business Relations as well as having a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance.  She is In-House Counsel Certified by the Association of Corporate Counsel, a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and a professional member of the Institute of Internal Auditors.

Kelly Addison

Kelly Addison - Director

Kelly is an accomplished CPA with over 20 years’ experience in Finance and Software Implementation. She has a proven track record of leading successful finance teams across multiple industries, including listed companies and not-for-profits.

Kelly’s passion for innovation and emerging technology has been a driving force throughout her career. She has a deep understanding of how technology can enhance processes and create efficiencies and is constantly exploring new ways to leverage technology to improve outcomes for clients.

Over the past 8 years, Kelly has focused on innovation projects, software design and architecture within the legal industry. Her expertise has enabled her to develop cutting-edge solutions that have improved operational efficiency and delivered significant value to her clients.

Bronwyn Venus

Bronwyn Venus - Director

Bronwyn was a senior researcher for more than 30 years with organisations including CSIRO, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the University of Queensland. She is passionate about the agriculture and food industries, and now heads the partnerships and grants program for Sugar Research Australia (SRA).

Bronwyn brings industry and legislative knowledge and insight (particularly with relevance to the agriculture sector), along with an excellent working knowledge of the research and academia sectors. As the Head of Partnerships and Grants for SRA, Bronwyn’s focus is on identifying partnerships to support the delivery of SRA’s innovation and commercialisation agenda, building long-term, strategic partnerships aligned with the delivery of transdisciplinary systems and solutions to address industry priorities.

Petriea Skitek

Petriea Skitek - Director

Petriea returned home to start a new initiative here in STEM in Australia from 20+ years in Japan where she had her own food, educational and consulting business supplying services to peak government bodies, leading international hotels, supermarket chains, marketing industries and independent schools both in Australia and Asian regions.

Petriea has a depth of experience on boards starting with Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce Japan (ANZCCJ), International Working Women’s Association (IWWA) and ending as a specialist in international policy and a planning consultant over 8 yrs for the World Association of Cooks Societies (WACS 63 member nations) and the Asia Continental Director (15 countries).

Petriea is currently a volunteer member for Zonta International, Brisbane South, an organisation of professionals that empowers women through service and advocacy that aligns alongside UN women for strategy and delivery.

Lisa Cawthorne

Lisa Cawthorne - General Manager (Non-Board Member)

With over 25 years of experience, I have a proven track record of leading teams, optimising operations, and driving business success in highly competitive environments. My expertise spans across multiple industries, where I have consistently delivered results by focusing on strategic planning, process improvement, and team development.

I excel at overseeing daily operations while keeping a keen eye on the bigger picture, ensuring that short-term goals align with long-term objectives. My leadership style fosters collaboration, accountability, and innovation, helping teams achieve peak performance while maintaining a strong focus on customer satisfaction.

Known for my collaborative leadership, I thrive in building and mentoring high-performing, cross-functional teams while fostering a culture of inclusion and innovation. With a sharp focus on customer-centric solutions, I excel in environments that demand agility, creativity, and forward-thinking strategies and challenge the status quo.  I bring a customer-centric mindset to every initiative.

Throughout my career, I have excelled in roles that demand innovation, agility, and leadership, consistently delivering measurable results across business development, strategic planning, and process optimization.

I am always eager to connect with like-minded professionals and explore opportunities to drive success in today’s evolving landscape.

Ebony Worth

Ebony Worth - Secretary (Non-Board Member)

Ebony is a passionate people and operations leader with a background in HR, recruitment, and executive search. She has partnered with serval startups, scale-ups, and enterprise organisations, identifying top talent and headhunting executives for crucial roles.

Over the past decade, Ebony has worked within the technology sector, specialising in strategy, planning, governance, and stakeholder engagement. She is particularly passionate about supporting women in technology careers and advocating for greater diversity and technological expertise in leadership teams. She has played a crucial role in driving human-centric initiatives from the boardroom and executive leadership functions into operational teams, focusing on commercial and cultural priorities.

Outside of work, you’ll find Ebony cheering on her tribe of children at their sporting events and spending time in nature with her Siberian Husky, Akira.