Board of Management
Janet Cooper
Chairperson
Janet Cooper joined the SCHCS Board of Directors in 2004. Janet has held the following positions during this time: Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary.
Janet is totally committed to SCHCS and has provided tremendous support during her time on the Board.
Janet is an experienced HR Consultant and has run her own HR Consultancy, All 4 People since 2006. Focusing on advising the business on all aspects of people management from strategic workforce planning, recruitment, training, performance, contracts and policies, conflict resolution, pain-free exits etc. Janet is also a registered migration agent providing advice and assistance on business, work, family, student and other visa requirements. As a result of this Janet has brought vast knowledge and experience to the SCHCS Board.
Libby Soderholm
Deputy Chair
Libby Soderholm is a Non-Executive Director, Consultant and Sports Physiotherapist. A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, she has a diploma in business management and is passionate about good clinical governance, risk management and strategy. She is the Australian representative for the International Private Physical Therapy Association (IPPTA), a subgroup of WCPT, and is vice-chair with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia on their registrations and notifications Committee. She is involved in advisory and Steering committees with the Australian Physiotherapy Association. For many years she was Managing Director of 2 multidisciplinary Clinics in Western Australia. In 2001 she was the proud recipient of the Kim Beasley “Service to the Community” Award, and also worked at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 as a Sports Physiotherapist.
Melissa Forlano
Secretary
Melissa joined the board of directors in 2021.
Melissa is a commercial litigation lawyer with over 10 years of experience in private practice and in house, both in Perth and London.
Melissa is currently a Senior Associate at Grondal Bruining, a commercial and litigation law firm that focuses on power and utilities, oil and gas, mining, health, agribusiness and other commercial and industrial areas.
Melissa holds degrees in Law and Commerce (Finance) from Murdoch University.
Baily Fernandez
Treasurer
Baily joined the board in 2022.
Baily is a Certified Practicing Accountant and a Certified Global Management Accountant with a passion towards Community Services, Aged Care and the Disability Services Sector. Baily has held Senior Management and Executive level roles at notable Not For Profit organisations bringing a right balance of commercialisation into the community services sector.
Josephine Hudson
Board Member
Josephine is an experienced counsellor and psychotherapist, clinical and management supervisor, manager, trainer and educator. She has over 35 years’ experience in the health profession and qualifications and training in counselling, clinical and management supervision, sociology and anthropology, and nursing.
Josephine has worked in Western Australia and the United Kingdom in palliative care/hospice, the community setting, private practice and the university sector; she has extensive clinical experience working with both adults and children.
She has been a counsellor and therapist for over 20 years and combined working in the university sector and private practice for over a decade. Josephine was the Program Director of three university postgraduate programs, including a Master of Counselling program, training counselling clinicians, a Graduate Diploma in Counselling and a Graduate Diploma in Coaching for six years (2007 – 2012).
She has been very active in the profession and has held a number of external portfolios and memberships including Past Chair of the Expert Reference Group for the Suicide Postvention Project (ARBOR) for the Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention and the Dept of Health and Ageing in WA; and Past Chair of the Ethics Subcommittee of the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Association of WA.
Andrea Rennals
Board Member
Andrea joined the SCHCS Board of Directors in 2021. This is not Andrea’s first time on a Board, and she has previously served on the WANDA and Dawn House Board of Directors.
Andrea brings to SCHCS Board a wealth of knowledge and experience having studied in Canada, London and Australia.
Andrea is currently the Area Manager, Youth Services for Mission Australia.
Helen Brown
Board Member
Helen joined the board in 2022.
She is a consultant pharmacist with 25 years experience conducting Home Medicines Reviews: a GP initiated visit by a pharmacist to improve medication management. She has also worked with NPS MedicineWise for 17 years as a GP educator about safe use of medicines and medical testing.
Helen brings to the Board her clinical expertise on medicines but also has skills in motivational interviewing, adult learning concepts and behavioural change theories.
Gill Walker
CEO
Gill is passionate about the delivery of high-quality services co-designed with the person at the centre and committed to incorporating improvement, innovation and research to enhance activity and impact. Gill has over 20 years’ experience at a senior level in public, private and not-for-profit health care organisations. She has a background in Nursing, holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and a Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Sciences.