The Médecins Sans Frontières Australia Association votes each year at the Annual General Meeting to set the Board size and to vote in new members. The current Board has ten elected members and one is nominated from Médecins Sans Frontières France. All members of the board, except for the President, are volunteers and are not remunerated for their work for Médecins Sans Frontières Australia.
Dr Stewart M. Condon, President
Dr Stewart Condon is a medical doctor who has developed an extensive portfolio of experience around the world. He has an MBBS, a Bachelor of Medical Science, a Diploma of Paediatrics, a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
After developing his skills in the urban environments around Sydney, Stewart realised that his passion in medicine was rural, remote and developing world contexts. This took him as a clinician to several places including the Northern Territory, Sudan, Indonesia and Pakistan.
Through his MSF field experiences, he realised that patient care was important, but how the care is delivered can be just as, if not more, important. His experience extended into project coordination roles, and soon afterwards he started working at a board level.
Stewart was elected to the MSF Australia board in 2011, 2014 and 2017 and has been its’ President since July 2014. During this time, he has driven principles of governance within the organisation, strengthened good process around planning and strategy, and encouraged an open and collaborative spirit between the association, executive and board. He continues to animate MSF members and staff in the region, so as to improve action in the field, for patients.
Stewart does his clinical work primarily in emergency departments, and one day a week he coordinates the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) medical evacuations in Central Australia.
With experience in the public sector, the corporate environment and the NGO arena, Stewart has a unique perspective on medicine. His interests include rural and remote medicine, medical/humanitarian work and not-for-profit (NFP) governance.
Mr Anthony Flynn, Vice President
Anthony Flynn was elected to the Board in May 2014 and then re-elected in May 2017. Anthony is a registered nurse, specializing in critical care. He joined Médecins Sans Frontières in 2006 and has undertaken 7 field placements in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and most recently in Papua New Guinea. As a nurse supervisor, he worked in primary health care in Northern Uganda and Ethiopia. In Chad he worked as hospital nurse supervisor. He then took on the Project Coordinator roles in Eastern Congo and South Sudan as well as Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in South Sudan. He then led the emergency team in Western Libya as the Project Coordinator and recently returned from PNG as Head of Mission/Medical coordinator for the Bougainville Primary Health Care project.
Anthony has been working casually as a critical care nurse in the major paediatric and adult intensive care units between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne until recently, joining Asthma Foundation NSW as Senior Program Manager for Information and Education. Anthony has a Masters Degree in Social Science, majoring in International Development and is currently based in Sydney.
Mr Dwin Tucker, Treasurer
Edwin ("Dwin") Tucker was re-elected to the Board in May 2015 and re-elected in May 2018. Dwin was one of the founding Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia Board members/Treasurer from 1996-1998 and has undertaken field visits in Thailand and Laos and to the Paris office.
Dwin has been a CEO of five companies, (small-medium to 3000 employees) and has worked as a Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. He has undertaken roles in strategy, marketing, finance, technology and has advised companies as a consultant. He has been a director/chairman of numerous public, private and not-for-profit boards. He has a Bachelor of Science and Commerce from Melbourne University as well as qualifications in securities trading and business finance. Dwin currently runs the international offices for a listed company and is based in Sydney.
Dr Jacqueline Hewitt
Jacky Hewitt was appointed to the board in August 2016 and then elected in May 2017. She is a paediatric endocrinologist and has specialist interests in childhood malnutrition, and in sex and gender disorders in children. She has worked in the field with Medecins Sans Frontieres on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and also in earthquake relief in Kashmir. She has field experience with other agencies in childhood malnutrition in Niger, and in caring for Indigenous children in remote communities within Central Australia and in Western Australia. Jacky has a strong research background in child health, and is a senior university lecturer in paediatrics. She has consulted and advised on child health policy for the Australian Government at both state and federal levels.
Ms Beth Hilton-Thorp
Beth Hilton-Thorp was elected to the Board in May 2013, and re-elected in May 2016 and May 2019. Beth is a non-practising lawyer with experience in government and private legal practice. She has undertaken one field mission for Médecins Sans Frontières and has been a member of the Board’s Governance Committee since 2011. Since 2000 she has worked in international health and development assistance in varying roles for a number of organisations including not-for-profits, universities and government agencies. Prior to that Beth held a number of positions (legal, academic and in business) in Australia and whilst living overseas. Beth is qualified in law and social work and has a BA (ANU), B Soc. Stud (Sydney), LLB, Beth is admitted to practise in the HCA and Supreme Courts ACT and NSW.
Ms Patricia Schwerdtle
Trish Schwerdtle was appointed to the Board in August 2017 and elected in May 2018. Trish has a background in Health Promotion and a Masters in International Public Health. She is also an Emergency Nurse who has worked in a variety of critical care and primary health care settings in five countries. She has MSF experience as a Base Nurse in South Sudan. Trish is currently an academic in Nursing and Midwifery at Monash University where she teaches Global Health and undertakes research with a focus on health in developing countries and climate change and human health. She is currently undertaking a PhD investigating the health impacts of climate-related migration in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr Mego Terzian
Mégo Terzian is currently the President of Médecins Sans Frontières France. He was appointed to the Médecins Sans Frontières Australia Board in March 2017 as its MSF France representative. Mégo is a French citizen of Armenian origin. He is a paediatrician by training and worked in the paediatric emergency unit in Yerevan, Armenia before joining MSF in 2002. Mégo has worked in multiple field contexts, as a physician in the field in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Iran and the Democratic Republic of Congo and then as a mobile coordinator in Liberia, Ivory Coast, DRC. He joined MSF’s Emergency Program unit in 2005, becoming Head of Emergency Programs from 2010-2013. He was elected as President of MSF France in 2013 and re-elected in 2016 and 2019. Mégo lives in Paris.
Dr Chatu Yapa
Chatu Yapa was elected to the board in May 2018. She is a medical epidemiologist and public health registrar, currently completing a PhD in the Humanitarian Research Program at the Australian National University. Chatu has undertaken six field missions with MSF since 2012 in various emergency and protracted crises as a medical doctor and medical team leader. These have been in South Sudan, Iraq, the Philippines, Liberia, Lebanon and Nigeria.
Emmanuel Lavieuville
Emmanuel Lavieuville was elected to the board of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Australia in May 2018. He is a French and Australian national, holds a MSc in Comparative Political Science applied to the Arabic & Muslim world, and joined MSF in 1999. Throughout his 14 years with MSF Emmanuel held different field Country and Project Management roles in Sudan, Yemen, Niger and Cambodia as well as Operational Human Resources Management positions at Head offices in Sydney and Paris. At different points of his career, Emmanuel also worked in Operational and Project Management roles for Australian based community organisations and in the Australian corporate sector. Emmanuel is based in Canberra.
Kerry Atkins
Kerry was elected to the Board in May 2019, and holds a Graduate certificate in Humanitarian Leadership. She has recently done field missions in Libya and Nigeria with MSF and has also worked for the MSF Australia office in financial management roles. Kerry has worked for many locally focused NGOs within Australia including the Black Dog Institute and the Sunrise Project, as well as with Oxfam supporting programs in Timor Leste and Mount Isa. She has experience and skills in capacity building, leading teams, implementing change, initiating strategic processes, operational planning, and governance.