About Me

Rachael is living and working on the unceded land of the Wurundjeri people.

She has spent the better part of a decade working across the not-for-profit, philanthropic and legal sectors. In 2017 Rachael began consulting on strategy, fundraising, event management and CRM systems — from scope of work development through to implementation.

She has been working with the Victorian Women’s Trust in various capacities since 2018, and is currently managing their CRM and VWBT Grants Program.

Having experienced parental incarceration throughout her childhood, Rachael developed a long-standing commitment to supporting community initiatives concerned with challenging systems of oppression. Her father died after a police initiated contact in 2019 and there is an ongoing coronial investigation into his death. She is heavily involved in strengthening criminal justice reform in Australia via The Justice Map.

Rachael’s working life began with eight years in the hospitality industry, before taking up a position as a Legal and Client Relationship Secretary at Herbert Smith Freehills. From there she went on to work at, volunteer with and/or serve on the board of a range of civil society organisations, including: Justice Connect, Human Rights Law Centre, Refugee Legal, Reichstein Foundation, Eastern Health Foundation, GiveOUT, Lawyers For Animals and Reprieve Australia (now known as Capital Punishment Justice Project). She has held senior positions specialising in partnership development, grant-making, communications, events and fundraising management.

Notably, she spent three years — from 2018 until 2021 — as the inaugural manager of the philanthropic Law & Justice Funders Network; a loose network of approximately 40 Australian philanthropic trusts, foundations and individual donors with a shared interest in informed strategic funding in the law and justice space.

In 2015-17 Rachael was the Co-Convenor (Chair) of the Victorian Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby (VGLRL, now known as the Victorian Pride Lobby). In this elected position, she was responsible for: leading the committee of management; maintaining regulatory compliance; governance; and acting as the key spokesperson, representing VGLRL in meetings with government, media, public speaking engagements and radio / television interviews. This role also involved writing submissions to federal and state Inquiries, as well as Bill and Act reviews. VGLRL regularly surveyed constituents on their priorities to inform their advocacy direction, and worked closely with other LGBTQIA+ focused organisations across Australia. In 2016 and 2017 she worked in close cross-sector collaboration with dozens of community groups on the Marriage Equality Campaign.