Our Board
Justin Koonin, President
Justin Koonin, President
BSc (Hons), PhD, CFA, FAICD
Justin has worked within LGBTQ+ community organisations for almost twenty years. Internationally, he is a member of the Political Advisory Panel for the Universal Health Coverage Movement and a former co-chair of UHC2030, the global multistakeholder partnership for Universal Health Coverage, as well as a member of multiple WHO expert panels. Justin is Distinguished Fellow and Honorary Professorial Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health, and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of New South Wales. He is co-chair of the NSW Government LGBTIQA+ Advisory Council and has served as Advisory Governor of the Commonwealth Foundation. Justin is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Not-for-Profit Chairs Advisory Forum. He is trained as a mathematician and currently works as an investment analyst. He has also worked as a postdoctoral research associate (at the University of Sydney), and as a consultant in the areas of predictive analytics and data.
Louisa Degenhardt AO, Vice President
Louisa Degenhardt AO, Vice-President
BA (Hons), MPsychology (Clinical), PhD
Louisa is UNSW Scientia Professor, NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW. She was awarded her PhD in 2003, examining the comorbidity of drug use and mental disorders in the Australian population. She has honorary Professorial appointments at University of Melbourne's School of Population and Global Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, and University of Washington's Department of Global Health in the School of Public Health. Louisa conducts diverse epidemiological studies including data linkage studies focusing on people with extra-medical or dependent opioid use, chronic pain, analysis of large-scale community and clinical surveys, and cohorts of young people. She is currently CI with CI Dore and Farrell on an NHMRC Program Grant focussed on drug dependence and viral hepatitis. In 2023, Louisa was announced as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of her distinguished services to medical research, particularly addiction and mental disorders, to psychology, and to professional associations.
Alex Sosnov
Alex Sosnov
BA, BSW, MEd (Ed Psych), MAICD
Alex Sosnov is an HR and business leader with 30+ years' experience in people and organisational development. She has led teams across multiple continents and cultures and has worked primarily in Global Financial Services but also in Retail, Health and Not for Profit. Alex is currently employed as a People & Culture Executive at MetLife. Passionate about community, Alex has previously served as co-convenor of The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby and is a former Chair of the Aurora Group (now Rainbow Giving Australia). In a full circle moment, Alex is also a former ACON employee responsible for counselling and health advocacy of clients and staff during the mid-90's. Alex is a member of the AICD, and holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master of Educational Psychology from Sydney University.
Atari Metcalf
Atari Metcalf
BSc, MD, FRACGP
Atari is an openly trans Specialist General Practitioner with a focus on sexual and reproductive health. He completed his internship and residency at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney working across a variety of medical and surgical specialties in addition to completing secondments in paediatrics and Aboriginal health before going on to complete his Fellowship with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Prior to practising medicine Atari spent 15 years working in health promotion research, policy and strategy within community and digital mental and sexual health services, as well as working as an analyst on national inquiries into asylum seeker, transgender and intersex health and human rights for the Australian Human Rights Commission. Before joining ACON's Board Atari also served as a Board Director at Suicide Prevention Australia and as co-chair of Twenty10 incorporating NSW Gay and Lesbian Counselling Services.
Benjamin Bavinton
Benjamin Bavinton
BA (Hons), MPH, PhD
Benjamin has worked in the field of HIV prevention and research for 20 years in Australia and internationally. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, and leads the Biobehavioural HIV Prevention Research Group. His research focuses on the biomedical, behavioural and epidemiological aspects of HIV prevention among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and transgender women in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. He worked at ACON in peer education with gay, bisexual and queer men from 2004 to 2010, which also included 12 months working at UNAIDS in Bangkok, Thailand.
Jason Glanville
Jason Glanville
Jason is a Wiradjuri start-up founder with extensive governance expertise and experience across community, corporate, government and philanthropy. He works as an adviser on strategy, leadership, governance and systems transformation working with leaders across the commercial, for-purpose, and creative sectors to create platforms for sustainable change. Jason is a Co-founder and Director of Native Foodways, was the inaugural Executive Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity program and creator and inaugural CEO of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence. He was part of the start-up team that built Reconciliation Australia and served on its Board for five years. He is currently Chair of the Foundation for Young Australians and a member of the Board of the GO Foundation and, until recently, was Chair of PwC Indigenous Consulting and the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute. Jason is an Adjunct Professor at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at University of Technology Sydney and a member of the Indigenous Advisory Group at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Jimmy Yu Hsiang Chen
Jimmy Chen
Jimmy Yu-Hsiang Chen joined the ACON Board in the role of Board Associate. Jimmy is the Networks Project Officer at the National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA), where he passionately focuses on community engagement and collaboration with people living with HIV from a range of diverse communities. He also works at ACON's a[TEST] clinic, providing sexual health education and prevention information to the priority community.
Somali Cerise
Somali Cerise
BA, MSc
Somali Cerise is a gender equality and human rights expert with 20 years' experience leading policy and research initiatives across Australia and globally. She currently works on a range of gender equality initiatives with the Elizabeth Broderick & Co, Champions of Change Coalition, UN Women, and the University of Sydney. She has previously been a Convener of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, a board member of the Inner City Legal Centre and Aurora Foundation. Somali is also a Member of the Policy and Advisory Committee for the National Women's Safety Alliance and an Honorary Associate Professor at the Australian National University Gender Institute. She has a BA (UTS) and a Master of Science (Human Rights) (London School of Economics and Political Science).
Zoé de Saram PSM
Zoé de Saram PSMBAgrEc, MAICD
Zoé is a highly respected professional with considerable experience in the design and execution of strategy, policy, and service delivery. She has held a number of senior executive roles in the NSW Government and has a deep understanding of the architecture of government and the way it operates. She is also very well connected to a diverse range of key personnel across Federal, State and Local governments. In February 2021, Zoé was appointed to the role of Director, Performance Audit, at the Audit Office of NSW. Prior to that she was Executive Advisor, Public Sector Practice at the North Point Consulting Group, a boutique firm specialising in designing and executing strategy, digitally enabled business models and business transformation. She is actively involved in raising awareness about breast cancer and supporting women recovering from breast cancer.