AWE Network Mentor Registry

Amanda is a specialist and leader in emergency management, disaster resilience and disaster risk reduction, specialising in stakeholder engagement, partnerships and relationship management. A qualified lawyer, she has more than 20 years’ experience in roles spanning the corporate, government, legal, humanitarian, not-for-profit, research and community sectors in Australia, the UK and the US.

Applying a partnership-based approach, Amanda has led the development and implementation of global, national and local strategies in business development, stakeholder engagement, community development, program assurance, climate change, disaster resilience and recovery, emergency management, and not-for-profit start-ups. She continues to influence dialogue and practice at a national and international level through organisations such as Australian Red Cross and the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network, and through Australian industry and ministerial forums. Most recently she was invited to form part of the Australian delegation to the UN Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva in 2019 and this year was invited to speak at the Royal Academy of Engineering Symposium on Disaster Resilience in Istanbul, Turkey.

Amanda combines community engagement, local decision-making and cross-sector collaboration to increase awareness and shift behaviours related to crisis preparedness and addressing disadvantage. Experienced in working in highly complex environments, she helps stakeholders find a shared purpose and create innovative, effective and locally owned solutions. By linking people and organisations to the information and resources they need, she builds on existing and new knowledge and wisdom to help people shape sustainable outcomes that achieve collective impact.

Fuelled by a passion for social justice and sustainable development, Amanda has developed deep insight into the drivers of vulnerability, poverty and disadvantage through extensive travel and work in developing nations and vulnerable communities.

Amanda was deployed in regional Australia during the 2019-20 Australian bushfires to lead teams in supporting communities in recovery and is currently supporting local community recovery efforts in regional Victoria.

Matched with a mentee

About me: I have a long professional career in communications, corporate affairs and policy and I have worked in the private, public and not for profit sectors. I also have more than 10 years’ experience in emergency management.
Following the 2009 Victorian bushfires I joined the Victorian state government to work in bushfire recovery, and since 2012 have worked at the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS). At VCOSS, my work focuses on the needs of people who may be vulnerable or disadvantaged in emergencies, and the crucial role of community and social service organisations before, during and after emergency events.
I am passionate about emergency management and particularly the needs of different people and communities. I am a firm believer in the importance of cross-sector cooperation and collaboration to achieve enhanced emergency management outcomes for communities across the preparedness, response, relief and recovery continuum.
To help address the undervalued role of women in the emergency management sector, and to help promote cross-sector collaboration, I co-founded the Australasian Women in Emergencies (AWE) Network with my two colleague Amanda Lamont and Katherine Cooney in 2018.
I am also a parent of three young adults and run a small farm in my spare time.
I am open, friendly, and willing to share my skills, knowledge and expertise, and look forward to working with AWE mentees.

Associate Professor Erin Smith has over two decades of experience in the multi-disciplinary field of prehospital and disaster response. Currently the Course Coordinator for postgraduate courses in Disaster and Emergency Response at Edith Cowan University, Erin is also a member of the Board of Directors of the World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine where she also holds the positions of Convenor of the Psychosocial Special Interest Group and Deputy Chair of the Oceania Chapter.

Erin is a member of the Editorial Boards of the journals Prehospital and Disaster Medicine and The Journal of High Threat and Austere Medicine. She is also a member of the Research Committee and the Mental Health Special Interest Group of The Australasian College of Paramedicine. She is a Committee Member and Research Consultant for The Code 9 Foundation, and a volunteer with the Australian Red Cross, Emergency Services Victoria. Erin writes a regular column in the Australian Emergency Services Magazine called “Let’s Talk Mental Health”, she is widely published in the academic literature, has been an invited author in The Conversation, is an invited Key Note presenter at both national and international conferences, and is an experienced media speaker. She is known for her passion for supporting the mental health and well-being of emergency services personnel and volunteers. Having commenced her career as an emergency ambulance 000 call-taker, Erin still has a keen interest in supporting the well-being of the “first” first responders.

As a mentor, Erin is keen to help mentees develop effective strategies for self-care and to identify career plans that recognise the many opportunities that exist within this exciting and ever-evolving field that we find ourselves working in! In her spare time, Erin is a wife to a hubby who thinks spam sushi should be its own food group and mum to two spoiled pugs, Elizabeth Taylor and Bette Davis!

I am an FRV Leading Firefighter at Wangaratta Fire Station in North East Victoria. Over my 11 year career, I have worked for MFB, CFA and now FRV. I have 2 children, am a Postgraduate 250 hour yoga teacher, volunteer Ski Patroller at Mount Hotham Ski Patrol and Firefighter at CFA Harrietville.

I am inspired by my female peers sharing their experiences of imposter syndrome, leading diverse teams and retaining their individuality in unequal gender settings. Through my involvement in this program, I’m seeking to keep the ball rolling in all these areas by sharing stories and lessons learned. As a mentor I have skills and experience I can share around goal setting and work/life/family balance, integrating into fire station life in the minority gender and the reality of having children in FRV.