Board Members

“If Valued Lives is fulfilling the dream envisioned in my mind, then in years to come we will be a vibrant, responsive organisation: one that remains small enough to know about what is happening in the lives of each and every person we support and one that is financially sustainable. We will be an organisation where any staff member can contact the CEO to discuss a person’s support and both will know exactly who is being referred to, as well as what they are seeking to achieve with our support. Most importantly, Valued Lives will be an organisation comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic people who live and breathe our culture, believe in our mission and at the same time, walk and talk the values we espouse.”

Bronia Holyoak, the founder and CEO of Valued Lives, has shared a lifelong personal journey with her sister, who lived with an intellectual disability.

With a career spanning 25 years within various roles in the area of human services, Bronia was inspired to build the foundations of what she envisioned would become a new and innovative WA based support organisation whose central focus would be the development of strong and sustainable support networks for people living with a disability or a mental health concern, their families and the broader community.

Over a ten-year period, this vision evolved and became a reality with the inception of Valued Lives, an organisation committed to ‘outside-the-box’ thinking that assists individuals and families to explore the realms of self-directed supports and services. An advocate for placing choice and control back in the hands of the individual, Bronia’s vision for Valued Lives is to create an entity that would assist in the planning and design of tailored support arrangements that are unique to each person and their life circumstances.

As CEO of Valued Lives, Bronia is dedicated to keeping the core values of the organisation at the heart of its culture and to ensure that Valued Lives is synonymous with individuals and families having a voice in self–direction, peer-to-peer support and quality personalised service.

Bronia has extensive knowledge and experience in person-centered thinking and planning, as well as individualised service design, clearly demonstrated in previous roles within the disability sector: Local Area Coordinator and District Manager within the Disability Services Commission. Bronia holds numerous relevant qualifications, including an Associate Diploma in Management, a Diploma in Disability Services and a Diploma in Project Management.

In 2010/2011, Bronia was awarded the Inclusion Award by the Foundation of Social Inclusion in recognition of her commitment to increase society’s support for the valued participation of all people.

“Valued Lives inspires me to support other families living with disability to think about possibilities for the future.”

Shelley Watson is the Board Secretary and Projects/Administration Support Coordinator at Valued Lives. She also currently acts in roles including PA to the CEO and managing the Valued Lives website, social media content and other media inquiries.

With a keen sense of social justice, as demonstrated in her past roles as a paralegal and in UnionsWA, Shelley is a passionate inclusion and disability advocate and is inspired to support other individuals and families to think about the possibilities for their future.

With lived experience as a mother of a son with an acquired brain injury, Shelley brings valuable insight to our Board regarding the complexities and difficulties that individuals living with disability and their families confront on their journey to live a normal and rewarding life.

In addition to her multiple roles at Valued Lives, Shelley is also the administrator for the Bayswater/Bassendean Peer-To-Peer Support Network – an innovative, inclusive and grassroots movement that provides help and support to individuals, carers and families entering the NDIS and seeks to assist them in their preparation and journey through the NDIS scheme rollout in Western Australia.

Megan Butt joined the board of Valued Lives in November 2017. Megan grew up with her sister Jessica, who has Cerebral Palsy, and was inspired by the hard work and dedication shown by  her mother in navigating the tricky disability landscape.

Megan completed a Bachelor of Social Science with a Major in Disability. Her previous experience has been supporting people with disability in open employment. Her current role is working at Midlas as the Senior Disability Advocate. Megan is passionate about ensuring the people with disability understand their rights and are supported to ensure their voice is heard.

Megan brings valuable insight to our Board regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as she supports a high number of people with disability and families around NDIS matters and appealing NDIS decisions.

Kunal Malhotra is a Senior Lawyer with AUT Legal Services Pty Ltd in Western Australia. Kunal has been an active board member with Valued Lives since August 2014. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the board with corporate legal matters.

Kunal holds a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Commerce (Corporate Finance) from the University of Western Australia and is a commercial lawyer. He has previously acted as a legal advisor to several organisations – ranging from emerging companies to numerous ASX-listed entities.

