Board

Tania Brown
President

Tania joined the Board in 2020 as Vice President before becoming President in 2021. Tania was born and raised in Canberra, the youngest of three children to an Aboriginal father and a non-Indigenous mother.  Tania’s cultural connection are with the Wonnarua Nation of the Hunter Valley NSW.

She has worked within Aboriginal Affairs for 29 years within the Public Service and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services.

Tania is committed to utilising her policy and research skills in supporting better health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and working towards eliminating the health disparities across the board within Australia’s mainstream health services.

In 2015 Tania and her husband moved to Medowie for a bit of a sea change (Port Stephens) which is an amazing community.

Katie Puttock
Vice President

Katie is an experienced communicator with more than 12 years’ experience working on national social policy to support communities.

With a strong background in strategy and social marketing, Katie has worked with government in both political and policy roles within Indigenous affairs, finance, health, aged care, social services and digital transformation portfolios.

She has an extensive network and demonstrated ability to effectively work with stakeholders across a range of sectors to achieve community led solutions to local or national issues.  Her strength in community engagement brings strong grassroots focus to effective public relations campaigns, particularly in the area of behaviour change.

Katie’s experience in senior management and advisory roles provides an ability to analysis and understand our client’s objectives. As a former media adviser, she also has a detailed knowledge of the national and local media landscape and producing effective media and digital strategies and products.  

As a young Canberra based mum, Katie brings to the Board her passion for community support. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, specialising in Not for Profit organisations.

David Maywald
Treasurer

David joined the Board in 2021. He has previously contributed to seven diverse organisations in a governance capacity during the last 24 years (spanning charities, for-purpose, community services and companies). He has held the roles of Chair, Treasurer, Chair of Audit & Risk, Member of several Committees, Non-Executive Director and Board Member. His board achievements include significant improvements to strategy, recruitment, transparency, investment decisions and communications.

As a Graduate Member of the AICD, David has completed the Company Directors Course. He has a very broad professional network and a successful fundraising track record (including institutional and retail funds, as well as grant wins). With degrees in Economics and Commerce Honours from the ANU, he has been qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst for 18 years. His two-decade executive career in Investment Management spanned all functions from product development to marketing to research to portfolio management to client service.

David is father to a 3-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy, having jointly raised them with his wife. He was the first male at his previous employer to seek flexible working arrangements, moving to permanent part-time when his daughter was born.

Karen Toole

Karen joined the Board in 2017 in the role of Treasurer, and served as Presidentfrom 2020 until 2021. Karen has experience in senior roles in a Chartered Accounting firm and Federal Government Department. Karen joined the Board to provide her financial skills in an important area of the community. She was drawn to Perinatal Wellbeing Centre for the key role they can play in supporting mothers in the early years of their child's life, particularly in navigating this oft-tumultuous period of challenges and joys.

Outside work, Karen can be found planning the family's next holiday or enjoying a hot cup of tea with chocolate and a good book in the sun.

Meredith Cale

Christine Spicer

Christine joined the Board in 2012, and was President from 2014 to 2020.  Christine’s passion is to ensure Canberrans are aware of the vital work undertaken by Perinatal Wellbeing Centre and feel the courage to do what she didn’t: to get support if they need it, when they need it. 

 Christine’s background in the community, private and government sector assures she is a versatile president who uses her skills to ensure the board fulfills its governance responsibilities and operates in an effective and efficient manner while being accountable for their performance.​

In her spare time Christine enjoys cooking (particularly on the weekend when there isn’t the rush to get dinner on the table!), watching her daughters play soccer and reading/podcasting/audiobooking.

Elizabeth Sarofim

Elizabeth joined the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre board in 2020. She has held senior roles in State and Federal Government agencies before entering private commercial legal practice in 2010. She was appointed a Senior Associate in 2014 and a Partner in 2019 and has worked at Ashurst, Baker McKenzie and Dentons.  She handles both front and back end commercial matters and has acted for clients including Google, AGL, Coca Cola Amatil, Mitsui, Unilever, Afterpay, Bauer Media, Amazon and Government agencies and regulators, including Air Services Australia, ANSTO, NSW Health and the ACCC.

Elizabeth assists private, public government and NFP clients conduct regulatory audits, risk reporting to Boards and with governance. She is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Laws from UNSW.

Lou Farrer

Lou joined the board in 2021. Lou is a senior research fellow and registered psychologist, with over 15 years of experience developing, evaluating, and implementing digital and other mental health programs in community, clinical, and educational settings. Lou is passionate about increasing the accessibility of mental health support in the community. She is a strong advocate of evaluation and harnessing research and data to understand the needs of population groups and the effectiveness and impact of mental health programs and services.

Lou’s goal is to contribute her clinical and research expertise to support the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre to fulfil its mission and vision.

Lou loves spending time with her family (including 2 young boys), listening to podcasts, and sharing a laugh and a good meal with friends.