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Meet the team

Chanel Contos

Founder & Executive Director

Chanel Contos founded Teach Us Consent. It started on Instagram, and soon evolved to make mandated consent education a political priority. In order to achieve this, she worked closely with politicians from across the political spectrum, including prime ministers.

Chanel was the recipient of the Australian Human Rights Commission Young People’s Medal in 2021, and in 2023 she was named NSW Young Woman of the Year for her persistent efforts towards eradicating rape culture. Chanel has also been presented with the prestigious Diana Award for her humanitarian work, and in 2022 she was listed as one of the BBC’s 100 inspiring and influential women worldwide.

Chanel has a Masters in Education, Gender and International Development from University College London and was recently appointed by Julia Gillard to chair the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership’s Youth Advisory Committee. She also sits on multiple government reference panels, and consults for multinational companies on violence prevention.

She is the author of Consent Laid Bare: sex, entitlement, and the distortion of desire.

Board Members

Matt Hubner

Director & CSO

Matt Hübner holds degrees in Commerce and Science from the Australian National University and has extensive marketing, brand strategy, and business development experience across both B2B and B2C brands. He is currently Head of Commercial for EWA, overseeing commercial development and business strategy, as well as freelance pro bono consulting for impact-driven startups.

Holly Rankin

Director

Holly Rankin is an ARIA nominated artist and strategist (also known as Jack River). Holly uses the power of pop culture to make political change. She has worked with the Uluru Dialogues, Senator David Pocock, Climate 200 and The Australian Recording Industry Association. As an artist, she spearheaded the viral ‘Our Soundtrack Our Stories’ campaign for tv, radio and ads to use more homegrown music.

Adam Hedegus

COO

Adam is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Educating the Future, an Australian government-funded NGO providing quality community-led pre-school education to Timorese children. He completed his BComm (Co-Op) at UNSW Sydney in 2019 and subsequently received a first-class honours degree from the University of Sydney for his research on Gender Equality on Australian Boards in 2020.

James Contos

Director

James holds degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of Sydney. He was formerly a private practice litigator in Australia, the UK and the UAE, and subsequently a Vice President and Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. He is currently a Director and Senior Legal Counsel at GSR where he structures and negotiates financial instruments.

Team Members

Sofia Stavrou

Administration Assistant

Sofia is a writer, researcher, activist and advocate for gender equality. Her experience ranges from communications lead for environmental campaigns, administration within the tertiary sector, to policy and governance research centred upon women's rights & liberation.

Kaylyn Thyssen

Research & DEI Manager

Kaylyn has over 8 years’ experience as a policy and public impact consultant focussing on supporting key domestic, family and sexual violence sector initiatives. Her skillset includes research, stakeholder engagement and monitoring & evaluation. She has a passion for achieving better outcomes for all communities through promoting equity and inclusivity.

Zoë Martin

Communications and Content Manager

Zoë is passionate about creating content that inspires positive change. She has an extensive background in communications, advocacy, and content management and has worked in diverse organisational settings from international organisations such as the United Nations to start-ups and non-profits with a purpose. Zoë brings a wealth of experience in connecting with a diverse range of audiences, and working in cross-functional teams to produce content with a difference.

Jack Toohey

Creative Direction and Social Media Manager

Jack has over a decade of experience in content creation and digital communication. As former Executive Creative Director at Sure Studios and a successful advocacy content creator, he specialises in translating complex issues into engaging, shareable content. Jack is committed to leveraging his creative and communication skills to promote consent education and advance social equity.

Tess Fuller

Brand & Partnerships Manager

Tess is an experienced communicator dedicated to fostering positive change. She has half a decade of experience working across start-ups, female-led social enterprises, B-Corps and not-for-profits, as well as consulting social media strategy for purpose-driven individuals. She is committed to using her professional life to create a more equitable and sustainable world.

Lisa Thomsen

Research & Education Manager

Lisa is a researcher with expertise in developmental criminology, and developmental and social crime prevention. She has a background in psychology, and a PhD in Criminology (Griffith University), with her doctoral research exploring relationships between disadvantage and youth antisocial behaviours. Her extensive research experience includes studies examining the impact and co-occurrence of childhood adversities on youth harmful sexual behaviours.

