Emily Dwyer (she/her) | Co-Founder, Board Director and Head of Strategy
Emily Dwyer isa trans woman and co-founder Edge Effect. Her humanitarian career began in Afghanistan in 2004, where she worked for 4 years. In total, she has 18 years of development and humanitarian experience in LGBTIQ+ inclusion, media development, humanitarian information, peace building, democracy and governance and civil society strengthening projects. Over this time she worked in isolated project offices, in country management, regional management and headquarters roles, for national organisations, INGOs and the UN. Prior to working in the humanitarian and development sectors she was a radio broadcaster in Australia and a freelance foreign correspondent in Southeast Asia. More about Emily …
Joan Githinji (she/her) | Training and Community Officer
Joan is an intersectional feminist and a learning experience designer, who has developed and implemented multi-approach capacity strengthening programs both in the development and humanitarian sectors. She is firm and passionate about shifting constraining social and gender norms, and centering inclusivity. For over 13 years Joan has designed, implemented, and managed e-learning programs, trainings, mentorship programs, peer-to-peer learning programs, communities of practice, and accompaniment programs, in the fields of public health, science journalism, agri-preneurship, innovation, and LGBTIQ+ inclusion.Joan has an M.A. in Gender and Development Studies and is a Human-Centered Design (HCD) practitioner. More about Joan …
Andrew Goff (he/him/they/them) | CEO and COO
Andrew is an experienced business professional who has worked in the technology and startup sector, not-for-profit sector, and media sector. With specialisation dealing with international business management (including an MBA focussing on sustainability and Asia-Pacific partnerships) and a passion for supporting multiply marginalised folk to achieve success, he has responsibility for making sure the whole Edge Effect team can deliver projects to their strengths. More about Andrew …
Heather Grace Jones (she/her) | Programs Officer and Co-Founder
Heather Grace Jones has over twenty years’ experience in community and international development. For the past decade she has worked in Australia, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Pakistan on social justice issues. This includes working with diverse communities using participatory action research approaches and supporting LGBTIQA+ community members with refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. Ms Jones is the co-editor of two books and holds a Masters in Narrative Therapy and Community Work and was one of the founding members of Edge Effect. More about Heather Grace …
Ribal Maatouk (he/him) | Programs Officer
Coming soon.. More about Ribal …
Michael McGrath (he/him) | Research and Programs Officer
Michael’s research and community development work started in Myanmar. Returning to Australia in 2017 to undertake a Master of Public Policy at the ANU, he shifted his academic and professional focus to the rights and wellbeing of LGBTQI+ folk, weaving a rainbow angle into any essay he could. After graduating, he jumped back to Southeast Asia and eventually found himself in Myanmar again, where he spent 2 years working for Kantar Public on research projects including ground-breaking LGBTIQ+ research. Following advisory work with UNFPA and UNOPS as an LGBTQI+ inclusion specialist, Michael joined Edge Effect in 2023. More about Michael …
Former Key Staff: Lana Woolf (she/her) | Co-Founder
Lana Woolf is a Co-founder of Edge Effect and worked with us over 2017 – 2022 in various roles including CEO and Board Director. In 2023 Lana moved into independent consulting and can be contacted through Community Powered Responses. She has more than twenty-five years of experience working in the margins with people who have intersecting oppressions, including First Nations / Indigenous communities, refugee and migrant women and women with very low socio-economic statuses, People with Disabilities, and people with diverse Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities, Expressions and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC).
