The V4i team is a committee of passionate locals.  The new committee was elected in 2025 and are listed alphabetically below

Emma Avery

Emma Avery is a sustainability entrepreneur, passionate about empowering sustainable change and has worked as a facilitator, collaborator, educator and speaker with experience in communicating change when it comes to the advancements of climate change, sustainable living and the circular economy.  

Emma went from filling an education niche, then coupled this with an online ecommerce store which saw the consumer vs education conundrum for everyday waste items, which led her to start consulting in sustainability education. As well as starting her own businesses, Emma has worked in local and state government for over 17 years and now concentrates her efforts on statewide circular economy and resource recovery reform.  

Emma has grown up in north east Victoria, attending high school and university in Wodonga, Victoria. Emma has been involved with Indi’s wave of independents from the beginning, speaking at Cathy McGowan’s first campaign launch in 2013 representing the young people of Indi.  

Tim Berenyi

Bio to come

Rob Carolane

Rob is a retired community facilitation and engagement consultant who understands that only fair and transparent processes build trust and allow people to find a collaborative pathway. His personal and professional approach to community engagement is about actively encouraging and supporting people to participate in values-based practices and as such, it mirrors the V4i ethos.

Rob facilitates respectful processes that allow all parties to have a voice and feel valued. He believes a commitment to participatory democracy, lifelong learning, and community culture enables rural communities to build social capital and navigate change in a complex world.

Rob lived at Whitlands for 35 years and recently relocated to Wangaratta. He has a long history of involvement in community organisations in the North East. He is a Life Member of The Centre for Continuing Education, an adult education provider based in Wangaratta. Rob is the Convenor of Voices for Indi and Chair of Indigo Power Foundation Ltd which supports the economically and socially beneficial rollout of renewable energy. Rob also serves as a CFA volunteer. Rob became involved with V4i in 2018 after volunteering in Orange campaigns since 2013.

Suz Christison

Suz Christison (she/her) has over 25 years’ experience in working with regional communities as a consultant in facilitation, training and community engagement.  With expertise and experience in complex project management, community engagement, leadership development, facilitation, strategic planning, and training. Her work has mainly been focused on the Hume region in north East Victoria, where she has developed a depth of understanding of the communities and networks. 

Suz’s strength is in creating positive relationships and collaboratively reaching outcomes. Developing context specific training and workshops for people to develop skills and understanding, she is also exceptional at one-one support. 

Through leadership and management roles, Suz has been a driver of organisation development, implementing cultural change and thoughtful strategic oversight. With a background in outdoor education, she has experience of living and working in close communities with a focus on sustainability and education.  As an owner- builder, Suz and her husband have built two homes in the King Valley with sustainability as a focus, living in a fully off-grid home. 

Tessa de Vries

Tessa has worked in the disability sector for almost 20 years, with a focus on inclusion, collaboration, and creating systems that work for everyone. She helped establish the community-led National Disability Research Partnership and is now COO of Mansfield Autism Statewide Services. These roles taught her the power of listening and learning, then working together towards better outcomes.  

Tessa joined Voices for Indi in 2025 because she believes democracy thrives when communities lead the way. She’s passionate about practical, community-led solutions to complex challenges and sees V4i as a wonderful example of how local action can shape national conversations. She’s excited to contribute her knowledge of accessible community engagement to support ongoing local action.

Living in Mansfield with a lively mix of animals, Tessa loves the country life and wants to help make sure regional voices are heard in shaping Australia’s future.

Steph Frobose

Steph is an experienced community and strategy practitioner with a background spanning not-for-profit governance, community development, and the cultural sector.

Steph has worked for many years across community, arts, and not-for-profit settings, including founding and leading a community-based arts organisation and supporting boards, directors, and leadership teams through strategy, governance, facilitation, and program development. Through her consulting practice, she works closely with leaders to translate values and vision into practical action.

Alongside her strategy and governance work, Steph brings over 20 years’ experience as a performer, which increasingly informs her professional work. In recent years, she has integrated performance-based practice into her work with business and community leaders, drawing from and developing creative process to strengthen decision-making and the quality of leadership.

Steph joined Voices for Indi after meeting Helen Haines and engaging directly with the work of Parliament, experiences that strengthened her belief in community-led democracy and the importance of strong regional voices in national decision-making. She is motivated by Voices for Indi’s commitment to transparency, participation, and respectful civic engagement, and is pleased to contribute her experience to support its work across the region.

