About the V4I Team

The V4i team is a committee of passionate locals.  The 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 15 years and now concentrates her efforts on the state’s circular economy 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.  

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. 

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

Bio to come

Tony Lane

Tony is passionate about education, community wellbeing and environmental sustainability so it was only natural that he got involved in community-based grass-roots politics. Tony values the collegiate approach of the V4i community recognising that respectful processes create opportunities for all people to make a positive contribution and improve social and environmental outcomes.

Tony is a member of the Wangaratta Landcare and Sustainability Inc. which is part of the Victorian Landcare Network. He also served as Board Chair at Galen Catholic College for six years. Tony has lived and worked in the North East for 35 years. For most of this time he has worked in the public sector, initially in employment and training, and currently in health and aged care. Tony and his wife Donna have raised three children who have all flown the nest.

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.