Our Board

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. 

Dwin Tucker, President

Dwin (formally Edwin) Tucker was one of the founding Médecins Sans Frontières Australia Board members as Treasurer from 1996-1998. More recently, he returned to the Board, being re-elected in May 2015 and then re-elected in May 2018. For MSFA, he has been Treasurer for eight years, a Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk, and Branding and Resources Committees, a member of the Remuneration Committee and a representative to both the Operating Center, Geneva Congress and Operating Centre, Paris Group Committee. Dwin has undertaken field audits in Thailand and Laos and facilitated a Field Association Debate in Nigeria in 2019.  

Outside of MSF, Dwin has been a CEO of seven companies (from small-medium to large) and has been a director of public, private and not-for-profit boards. He has a depth of experience in leadership, strategy, finance, technology and marketing and has advised numerous companies and leadership teams as a consultant and mentor.  

He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Business from UTS and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Dwin is based in Sydney and amongst other involvements, chairs/owns Clearasound, a leader in technologies and services for the deaf and hearing-impaired community in Australia.  

Patricia Schwerdtle, Vice-President

'Trish’ Nayna Schwerdtle was appointed to the Board in August 2017 and elected in May 2018. Trish is a licensed Registered Nurse with 15 years clinical experience in various health care settings in seven countries including MSF experience in South Sudan. Trish has additional qualifications and experience in critical care, public health, health promotion and health professional education. 

Trish is currently a global health academic affiliated with Monash University and Heidelberg University, Germany who frequently undertakes research, teaches and writes about health in humanitarian settings. Trish has worked as a researcher and consultant for Government, UNEP, WHO and NGOs on climate change and human health. Trish is currently undertaking a PhD researching climate-related migration and health in Bangladesh.

 

Beth Hilton-Thorp, Treasurer

Beth Hilton-Thorp was elected to the Board in May 2013, re-elected in May 2016 and for a third term in May 2019. Beth is a non-practising lawyer with experience in government and private legal practice. She is qualified in law and social work and has a BA (ANU), B Soc. Stud (Sydney), LLB (ANU), Beth is admitted to practise in the High Court of Australia and Supreme Courts ACT and NSW.

Beth has undertaken one field mission for Médecins Sans Frontières. She chaired the Board’s Governance and Association Committee from 2013 until 2019 and has been a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee since 2013. 

Since 2000, she has worked in international health and development assistance in varying roles for several organisations including not-for-profits, universities and government agencies. Prior to that Beth held several positions (legal, academic and in business) in Australia and whilst living overseas. 

 

Dr Jacqueline Hewitt

Jacky Hewitt was appointed to the board in 2016 and then elected in 2017 and again in 2020. She is a paediatric endocrinologist with specialist expertise in childhood malnutrition and growth, and in sex and gender diversity in children. She has worked in the field with Médecins Sans Frontières on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and also in earthquake relief in Kashmir. She has field experience with other agencies in childhood malnutrition in Niger, in child health in Vietnam, and in caring for Indigenous children in remote communities within Central Australia, Western Australia and Queensland. 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 and human rights bodies at both state and federal levels.

Carol Nagy

Carol has worked for MSF for over 19 years holding 24 field positions over that time and has worked in the MSF Sydney office in Human Resources and was technical nurse referent for Intensive Care with OCP.  Carol was also involved with the development of the ICU nurses training programme, BASIC, in collaboration with MSF and the University of Hong Kong.

Specializing in critical care, public health and disaster health management Carol has held senior technical and management positions with MSF and other organizations with a strong focus in the Middle East and Asia Pacific region. Her last field placement was as Project Coordinator in Herat, Afghanistan in 2020.

Having joined the MSFA Association in 2005, Carol brings her extensive humanitarian experience and insight into how MSF works practically, and the challenges MSF continues to face. Carol currently works as a clinical nurse in emergency and intensive care in Hobart.  

Bethany Lansom

Bethany was elected to the Board in May 2020. Bethany is a Clinical Nurse Consultant in Disaster and Emergency Management and prior to this, a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Severe Burns and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery in Sydney and the Northern Territory. 

Bethany joined Medécins Sans Frontiéres in 2016 and she has worked in South Sudan and Sierra Leone. She also has experience working with other organisations in the Republic of Congo, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands. Bethany has a Diploma of Tropical Nursing and is currently completing a Masters of Global Health. 

Alice Cameron

Alice was first employed with Medécins Sans Frontiéres in 2006 as Face-to-Face Fundraising Manager then Marketing Manager and since that time has performed several full time, contract and volunteer roles with MSF. Most recently, Alice has been Association Network Coordinator for Aotearoa New Zealand and a member of the Brand and Resourcing Board sub-committee before being elected to the Board in May 2020. Of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Pākehā descent, Alice lives in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand.