Leading With Lived Experience

Brave Foundation has announced the appointment of its new senior leadership team. This marks a significant milestone as Brave embarks on a journey of growth.

CEO Jill Roche welcomed the appointments and reaffirmed Brave’s pride as an organisation founded, designed, and led by women with lived experience.

“At Brave, we have always been informed by lived experience and it is encouraging to know that every woman in our Senior Leadership Team, myself included, either has direct lived experience or a connection to someone significant in their life with lived experience of teen pregnancy and parenting,” she said.

“The Senior Leadership Team and everyone at Brave has a genuine and personal belief in the boundless potential of young parents. We are focused on building a village of support and acceptance around expecting and parenting teens. We know that passion for our purpose is a strong motivator to deliver great results!”

The new senior leadership team includes: 

Head of Program, Catherine Cooney, joined Brave in April 2022 and was previously an Advanced Practice Lead and Social Work Coach at the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. Catherine is passionate about improving opportunities for women who are parenting and experiencing adverse circumstances, as she is acutely aware of the barriers that young parents face having started her own parenting journey at 20.

Micaela Drieberg, as Head of Government Relations & Partnerships, brings overs 20 years’ experience across multiple for-purpose sectors including working with all levels of government, including as a former Ministerial Adviser and Mayor of the City of Monash. She has also taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses with a number of years lecturing in health policy at Monash University. 

Head of Transformation, Sue Wilson brings a wealth of knowledge in child and family services, recently working as Program Manager for a new Victorian reform for the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. Sue has experience in child protection, intensive family services, Coroner’s Court and Court Support Services, early parenting centres and development of Best Start and Communities for Children, and specialist family violence programs. 

Kate Derrick has been appointed Head of Operations and has been working with Brave since February 2022, working closely with the CEO. Prior to joining Brave, Kate supported the World Vision Australia Board and assisted the Company Secretary with the governance function at World Vision Australia in addition to extensive experience in executive administration.

“These appointments reflect Brave’s deep commitment to seeing future generations thrive and we are invigorated for the Senior Leadership Team to lead us bravely into the next chapter,” Jill said.

Since 2018, Brave Foundation’s Supporting Expecting and Parenting Teens program has supported young parents to achieve goals in the areas of education, workforce participation, health, and wellbeing, as well as providing support for those requiring financial or housing assistance.