Samantha Tinsley, Chair
Samantha Tinsley is a seasoned leader with over 30 years of expertise in driving change for business owners and CEOs. She excels in building high-performance teams through empathy and curiosity and has held key leadership roles, including Head of Sales and Marketing at PE Foods Pty Ltd ,Managing Director at Bare Bite Pty Ltd and Chair of The Food Connect Shed.
Dedicated to fostering innovation, Samantha simplifies complex ideas and guides teams through transformative journeys, especially in times of uncertainty. She aligns business goals with strategic objectives, creating cohesive, productive cultures.
Samantha is skilled in developing comprehensive business strategies, optimising performance, and adopting new systems and processes. Committed to the mission of the Women’s Mentoring Foundation (WMF), she excels in helping organisations achieve growth and resilience.
Lynne Cawley, Secretary
Lynne Cawley is a successful, solution-focused HR and Operations professional and the Chief Operations Officer at Canstar.
Lynne is responsible for fostering the company’s culture, as well as developing and leading the implementation of Canstar’s operational strategy to drive business goals through quality research and technological advancements.
With a degree in psychology at QUT and having specialised in Organisational psychology, Lynne established the human resources function at Canstar. Lynne has expanded this role in recent years to now head up the entire operations function, leading the People & Culture, Research, Product Data, Data Platform Services and Infrastructure teams.
Lynne’s leadership role sees her managing the back-end technology platforms that power many of Canstar’s data initiatives including the company’s Star Ratings research, product database and data feeds to the website. Her teams are also responsible for building resilience into the Canstar technology infrastructure and applications.
Sandra Cipriotti, Director
Having grown up starting businesses in the garage and consistently excelling in my academic and creative studies, thinking strategically is something that comes naturally to Sandra. She always aim at performing to her highest ability and that drive is what she wants to instill in others throughout her career, across various roles.
She worked in Education, Art, Media, Fashion and SME’s as CFO, Finance Director, Business Consultant/Operations, Project/Change Manage and Entrepreneur meant that she had a very diverse range of responsibilities and priorities while working with a diverse set of stakeholders across multiple corporations simultaneously.
She is very passionate about the constant improvement, growth and best practices of organisations she’s represented and the continuous learning of those around her. The fulfillment of strategic objectives coupled with growing the self-confidence of her teams and impact on the business brings her a great sense of accomplishment.
Michelle Teis, Director
Claudia Lordao, Director
Claudia Lordao is an accomplished marketing leader with over 25 years of experience driving growth and innovation across diverse industries. She is highly skilled in developing strategic marketing plans, both from the ground up and by adapting international strategies to local markets. Claudia’s expertise spans online and offline communication, public relations, branding, digital marketing, and e-commerce, with a proven track record of delivering exceptional sales results and market share growth.
Renowned for her leadership, Claudia has built and led high-performing teams, fostering a positive and growth-focused environment. She is adept at managing complex projects, coordinating cross-functional teams, and aligning key stakeholders to achieve strategic objectives. Her strong numerical acumen and ability to manage budgets, forecast sales, and analyse data ensure that her initiatives are both creative and financially sound.
Claudia’s global experience and cultural sensitivity have been instrumental in her success in diverse markets. Fluent in English and Portuguese, with knowledge of French and Spanish, she excels at navigating the intricacies of international business and trade. Her ability to challenge the status quo and think creatively has consistently driven results beyond expectations.
In addition to her professional pursuits, Claudia is deeply committed to mentoring and empowering women in business. She holds an MBA specialising in Marketing and a B.A. in Communications, majoring in Advertising.
Leo Mucci, Treasurer & Director
Chris Smedley, Director
Chris Smedley is a proven leader with over 20 years’ experience as a Chief Executive and Managing Director in the health and human services sectors, including one of Australia’s largest mental health providers, a disability care provider, Bupa, and Queensland Fertility Group’s network of women’s health clinics, day hospitals and IVF laboratories.
Chris has been fortunate in his career to lead organisations and teams that have a clear purpose in delivering positive community outcomes. This is a huge motivation for him. His personal leadership philosophy is that building a strong, values-based organisational culture and a positively engaged workforce, helps in delivering high quality client experiences, leading to stronger organisational results, which in turn reinforces the culture and purpose.
Chris’ previous experience as a Chartered Accountant with PwC and in corporate strategy and M&A roles with major global companies, has given him a solid foundation in financial literacy, strategic planning and governance.
Pushpa Vaghela, CEO
Pushpa Vaghela, Founder of The Women’s Mentoring Foundation (WMF), is dedicated to empowering women to overcome trauma, challenges, and distressful situations, guiding them towards strength and their best selves. As a professional Leadership Consultant, Mentor, and Clinical Neuro Practitioner, Pushpa has positively impacted thousands of leaders globally, fostering transformation and developing exceptional leadership qualities. Her mission, fueled by a deep understanding of mental and emotional health challenges, led her to establish WMF as a Harm Prevention charity organisation, providing Workshops, Speaking Engagement and Peer Counselling to assist women on their empowering journey.
Pushpa Vaghela, Peer Counsellor
Pushpa Vaghela, Founder of The Women’s Mentoring Foundation (WMF), is dedicated to empowering women to overcome trauma, challenges, and distressful situations, guiding them towards strength and their best selves. As a professional Leadership Consultant, Mentor, and Clinical Neuro Practitioner, Pushpa has positively impacted thousands of leaders globally, fostering transformation and developing exceptional leadership qualities. Her mission, fueled by a deep understanding of mental and emotional health challenges, led her to establish WMF as a Harm Prevention charity organisation, providing Workshops, Speaking Engagement and Peer Counselling to assist women on their empowering journey.
Sharon Hawthorne, Peer Counsellor
Sharon Hawthorne, has traveled and survived numerous challenges, demonstrating her commitment to supporting women in their healing journeys. She is an author and writer with over two decades of experience working in various capacities within newspapers, magazines, and book publishers. This includes advertising, feature writing, marketing and communications, book editing, and author mentorship. Sharon also coaches and mentors authors and writers, aiding them in producing the most professional versions of their books and navigating the ever-evolving landscape of the self-publishing industry.
