Our people
A dedicated team of female staff and volunteers support WPI, spanning operations, tenancy and property management, property development, finance, communications, and administration.

Women’s Property Initiatives
Women’s Property Initiatives is a non-profit company, limited by guarantee, managed by a voluntary board of women from the private, government, community and academic sectors.
We are also advised by the talented and generous individuals who are part of our Advisory Panel, bringing skills from a wide range of areas including development, property, finance, legal, planning and communications.
Our Board
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Katie Struthers
Chair
Katie is a Chartered Accountant with over 19 years’ experience in professional practice advising clients in a number of industries and sectors both in Australia and the UK. She is currently a Partner in Assurance at Ernst and Young, one of the Big Four professional services firms. Katie has strong technical accounting knowledge, as well as a risk management focus and a deep understanding of the role, workings and challenges of boards and committees. She brings significant experience in financial management, risk management and governance.
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Debra Mika
Vice Chair
Debra has extensive experience in senior leadership roles in the financial services sector and was previously Chief of Staff at Aware Super. She has applied her leadership, analytical and financial skills to lead significant strategic programs in several organisations. She has led a wide variety of functional areas including strategy, policy, corporate affairs, project delivery and technology. Debra holds a Master of Business Administration and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Sejla Kadric
Treasurer
Sejla is a Partner at SW Accountants & Advisors and has 17 years’ experience in providing accounting, tax and business advisory services to a broad range of businesses. Sejla specialises in advising property developers and property investors on complex commercial, financial and tax matters. Over the past seven years, she has lent her expertise to a number of significant development projects, totalling a combined value of approximately $2.5 billion. Sejla is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Business (Swinburne University). Sejla is also an active Committee member of the Property Council of Australia (Academy, Property Development).
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Michelle McNally
Director
Michelle is the Group Director, Customer and Asset Management at Vicinity Centres, where she has overall accountability for the customer experience as well as the Asset Management functions. Michelle’s role includes the performance of the centres’ management teams as well as the allocation of capital and operational expenditure across the portfolio and carriage of Vicinity’s Brand and Marketing and Enterprise Procurement function. Michelle has over 25 years’ experience in the property industry, with broad experience across multiple property sectors and national markets in numerous disciplines including investment and portfolio management, for both owners and occupiers, including senior roles at Aware Real Estate, Australia Post, ISPT and JLL. Michelle has a Bachelor of Business Property, a qualified valuer and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of Property Council of Australia Champions of Change.
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Nicole Lowndes
Director
Nicole is an engineer whose professional experience includes 14 years with ExxonMobil across strategy, commercial, and technical roles, and earlier work in residential construction. She currently leads the Gippsland Pipelines Asset, managing the integrity of licensed oil and gas pipelines both offshore and onshore. Nic is an experienced director, previously serving as Deputy Chair and Governance Chair on the board of a member-owned credit union, and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Eleanor Kwak
Director
Eleanor has a Bachelor of Laws and 20 years’ experience practicing as a real estate lawyer. She leads the Melbourne real estate team at Johnson Winter Slattery where she advises on a broad range of real estate transactions including social and affordable housing projects. Eleanor is also the current Chair of the Property Council Victoria’s Social Infrastructure Committee. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Jennifer Marks
Director
Jennifer has over 25 years of experience leading teams in property development and construction. She has a double degree in Engineering (Civil) and Business, a Graduate Diploma in Property and is currently the Chair of the Industry Advisory Committee for the school of Property, Construction and Project Management (PCPM) at RMIT. Jennifer is a also graduate of the Melbourne Business School and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Jennifer’s current role is as Group Executive at MPA, a specialist workplace fitout contractor. Previously she led the Industrial Property team at Coles, supporting the supply chain operations and distribution network strategy and was Director of Strategy at Built, working closely with the board to develop & execute the corporate strategy and leading government relations and social impact.
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Margaret Kennedy
Director
Margaret is an accomplished Chair, Non-Executive Director and CEO with experience leading large commercial, residential real estate, investment, and customer facing businesses including Viva Energy REIT, an ASX 200 listed real estate company.
