Gidget Founding Committee

Nicki Bergin

Nicki joined the Gidget Foundation as its Hospital Program Manager, leading the expansion of our Gidget Emotional Wellbeing Screening Program.

Nicki has a wealth of experience having been on the hospital side of the launch of the original Emotional Wellbeing Screening Program, firstly at North Shore Private Hospital as Maternity Services Manager and later at The Mater where she was also the Maternity Services Manager.

Prior to moving into maternity management, Nicki worked as a delivery suite midwife and midwifery educator. She has a Bachelor of Health Science and Master of Nursing in Advanced Clinical Education.

Away from work Nicki is learning Spanish with a group of friends.

Lisa Humphries

Lisa joined Gidget Foundation Australia as the Digital Manager in 2019, taking care of the website, social media and driving growth digitally.
As a member of the Gidget Founding Committee, Lisa previously managed the Foundation’s social media on a voluntary basis.

Lisa is a passionate mother, fundraiser, lover of all things digital and blogger.
Lisa’s personal experiences of mental ill health led her to support and inspire others through sharing her own story and through her work in the charity sector.

In her spare time she loves spending time with her son, taking and sharing beautiful photos, volunteering, reading and using social media for good.

Lena Harapeti

Lena joined the Gidget Foundation in 2019 as the Foundation Administration Manager, responsible for implementing and managing a range of administrative functions to support the delivery of all Gidget Foundation Australia’s programs, services and organisational operations.

Previously at Universal Magazines, Lena managed the subscriptions and customer service for all subscriptions across 25 titles.

Away from work, Lena’s teenage daughter and son keep her busy, especially with their sporting activities.
In addition to her family, she is actively involved with the Armenian Community group – volunteering her time with fundraising and volunteer co-ordination programs.

Eliza Pike

Eliza is a Clinical Social Worker and the Founder of Blackbird Counselling, an organisation that provides counselling and support to assist women with the emotional adjustment to pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. Eliza has spent her professional life pursuing her passion of supporting women through one of the most significant transitions of their life. Eliza uses a variety of evidence based approaches to underpin her framework including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy; Systems and Attachment Theory. Eliza has a specialised interest in developing Postnatal Recovery Plans with women and using mindfulness approaches to developing Self Care Plans. Eliza brings compassion and a non-judgemental attitude to her work at all times.

In 2018, Eliza developed ‘The Women’s Series’ facilitating four workshops addressing issues that impact upon women across the lifespan including Adjustment to Motherhood and Settling Babies Workshops. She also developed the Blackbird Mother Mentor Program, an 8 week pilot program linking new and experienced mothers in an effort to reduce social isolation. She is a registered Circle of Security Parenting Program Provider and has recently completed the Excellence in Supervisory Practice Certificate through Amovita International. She has also completed her Perinatal Non-Directive Counselling Training Certification through the Australian Psychological Society.

Eliza has appeared on ABC radio and is a regular contributor to Kids on The Coast magazine speaking about infertility, postnatal depression and maternal mental health.

Eliza is currently studying a Graduate Certificate in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health from the NSW Institute of Psychiatry.

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.

Lou Hunter

Lou Hunter is a founding Committee member of the Gidget Foundation and close school friend of Gidget.

Relishing her primary responsibility as Coordinator of the Raffles and Auctions for all the Gidget Foundation fundraising events, from which the collective funds raised over the years have contributed significantly to the facilities and services that help women just like Gidget.

The fashion industry is where Lou has invested a lot of her career, working with numerous Australian and International labels both in Retail Sales and Training, and in Wholesale and Distribution.

Passionately advocating for removing the stigma surrounding all mental health issues is an ongoing crusade for Lou.

Lisa Humphries

Lisa is a passionate Mother, Social Media Manager, Fundraiser, Blogger and volunteer for many causes close to her heart.

Since experiencing brain injury and breast cancer in her immediate family as an adolescent Lisa has been driven to support others by sharing her own story and through her career in the charity sector.

As a motivated fundraiser and volunteer Lisa hopes to inspire and share the values of compassion, philanthropy and kindness in her only son.

As well as serious side to her life, Lisa simply loves taking and sharing beautiful photos, cooking for and celebrating with loved ones, painting her furniture white, reading as many books as possible and using social media for good.

Stephanie Hughes

Steph has extensive experience in executive management, finance, program delivery and stakeholder communications across the corporate and community sectors. She is currently the Sydney and Central NSW Division Manager for CanTeen and previously held positions as General Manager for the Gidget Foundation and CEO of the Australian Charities Fund.

She has also been a Board member of CUFA and a member of the advisory/fundraising committees for Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, The After Party Project and the Gidget Foundation. Prior to her work in the community sector, she owned a corporate events business following a lengthy career in corporate finance and investor relations at Qantas.

Steph has a Bachelor of Commerce from University of NSW and an MBA (Executive) from the Australian Graduate School of Management. She is CPA qualified and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jacqui Cotton

Jacqui is a mum to her beautiful little boy, Gidget’s middle sister, a founding member of the Committee, and a freelance Executive Producer.

Juggling her role as mum and freelance executive producer working in various agencies keeps her very busy.

Having produced many large-scale events – both corporate and sporting, corporate videos (including our Gidget DVD Behind the Mask) and communications campaigns both locally and in the UK, Europe and USA, she brings to the foundation a wealth of knowledge and experience along with a passion to make a change in supporting families in need.

Libby Bowditch

Libby is a founding member and was the first President of the Gidget Foundation. She was a close friend of Gidget’s.

Libby has a background in public relations and event management and more recently interior design. Libby’s role within the committee is event management as well as interior design for the growing number of Gidget Houses.

She is married to Jarrod Bowditch, a Board Director, and together they have three teenagers.

Zarnie Berthold

Alexandra (Zarnie) Berthold is a founding committee member of the Gidget Foundation and was a close friend of Gidget’s.

Zarnie prepares graphic design / marketing and website update material for the foundation and has her own business limedesign. When she is not working she can be found picking up wet towels / clothes and general miscellaneous items dropped around the house by her four messy children.

She is a passionate advocate for PND support and emotional health.

Gidget Founding Committee

Gidget’s sisters and friends remain the backbone of our organisation.

Alexandra Berthold

Libby Bowditch

Jacqui Cotton

Stephanie Hughes

Lisa Humphries

Lou Hunter

Simone Short