Board of Directors

Kara Nicholls, Chairperson

Kara has lived experience of PNDA and she is a mum to Amelia (7), Bianca (5) and Charlton (5 months). All were IVF babies with their own story. Kara is supported by her husband Shaun and she is honoured to be the Chairperson of Gidget Foundation Australia.

Kara is Group Company Secretary of Commonwealth Bank Australia, an ASX top 10 listed company. She was Company Secretary of Caltex Australia Limited until November this year and prior to this she was Company Secretary of Arrium Limited for 6 years, Global Head of Company Secretariat at Macquarie Group Limited (Macquarie Capital Funds) for 6 years and spent almost 6 years at the Australian Securities Exchange Limited.

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Gidget Foundation Australia and also the Company Secretary on 15 March 2016, Kara is an accomplished corporate governance professional with over 20 years of global equity capital markets, commercial and corporate compliance experience. She brings extensive knowledge of corporate governance and company compliance and administration to the Board. Kara has a Masters in Legal Studies and a Business degree.

Catherine Knox

Catherine Knox was the founding CEO of the Gidget Foundation, a position she held from 2006 to 2017. During this time, Catherine developed and established innovative emotional support services for families. She also created the Parents Matter in the Workplace initiative, which supports emotional wellbeing for new working parents and reinforces the positive returns for employers who invest in diversity and inclusion.

Catherine has degrees in Education (USYD), Gender and Cultural Studies (USYD) and Social Impact (UNSW). She is co-author of Beyond the Baby Blues, and collaborator on the DVD Behind the Mask. Catherine is currently a director of the Gidget Foundation and provides professional support to the Asylum Seekers Centre. She was the recipient of the 2013 Woman of the Year for the Davidson electorate.

Patrick Delany

Patrick is a veteran executive of the subscription television industry and holds the position of CEO of FOXTEL.

He was formerly the CEO of FOX Sports Australia – the nation’s major sports television producer – and spent the previous decade helping to build FOXTEL into the major media company it is today as Executive Director of Sales and Product Development. Patrick has degrees in Law and Economics.

Jessica Davis

Appointed as a Non-executive Director of the Gidget Foundation on 7 September 2016. Jessica is an experienced finance professional, with over 16 years of experience working in the financial services industry. She brings her experience in financial reporting, risk management and company compliance in both the corporate and not-for-profit sectors to the Board. Jessica is currently a Partner of KPMG Australia in Audit, Assurance and Risk Consulting, working with clients in both the corporate and not-for-profit sectors.

Jessica holds a degree in Commerce (Accounting) from Macquarie University, is a member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and is a Registered Company Auditor.

Jarrod Bowditch

Jarrod is a Director of Verifact, a company established 25 years ago, which now has a national presence delivering services in Corporate Investigations, Traffic Management, Health, Emergency Response and Integrated Services. Jarrod holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and has completed the Company Directors course with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Professor Bryanne Barnett AM

Bryanne currently holds a conjoint professorial position at UNSW where she previously held the position of Foundation Chair of Perinatal and Infant Psychiatry. Her interests include: early intervention, prevention and health promotion.

Bryanne was a consultant psychiatrist with St John of God Health Care and she was also previously at Karitane, where she was Chairperson. She has collaborated for many years with beyondblue and in 2007 Bryanne was awarded Membership of the Order of Australia for services to the profession and to the community.

Dr Vijay Roach

Dr Vijay Roach is an obstetrician and gynaecologist in private practice at North Shore Private Hospital and the Mater Hospital. His public practice is at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.

As President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), he also lectures at the University of Sydney.

Simone Short

With a background in IT, Simone has been involved with the Gidget Foundation since its inception.

Having begun as a Founding Committee Member, Simone has held various voluntary roles over the past 16 years including that of Committee President. Simone was also the Company Secretary for over 4 years and continues to be the organisation’s Event Producer.

Simone is both a Committee Member and Board Director and the youngest sister of Gidget.