In addition to being a highly-regarded board member for Valued Lives, Kunal has also acted as a Board member and Legal Advisor for various other not-for-profit charities and organisations in Western Australia, assisting these social enterprises to achieve their corporate objectives in an ethical manner.

Tony Vardaro, Valued Lives Board Chairperson, was born in Perth, the son of Italian migrants who arrived in Western Australia in 1953. Due to birth complications, Tony has cerebral palsy and at the age of 18 months, was institutionalised.

When Tony was 16 years old, he decided that he wanted to be included and accepted within community at large for who he was and on his own merit. With strenuous negotiation and against all professional medical opinion, Tony was finally accepted into a state school in Bunbury, Western Australia, where he successfully completed four years of secondary education within the public education system.

Upon leaving school, Tony found his calling and began working with unemployed, disadvantaged and troubled youth in and around the Bunbury region.

In 1979, Tony was accepted into Curtin University of Technology, graduating in 1983 with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work.

Post graduation, Tony went on to work as a Social Worker within a vocational rehabilitation role, supporting people with re-engagement back into the community and he happily worked within the industry for the next 30 years, simultaneously serving as a President for several organisations within State and Federal funded advocacy services, including ministerial councils.

Now semi-retired, Tony is a treasured member of the Valued Lives team and brings his 30+ years of expertise and vast array of industry knowledge and personal experience to the Valued Lives brand.

Ross Carter is the Treasurer of the Valued Lives Board and provides valuable advice and assistance to our board members to make sense of the money side of the organisation.

A Certified Practicing Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor, Ross brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Board in all areas of business services and taxation.

With over twelve years of experience in business services, Ross’s professional focus is on providing tax planning, business health check solutions and dispute resolutions to valued clients operating across multiple industries – from the mining sector to the not-for-profit realm.

A Senior Manager at PKF Lawler, Ross has undertaken projects in the areas of management accounting, compliance, taxation and strategic planning and is responsible for managing a team of accountants that provide advice and services on a daily basis.

“Our three children all have unique needs; two of the kids have a diagnosis of Autism. Our journey as a family has meant that we have chosen to take a less conventional route than your usual traditional service model, although we did start there! I’m passionate about supporting other families and empowering others to reach their potential.”

Jane Jarvis has been an active Board member at Valued Lives since our inception and is a passionate advocate and peer supporter. She is particularly interested in the areas of community education and inclusion.

As a busy home-schooling mother to three children with various disabilities, Jane has travelled her own personal journey along this path. For the last ten years, Jane and her husband have also made significant contributions to the community as foster carers, who provided supported lodgings for many disadvantaged teens, including teenagers with disabilities.

Jane is a strong supporter of Valued Lives and its mission to help individuals and families in their journey to think ‘outside-the-box’; working towards their own unique dreams and aspirations, while also maintaining choice and control – so that individuals may live happy, independent and fulfilling lives.

As a Board member, Jane has made significant contributions to the evolution of Valued Lives, including writing a wonderful manual for Valued Lives families on how to manage their own funding.

Outside of Valued Lives, Jane is a successful business owner, author and an active member of the community and local church.

Alastair Mackenzie has been a Board member since November 2016 and brings valuable knowledge around communications, marketing and digital media.

Alastair has expertise in all aspects of commercial development and corporate governance and has worked in advertising, digital media and commercial development. He is currently a Partner Manager (Digital) at Seven West Media WA. Alastair has previously held roles within Business Development (Advertising and Digital Media) at the West Coast Eagles.

Alastair is a passionate advocate for social inclusion and is the founder and Program Manager for the Wembley Integrated Football Team, an inclusive program which seeks to provide people with disabilities the opportunity to be actively involved with WA community football.

Alastair holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) and is a candidate for a Master of Business Administration, specialising in finance.

“I believe in the core values of this organisation and the innovative work Valued Lives is doing to help people in the community achieve their own personal goals.”

Peter Holyoak is the Fundraising Coordinator at Valued Lives and has been an active Board member since its inception.