Margaret had a significant and diversified career with Shell Australia having roles in the retail, commercial and aviation businesses, including Operations Manager for Aviation for Asia Pacific, GM Retail and GM Commercial. Margaret is the current Chair, Loreto Ministries Ltd and Challenger Retirement Investment Services Ltd, and Non-Executive Director, Hobart International Airport Ltd, Peet Ltd alongside a further variety of other boards across diversified industries. -
Roberta Buchanan
CEO, Company Secretary
Roberta has an MBA and a discipline in Housing Studies and has extensive experience in working with boards and teams to execute strategic plans. Prior to joining WPI, Roberta was the Executive Director, Housing Solutions at Launch Housing and the Chief Operating Officer at Housing Choices Australia. An advocate for community housing, Roberta is a board member and secretary at Community Housing Industry of Victoria.
Our Advisory Panel
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Kerri Balci
Project Director – Stockland
Professional background: Almost two decades of experience leading and managing high performing teams of varied scale and capability across a broad array of industries from property and construction to retail and fast moving consumer goods.
Skills and experience: Experience in all aspects of property development, project management, strategy, marketing and sales with senior roles in Australia with 16 years in a diverse range of senior roles at Stockland.
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Simone Holding
Partner, Construction & Projects – Maddocks
Professional Background: Lawyer – Construction and Development
Skills and experience: Extensive transactional expertise in the area of property and construction projects. Drafting and negotiation of development agreements, construction contracts and consultant agreements.
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Anne Jolic
CEO of Development Victoria
Professional background: Project Management and Business Strategy in the Property Development Sector.
Relevant Skills and experience: Managing large multi-disciplinary teams to deliver complex projects; developing business strategy and processes and developing residential, commercial, retail and retirement projects across Australia.
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Mark Healy
Director – Six Degrees Architects
Professional Background: Architecture
Skills and Experience: Design, Construction and Project Management
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Paul Ellis
Special Counsel – Maddocks Lawyers
Professional background: Lawyer: corporate and commercial
Skills and experience: substantial experience in the establishment and governance of charities and not-for-profits, commercial agreements for supply of goods and services and advising on consumer credit, privacy and consumer law.
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Sandra Rigo
Director – Hansen Partnership
Professional background: A Director of Hansen Partnership, Sandra is a Town Planner with over 25 years of experience in statutory and strategic planning, in both the private and local government sectors.
Sandra’s experience encompasses all elements of the development approvals process from initial site choice, to a collaborative design process and finally navigating the statutory process to gain planning approval.
Skills and experience: Sandra’s experience extends to strategic planning projects, including built form reviews, urban character studies, structure plans and urban design framework plans. Her responsibilities in these projects include the coordination and conduct of community consultation programs and writing planning policies and controls.
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Carolyn Viney
Chief Executive Officer – Assemble
Professional background: Leadership and executive roles in investment management and property development including Chief Executive Officer of Super Housing Partnerships, a specialist investment manager focused on providing institutional investors with large scale investment opportunities in affordable housing, Chief Development Officer at ASX listed Vicinity Centres and CEO at builder-developer Grocon.
Skills and experience: Property development, strategic direction setting and driving cultural and operational change. Carolyn’s work in championing better housing opportunities for more Australians extends beyond the office; she is a member of Commonwealth’s Government’s National Housing Supply and Affordability Council and also serves on the Boards of the Big Issue and Homes for Homes
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Kelly Jones
Director of Membership and Partnerships – Property Council of Australia
Professional background: A a dedicated leader with broad experience in the learning and development sector, Kelly has eighteen years of direct experience in shaping and building several professional development programs for the Property Council Academy. Sourcing training solutions and building new avenues for growth, this skill set has resulted in positive commercial outcomes, increased engagement, and successful marketing campaigns for the business. As a senior leader within the property industry, Kelly has been responsible for significant stakeholder management and adapted to a constantly evolving market, achieving outstanding results whilst delivering a first-class experience..
The WPI team
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Roberta Buchanan
Chief Executive Officer
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Lucy Simms
Chief Commercial Officer
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Tanya Gardiner
Financial Controller
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Sally Martin
Communications Manager
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Meg George
Asset Manager
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Karina Carroll
Housing Services Manager
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Lucy Lyon
Assistant Project Manager
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Lesley Beaumont
Tenancy and Property Manager
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Mandi Hardcastle
Tenancy and Property Manager
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Kylie Hudson
Tenancy and Property Manager
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Sue Mann
Office Organisation Assistant