Nevo Rom

Head of Projects

Nevo is a social worker and social policy specialist with over 10 years’ experience across policy, research, and advocacy. He has held a number of senior policy and advisory roles in the NSW Government and at the Australian Human Rights Commission with his work primarily focused on addressing violence against women, child abuse and neglect, and youth offending. Nevo holds a Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) from the USYD and a Master of Philosophy in Public Policy from the University of Cambridge.

Experts & Advisors

Dr Billy Garvey

Billy Garvey is a developmental paediatrician with over 20 years of experience working with children and families in various settings. As a senior specialist at one of the largest tertiary paediatric hospitals in the world, he...

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Dixie Link-Gordon (Board Advisor)

Dixie is a Gooreng Gooreng woman living on Gadigal land with over three decades of experience in human services, advocating for safer communities for women, children and families. Dixie is currently an Adjunct Senior Lecturer...

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Professor Kyllie Cripps

Professor Kyllie Cripps is a Palawa woman and Director of Monash’s Indigenous Studies Centre. She is one of Australia’s leading researchers on Indigenous family violence, sexual assault and child abuse. Leading major grants she...

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Stuart Terry (Board Advisor)

Stuart is a creative comms professional with a career spanning the Australian, United Kingdom and Canadian markets. As the founder and director of earned-first creative agency, We Are Different, he has experience leading...

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Professor Ben Mathews

Dr Ben Mathews is a Research Professor in the School of Law at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, Principal Research Fellow in the QUT Faculty of Business and Law, and Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins...

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Dr Zac Seidler

Dr Zac Seidler is a clinical psychologist, researcher and leading men’s mental health expert. He currently holds dual roles as Global Director of Men’s Health Research at Movember and Senior Research Fellow with Orygen at the...

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Tarang Chawla

Tarang Chawla is a recovering lawyer, storyteller, campaigner and activist. Tarang is the co-founder of Not One More Niki, a campaign to end violence against women and children, named in honour of his younger sister Nikita who...

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Natasha de Silva (Board Advisor)

Natasha has an international and national profile as a human rights and gender equality expert, working with governments and agencies in the region to build knowledge and technical capacity. While specialising in the rights of...

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Kate Jenkins

Kate Jenkins was appointed for a five-year term as Sex Discrimination Commissioner in April 2016. Her term was extended to April 2023. During her term, her purpose was to advance gender equality and the rights of LGBTIQ+...

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Padma Raman PSM

Padma Raman PSM is Executive Director of the Office for Women (OFW) at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Prior to joining OFW in September 2023, she was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Australia's National...

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Maree Crabbe

Maree has worked with young people – and on issues affecting young people – since 1993. She has developed and delivered programs focusing on sexual violence prevention, sexual diversity, pornography, and prevention of sexually...

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Jess Sanders

Jessica Sanders is an author and social worker; however she considers herself as more of a ‘social impact entrepreneur’. Jess has a passion for creating resources that nurture positive mental health and promote gender equality...

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Jayneen Sanders

Jayneen Sanders (aka Jay Dale) is an experienced author, publisher, elementary school teacher, mother of three and an active advocate for body safety, gender equality and respectful relationship education being taught both in...

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Raewyn Connell

Raewyn is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a recipient of the American Sociological Association's award for distinguished contribution to the study of sex and gender, and of the Australian Sociological...

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Michael Flood

Dr Michael Flood is an Associate Professor and researcher who focuses on gender, sexuality, and interpersonal violence. At present his research is focused on interpersonal violence and its prevention, particularly with reference..

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Ruveni Kelleher

Ruveni has over 20 years’ experience advising on all areas of employment law including workplace relations, industrial relations, anti-discrimination and work health and safety laws.

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Nicole McWilliam

Dr Nicky McWilliam is a mediator with Sydney Mediation Partnership, a mediation and dispute resolution practice in Sydney which she co-founded with her colleague Danielle Jaku-Greenfield. Nicky holds a Masters of Law in dispute...

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Joy Townsend

Moving between academia, industry and policy audiences, Joy’s focus is to translate complex research findings into practical, applied insights and recommendations that result in impactful change for individuals and collectives...

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Elaine Unterhalter

Elaine Unterhalter is a Professor of Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, University College London. Dr Unterhalter works on themes concerned with gender, race and class inequalities and their...

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