Responsible for managing the branding, promotion, profiling and presence of Valued Lives, Peter is the primary point of contact for all stakeholders involved in our fundraising efforts. In collaboration with the CEO and in consultation with the Valued Lives Board, Peter assists in devising strategies for the range of community fundraising efforts we launch over the year and the coordination of the Valued Lives Fundraising Committee.

As the family member of a person living with a disability and with a background as an HSE Advisor, Peter is a strong supporter of the core vision for Valued Lives. He is also an avid advocate of the innovative work the organisation is achieving on the front lines of the community in empowering vulnerable people to have real choice, control and a genuine voice in the design, planning and delivery of their supports and services.

Michael Serjeant is an independent Board member and a passionate inclusion and disability advocate.
With lived experience as a father of a daughter with an acquired brain injury, Michael brings valuable insight to our board in regard to the complexities and difficulties that individuals with disability and their families confront on their journey to live a typical life.

In addition to contributing as an active Board member at Valued Lives, Michael is the Scribe and Administrator for the Perth Hills NDIS Trial Site Peer-to-Peer Support Network – an innovative, inclusive and grassroots movement that provides help and support for all individuals, carers and families entering the NDIS trial site and seeks to assist and support them in their preparation and journey through the new NDIS scheme rollout in WA.

Founded by families, for families, the Perth Hills NDIS Trial Site Peer-to-Peer Support Network is a place for people in the community to share their knowledge and experience of living with disability and the NDIS. Michael facilitates this Network’s regular monthly meetings in Swan View and extends a warm invite to all those who are interested to come along for a coffee and a chat. All are welcome!

“I get to represent a whole community and it feels like such an honour to say I can do this. I want to try and get rid of the stigma surrounding disability; just because someone has a disability doesn’t mean that they can’t achieve their personal goals!”

Bec Dewar is a passionate disability rights advocate and joined the Board at Valued Lives in November 2016. Bec has lived experience as an individual with autism and an intellectual disability and provides the Board with articulate and valuable insight, giving a voice to youth with disability and the big issues affecting them.

Bec works as a waitress at Crown Casino in Perth and in her spare time is a regular reviewer on 107.3 HFM community radio station and is a member of Toastmasters.

Bec has a flare for public speaking and has been a guest speaker for the Disability Services Commission at multiple events. She was awarded Toastmaster of Year in 2016. She has been a guest speaker at the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability in 2014 and more recently, as co-facilitator at a Youth Disability Forum as part of 2017 Youth Week celebrations.

Sarah Warner has been an active Board member and an integral part of the Valued Lives team since its inception. As our Media and Communications Officer, Sarah is responsible for managing the Valued Lives website, social media profile content, including our Facebook and Twitter accounts and all other related media inquiries.

Sarah is a former graduate from Curtin University in Western Australia and has completed a double degree majoring in Journalism and Political Science and International Relations. She has diverse experience in the media sector, with a strong background in journalism, photojournalism, creative writing, research and strategic analysis.

A passionate human rights and civil liberties advocate, Sarah has been involved in various human rights projects, including projects with Amnesty International and has a keen interest in social justice, and sustainable community development.

Sarah currently works as a public servant within the W.A Government and as a freelance writer and photographer.

Noelene Mason joined the Board of Valued Lives in November 2016 and together with her daughter Teagan, who has Prader Willi syndrome, chose Valued Lives to support their family journey. Teagan is assisted by Valued Lives and is thriving with a team of dedicated supporters committed to ensuring that she has a good life in the community.

Noelene is the Principal of Malibu School in Safety Bay, a school with strong educational programs for students with moderate to complex and profound disabilities. Noelene has over 30 years in education and school leadership, predominantly in Special Education. Noelene’s leadership and experience has seen her develop a rich background across various contexts – from full inclusion to specialist schools.

With a passionate philosophy for quality education for students whose barriers to accessing education are often met with challenges, Noelene is a strong advocate for ensuring that every student receives the dignity of a great education.