Our People
Find out more about Stella’s Board and team.
Our staff
Melbourne, VIC
Fiona is the former Artistic Director and CEO of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale responsible for the programming and curation of three Biennales. She founded the National Centre for Photography in Ballarat as was the inaugural director. Founder of Sweet Creative and co-founder Melbourne’s Acland Street Projection Festival, she is a former Board Director of the Australian Graphic Design Association and the Melbourne Fringe. Fiona is the recipient of many prestigious design awards. She has been identified as one of the top 25 women to have made a significant contribution to Australian graphic design.
Melbourne, VIC
Claudia has extensive experience across film, podcasts and television. After graduating from RMIT with a Bachelor of Communications in 2017, she spent some time working for a production company in New York City before returning home to begin working at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival as Associate Producer for TV Events. In 2020 she co-founded SUZY, a female led production company developing original work that focuses on young, modern life in a domestic Australian setting. Claudia’s successful storytelling event and podcast Backyard Stories has recently completed an international tour, starting at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and ending with shows in Amsterdam, New York and London. She is thrilled to join Stella Prize.
Our Board
Perth, WA
Megan is an experienced non-executive director with a background in the resources and transport industries and a passion for literature and gender balance in the workplace. She is co-founder of reading-focussed social media channel Festival Mavens, has twice judged the WA Premier’s Book Awards, is co-founder of the Extraordinary Women Network and won the industry advocate category of the 2021 Women in Industry Awards.
Megan is currently on the boards of Pacific Energy, Derwent Search and Stella. She is also the Chair of the Freight and Logistics Council of WA. She was a past Chair of the National Association of Women in Operations.
Sydney, NSW
Claire is an experienced non-executive director, lawyer and entrepreneur with a lifelong passion for literature and the arts. She is a non-executive director of a number of financial services companies, including Youi Insurance, Aware Financial Services and Athena Home Loans. She is also a director of PinchGut Opera.
Melbourne, VIC
Mary is a chartered accountant and non-executive director with experience in professional accounting firms, the financial services sector and the not-for-profit sector. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Melbourne, VIC
Felicity is a Senior Associate at Russell Kennedy Lawyers, specialising in advising not-for-profit and charitable organisations on corporate governance, commercial agreements and regulatory compliance. She works with not-for-profit Boards on the implementation of strategic projects such as partnerships, grant funding and amalgamations. She is also a member of the Russell Kennedy Pro Bono Committee and provides pro bono assistance to small not-for-profits and individuals experiencing disadvantage.
Melbourne, VIC
Michelle is the Head of Creative Diversity, in SBS’s Television and Online Content division. She works adjacent to the SBS Commissioning team, supporting SBS’s content and industry initiatives focused on providing tangible pathways and opportunities for diverse practitioners under-represented in the sector. Michelle has worked as a media advisor, with a background in TV presenting/writing, journalism and law (as a qualified solicitor). She has worked as a television writer on the quiz show The Chase Australia and was a panelist on the ABC TV quiz show Think Tank in over 75 episodes. As a digital journalist Michelle has by-lines in The Guardian, ABC, Yahoo News and the Daily Mail Australia. Michelle was also a Curation Coordinator for TEDxMelbourne, Media & Communications Advisor at Monash University and Co-chair of the Screen Diversity Inclusion Network (SDIN) for 2021 to 2023.
Sydney, NSW
Nicole is Director of Clients and Programs at Noble Ambition, an independent fundraising consultancy that works with organisational leadership, industry and government agencies in the for-purpose sector. Prior to joining Noble Ambition, Nicole worked as a lawyer in the corporate M&A teams at Landerer & Company and Clayton Utz. Nicole is a member of the AGNSW Atelier Foundation and previously served as a director of YWCA NSW, YWCA Australia, and as a committee member of NEXUS Australia.
Melbourne, VIC
Elly is an education specialist with over 17 years’ experience in the Victorian public sector. She has taught secondary school English and history and spent most of her career working as a lawyer focusing on education and equality law issues. She now holds a senior leadership role overseeing school policy development and supporting principals in Victorian government schools.
Sydney, NSW
Jamie is a Strategic Account Executive at Microsoft with a breadth of experience in partnerships, start-ups and marketing. She is a core member of Microsoft’s Healthcare team focused on empowering healthcare organisations to deliver better outcomes, better experiences and better care. Jamie co-founded Codess Australia, a Microsoft initiative promoting gender diversity by building, inspiring and connecting the next generation of female-identifying tech talent. This community has grown to 1000+ members, dedicated to break biases and invite students from non-traditional backgrounds into a career in technology. She has worked with NFPs in areas of passion like gender equity, education and sustainability.
Perth, WA
Louise is a passionate advocate for literature and literacy and a board member of Fremantle Press. She is also an enthusiastic co-host of the book-centric Diving In podcast. Louise is an experienced lawyer with over 20 years experience, and founder of The Write Business.
Sydney, NSW
Michelle is a writer and actor – working in print, screen and stage – currently based on Gadigal Land. Her works include the plays, Single Asian Female (La Boite Theatre Company), Top Coat (Sydney Theatre Company), and Miss Peony (Belvoir St Theatre); the television show Homecoming Queens (SBS); and the book Asian Girls are Going Places (Hardie Grant). Her awards include two Australian Writers Guild Awards, the Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award, and the Arts & Culture 40 Under 40 Awards, which celebrates the country’s most influential Asian Australians. Michelle is also a widely published freelance author and a prolific speaker who regularly appears on panels and at festivals.
Our Ambassadors
Melbourne, VIC
Catherine is a professional historian, writer and editor who has been involved in arts and history projects for the past 25 years. She has worked with many of our best known public institutions including ACMI, Heritage Victoria, Museum Victoria, the ABC, the National Archives of Australia, the NGV, the Parliament of Victoria, the Public Record Office Victoria and the State Library Victoria.
