Chris Scerri - Board Chair
Chris Scerri grew up in West Sunshine after migrating here from Malta in 1963. He graduated from University of Melbourne as an Electrical Engineer and enjoyed careers with Telstra (20 years) and Siemens/Nokia/Coriant (16 years) in a variety of Engineering, Sales and Management roles. Together with his wife Anne, they have three daughters, two grandsons and a granddaughter. Chris loves spending time with his family, growing a large variety of orchids and finds his volunteering activities fulfilling and rewarding. He hopes to engender a strong team culture within the Board and the broader West Welcome Wagon community. His greatest wish in volunteering is to provide hope to the many people that we support.
Greg Doyle - Treasurer
Candice McGregor - Secretary
Candice McGregor is an IT specialist with over 10 years experience in designing, developing and implementing IT solutions. Born a Westie, she is passionate about supporting local initiatives, sustainability and social justice. She joined West Welcome Wagon in August 2014 and has been heavily involved in the operations ever since, across a number of roles within the organisation.
Candice was appointed our inaugural CEO in May 2017. After juggling volunteer CEO, full time work and 2 young children during COVID, she stepped down as CEO in June 2021 but rejoined the Board and took on the secretary role at the last AGM.
Priya Chandra - Board Member
Priya Chandra has over 20 years’ experience as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy and is the founder of a consultancy specialising in helping small businesses go digital. Priya has worked in many different areas both in the Navy and in private industry including marketing; communications and public affairs; information technology; human resources; and risk and governance. Born in India and brought up in Adelaide, Priya has lived and worked in nearly every Australian State and Territory, as well as in the UK and claims Melbourne as her spiritual home. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Master in Strategic People Management. In addition to her work with WWW, Priya sits on the board of a specialist family violence service NFP and chairs their Risk and Audit sub-committee.
Wendy Grimston - Board Member
Wendy has been volunteering with West Welcome Wagon since 2017, and a Board Member since 2020. Wendy’s specialty areas include change, communications, and strategy. Wendy is also a member of the volunteer Australia Committee of the Change Management Institute and provides pro bono mentoring and coaching services around change and communications. As well as her Board role with West Welcome Wagon, Wendy supports our Donations program working with a small team to respond to emails offering donations from our generous donors. She also assists with our Christmas and Education drives and is part of our Saturday morning team at the warehouse.
Catherine Ryan - Board Member
Catherine is as a Teacher Librarian with many years experience working in the library sector in media, university and school libraries. She has taught at both secondary schools and university and was the co-instigator of the Williamstown Literary Festival. Catherine has worked with refugees in some way or another since the 1980s starting with home-tutoring Vietnamese refugees. She volunteered with AMES Settlement services before joining with West Welcome Wagon over 8 years ago and has been coordinating the Education Essentials program since 2018.
Jude Twyman - Warehouse Manager
Jude Twyman was born in Telegraph Point NSW and has lived and worked in Sydney and the Northern Territory. Completing a Diploma of Business, then performing 10 years of logistics and warehouse management roles plus running a small business. Moved to Melbourne with wife Bettina and Son Leo in 2017. Jude loves being a foodie, coffee connoisseur, building Lego with Leo and is a big Doctor Who fan. He is proud to work for an organisation that provides material aid and comfort for asylum seekers and values working with the team of volunteers, the board and the clients from our community.
Deepak Lamichhane - Warehouse Coordinator
Deepak has been with West Welcome Wagon since December 2020. Since coming to Australia, Deepak has worked in a commercial laundry, supervising a team of workers, and obtained barista and forklift certificates. His methodical, problem-solving attitude is a great asset in his work at West Welcome Wagon. While he started as a volunteer, he is now employed part-time doing a range of work in the warehouse and with our clients. Deepak is now the father of two girls and a newly arrived baby boy.