Phil Haines

Phil Haines was a founding member of Voices for Indi in 2012. Although he has had a life-long interest in politics, the 2013 federal election was the first time he became actively involved. He was campaign director for the four successful federal election campaigns for the community independents, Cathy McGowan (in 2013 and 2016) and Helen Haines (in 2019 and 2022). He is also co-campaign manager for Helen’s 2025 campaign.

Phil was the driving force and multiple chapter author of the book, 'The Indi Way’, published in May 2023. He is committed to regional and rural development and along with many others from across Indi, a proud champion of what has become a major political and social movement in Australia.

Phil had a long career in agriculture research and development, holding senior roles in strategy, policy and program development, investment and industry partnering. He lives outside Wangaratta on a small beef cattle property.

Jo Olsen

Jo is an experienced people and change professional with specialist skills and an extensive background in organisational change, cultural transformation, values and ethics, employee engagement, change communications, and organisational and leadership coaching.

Jo has worked across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in Victoria and Western Australia including in education, financial services, utilities, Commonwealth Government agencies, and community housing.

In 2023 Jo and her husband finally fulfilled a long-held desire to live and work in Victoria’s beautiful northeast, and after reading The Indi Way, she was inspired to volunteer in Helen Haines’ 2025 re-election campaign.

In addition to keeping Indi independent and supporting community led democracy, finding solutions to the social impact of climate change at the local, national and global level, drives Jo’s involvement in Australian politics.

Tony Lane

Tony has long been involved in education, community wellbeing and environmental sustainability so it was only natural that he got involved in community-based grass-roots politics. Tony values the very positive role played by V4i across the Indi community and was a founding V4i member in 2012. 

Tony is President of the Wangaratta Landcare and Sustainability Inc. which is part of the Victorian Landcare Network. He also served on school boards for many years , including six years as Board Chair at Galen Catholic College. Now retired, after a career in the public sector in the areas of employment and training and health and aged care.

Jack Nelson

Jack is passionate about the health and wellbeing of people, communities and the natural world. With an entrepreneurial spirit, he thrives on creating and supporting initiatives that bring people together and strengthen connection. With over 15 years’ experience as a small business owner in the health and wellness sector, Jack brings strong people skills, deep listening, and a practical understanding of how individuals and communities navigate change.

Alongside his business background, Jack has extensive experience in outdoor education and community engagement and currently works as an outdoor educator with young people across North East Victoria. He has been involved in a number of committees and boards within local community organisations and has played key roles in festival and event organisation, volunteer coordination, and community-based initiatives that foster participation and belonging.

Drawn to community-led democracy and more respectful, inclusive approaches to civic life, Jack believes there are better ways to engage people than traditional politics alone. He is particularly interested in helping younger generations feel more connected to democratic processes by doing things differently — creating welcoming spaces where people feel heard, valued and motivated to contribute. Jack lives in Beechworth with his partner and their three school-aged children.

Alice Reynolds

Alice is a former lawyer turned high school teacher, with experience shaped by supporting young people in complex and challenging circumstances. As a youth crime and child protection lawyer, and later as an educator in a youth justice centre and flexible learning settings, she has worked closely with some of the state’s most vulnerable children and families. These experiences have deeply informed her belief in fairness, access, and the importance of systems that truly listen.

After growing up between country NSW and Canberra, and spending time living and working in the city, Alice moved to Wangaratta at the end of 2023 and is teaching at the local high school. Her partner grew up locally, and with her own family background in farming, she feels a strong connection to regional communities. She is grateful to be raising her child in North East Victoria and to be part of a community with a strong tradition of care and civic engagement.

In 2025, Alice joined Voices for Indi because she values living in an electorate where community activism is strong and where the Federal representative genuinely listens to and reflects local voices. She is passionate about ensuring that as many people as possible across the electorate are heard—regardless of their beliefs, values, or level of interest in politics. As an educator, she believes education and accessible information are key to people feeling confident, included, and represented in democratic processes.

Paul Ryan 

Paul works with people to create positive social and environmental change. As the Director of the Australian Resilience Centre, he focuses on building capacity to create and manage change in the face of uncertain futures. He works on issues as diverse as climate adaptation, poverty and humanitarian relief, disaster preparedness and recovery, sustainable agriculture, infrastructure planning, unemployment, domestic and gender-based violence, biodiversity loss and illegal wildlife trade. He has previously worked for the Stockholm Resilience Centre, CSIRO and various government agencies.

Paul has been inspired by the role Voices for Indi has played in respectfully engaging and empowering everyday people in the democratic process. He recently joined V4I with the aim of supporting and furthering this important movement and hopes it serves as a model and inspiration to other communities.

Paul lives in Beechworth with his family and spends his spare time working in the garden or bushwalking in the magnificent north east landscapes.