The Governance Committee acts to create a dynamic and focused environment in which Oxfam and Monash collaboratively chart the course of the Partnership and its work. The committee was established in August 2010, with members from Oxfam and Monash who have the commitment, skills and expertise to direct the Partnership. Its role is to set priorities, manage the budget, approve reporting, engage in public communication, develop a research program, and assess and approve applications for funding. The committee currently meets on a quarterly basis.
Current members are:
Adam Shoemaker is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at Monash University and is responsible for the quality, range and impact of the University's academic programs. He was Dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the Australian National University (ANU) and Foundation Director of the ANU Research School of Humanities.
Colin Collett van Rooyen is Associate Director (Development Effectiveness) at Oxfam. He has been with Oxfam Australia since 2004, where his roles have included Country Director for South Africa, Country Director for Timor-Leste, and Associate Director (International Programs). Prior to working at Oxfam, Colin worked in the NGO sector and in academia with a focus on research, HIV and AIDS and child and youth development.
Louise McCall is currently the Director of the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) at Monash University. She was the former Deputy Dean (Education) in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash, where she oversaw undergraduate and postgraduate coursework degrees and honours programs. Her educational research interests include transnational education and workforce development, including the role of interprofessional education.
Chrisanta Muli is the Lead Research Advisor in the Development Effectiveness Team at Oxfam Australia. She is also an adjunct lecturer at both RMIT and Canberra University in the schools of Global Studies (International Development) and International Studies respectively. Chrisanta is a member of the Master of Applied Social Research Advisory Board at Deakin University, and her research interests are focused on a wide range of social justice issues, including; gender injustice and inequity, poverty alleviation and eradication, refugees and forced migration issues, sustainable capacity building in community development, and HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Mark Clisby is the Director of Research Services at La Trobe University. Mark was most recently Director of Operations at Oxfam Australia with responsibilities in the areas of organisational learning and development, human resources, finance, risk management, information services and accommodation services, and served as the Company Secretary for Oxfam Australia and Oxfam Australia Trading.
Natalie Gray is Oxfam Australia's Pacific Regional Manager and is responsible for the overall strategic and operational management of Oxfam's programs in Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and PNG. Natalie is a public health physician with specific expertise in the links between gender, health, economic opportunity and poverty reduction. She has experience in the design, implementation, evaluation and management of a variety of community-level and partner-based programs in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, PNG, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Lao PDR, China, remote Indigenous Australia, and for humanitarian refugee populations in Australia.
Jacqui True is Professor of Politics & International Relations in the School of Political and Social Inquiry and Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University. She is a specialist in gender, development and international relations and has particular research interests in gender mainstreaming and global governance, gender, peace building and conflict, and violence against women. Her book The Political Economy of Violence against Women was published by Oxford University Press, New York, in 2012. Jacqui has been a close collaborator with the Women's International League for Peace & Security, which was the major INGO initiator of the women, peace and security agenda instigated by UN Security Council Resolution 1325.
The Partnership is grateful for the leadership of past committee members:
Chris Roche
James Ensor
Judy Mitchell
Simon Adams
Cecilia Hewlett
May Miller-Dawkins
Program Manager
The appointment of a dedicated program manager with reporting lines to both organisations was seen from the outset to be an important step in taking the Partnership forward. The Program Manager is the key point of liaison between Monash and Oxfam. The role includes responsibility for driving the research agenda and for facilitating the genesis, development and monitoring of research projects funded under the Partnership. The Program Manager also takes a lead role in the development and training of students and practitioners and provides strategic support to the Governance Committee. The Partnership appointed Lisa Elford in September 2010. Lisa previously worked as a researcher in humanitarian organisations in South Africa and as a community development practitioner in Canada. She has research expertise in the broad areas of mobile populations, human and political geography, and rights based approach to development.
Senior Research Fellow
Larry Stillman is the Senior Research Fellow of the Oxfam-Monash Partnership. He works in the Faculty of Information Technology (IT) at Monash specialising in research about the interaction between technology and communities in developed and developing countries. Larry has a background in the humanities and social sciences and over a decade of experience in community development. His recent projects include the Doing IT Better Project with NGOs in Victoria Australia and with the Meraka Institute, CSIR South Africa on the Digital Doorway Project. He also organises a yearly communities and technologies conference at Monash Prato. For the Partnership, Larry is undertaking a research program that seeks to explore social justice and development as concepts, initially targeting the following areas of inquiry:
a baseline of understanding social justice and community engagement at Monash
an understanding of how the Partnership fits within Monash University's framework of social justice and community engagement
an understanding of the Partnership's communication, knowledge and information sharing approaches that it demonstrates as it undertakes its work.