She has also served as a non-executive director and patron across the not-for-profit sector for almost a decade helping to strengthen local communities in many different ways including highlighting the importance of gender equality everywhere, working to close the gap with our First Nation’s people and waving the flag for skin cancer prevention and early detection. She is particularly dedicated and passionate about her work with the Stella Prize, The Torch, the Victorian Cancer Council’s SunSmart program and the RISING festival.
Catherine is currently working in the higher education sector in Advancement at La Trobe University.
Canberra, ACT
Virginia is a journalist and exhausted (but not discouraged) gender equity advocate, with a passion for leading powerful conversations with the nation’s top thinkers, leaders and legislators.
Her media career spans more than three decades, during which she has reported from around the globe for primetime news programs. A former columnist, Virginia’s commentary is widely published across Australian media. A Member of the Order of Australia for services to the media and gender equity, in 2019 she was named ACT Australian of The Year. Currently a sessional lecturer in Communications at the University of Canberra, where she is an Adjunct Professor, Virginia is also Deputy Chair of the media think tank PIJI, the Public Interest Journalism Initiative and a judge in the 2024 Walkley awards.
Virginia has sat on several boards and committees, including UN Women Australia; the ACT government’s Cultural Facilities Corporation; and the Rhodes Scholarship Australia. Her first book, Wonder Woman: the myth of ‘having it all’ (A&U) was launched by Julia Gillard in a live broadcast at the National Press Club.
Adelaide, SA
Tanya Hosch is the Executive General Manager of Inclusion and Social Policy at the Australian Football League and in 2021 South Australian – Australian of the year
She has a long and distinguished history in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy, advocacy, governance and is an accomplished public speaker.
Before joining the AFL as the first ever Indigenous person and second woman in their Executive ranks in August 2016, Tanya was the Joint Campaign director of the Recognise movement for constitutional recognition.
At the AFL Tanya’s portfolios include – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, gender equality, sexuality and gender diversity, racism and sexism. Tanya is tasked with the implementation of the AFL’s enhanced Indigenous strategy, advising the AFL National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council, maintenance of the Respect and Responsibility Policy, 2017, the AFL’s Gender Action Plan and the Gender Diversity Policy.
She is a co-chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group of the National Australia Bank, a director of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, was a former board director of Circus Oz and was a member of the Referendum Council that led the process and final recommendation that resulted in The Uluru Statement from the Heart in May 2017. In December 2022, Tanya was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Flinders University.
Northern Territory
Clare Martin led the Labor Party to its first ever victory in the Northern Territory in 2001 and a second in 2005. Clare was Chief Minister for more than six years and during that time she held a number of ministerial portfolios, including Treasury, Major Projects, Police, Tourism, Arts and Indigenous Policy.
Before politics Clare spent almost two decades as an ABC journalist and broadcaster. Following politics she was the chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Service, then spent three years as a Professorial Fellow at Charles Darwin University and was a director on many boards in the Northern Territory and nationally, ranging from climate change to health research, cricket and theatre.
Clare is currently the Chair of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory; Chair of the Darwin Entertainment Centre and Convenor of the NT Branch Council of the Australian Republican Movement.
Sydney, NSW
Paula is a Patron and the immediate past Deputy Chair of the Stella Prize; a Board Member of the Country Education Foundation of Australia; Patron of Pop In, a domestic violence day centre in the Southern Highlands of NSW, and Patron of The Charlotte Project, an initiative of the Wingecarribee Women Writers to recognise the achievements of women in the Southern Highlands community and celebrate their voices.
She is a founding trustee of McLean Foundation which supports Australian conservation, education, domestic and family violence and literature. She began the Nature Writing Prize for Australian writers in 2011, administered by The Nature Conservancy Australia and awarded biennially.
In 2021, Paula was a recipient of Philanthropy Australia’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
A former fiction and educational publishing editor, Paula is the author of Good Foods for Babies and Toddlers and two parenting books PlayPower: Birth to One Year and PlayPower: One to Three Years.
Supporting the voices of women has been at the forefront of Paula’s work throughout her career. She is presently writing her first novel.
Hobart, TAS
Councillor Anna Reynolds is The Lord Mayor of Hobart. She began her career establishing a community legal centre in North Queensland and then held senior roles in advocacy, policy development and management in different organisations. Anna is an avid reader and a patron of many community and outreach organisations in Tasmania.
Brisbane, QLD
Courtney Stewart is an acclaimed director, dramaturg, actor and teaching artist with a deep passion for intercultural works and multicultural dramaturgies. She is the current Artistic Director and CEO of La Boite Theatre.
Stewart started her career as an actor before honing her talents as an artistic leader, director, story developer and change maker for some of the country’s most prolific companies and organisations including Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance.
She was previously Chair of the Equity Diversity Committee, a delegate to the National Performers Committee, and a former board member for Contemporary Asian Australian Performance. Courtney currently sits on the board for Creative Australia.
Perth, WA
Jessie Hilton is a bookseller, writer, producer, and mother to two young boys.
In 2021, she founded Open Book, an independent bookshop in Perth that has become a cherished part of the local community. Built on the belief that exceptional books can shape lives, Open Book was designed by Jessie not only as a bookstore but as a space that celebrates and supports the work of local creatives.
A committed advocate for community engagement, Jessie was awarded Citizen of the Year in Mosman Park in 2022, in recognition of her significant efforts to strengthen neighborhood connections post-COVID.
Jessie is currently developing projects for the screen and has recently completed writing her first novel.
NSW
Latest features
This month Stella celebrates Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright, the winner of the 2024 Stella Prize. This is an excerpt from her conversation …
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