Board
GRAI Board Members — 2009/10
The Board of GRAI comprises a dedicated and highly talented group of individuals.
Each member of the Board brings with them their own professional expertise, a diverse range of community experiences and a special interest in seeing GLBTI ageing issues addressed.
The 2009/10 Board was announced following the 2009 AGM.
Jude Comfort — Chair
Jude Comfort has over twenty years experience working in public health. She currently works in the School of Public Health at Curtin University where she has been involved in the first large scale survey of lesbian and bisexual women’s health issues in WA and is hoping to find the money and time to pursue more research in this area.
She has been active in the Perth lesbian community for many years both socially and through supporting a social justice agenda.
She is particularly interested to bring the health issues of lesbians to the GRAI table and encourage change at both a structural and individual level so that women can act positively to achieve healthy older years.
Cycling is her other passion.
Stuart Pekin — Treasurer
Steve Singer — Secretary
Steve has been an active member of several GLBTI community groups for the over 20 years and served on the committee of Gay and Lesbian Equality during the period 1996 – 2002, a period that saw the introduction of comprehensive gay law reform in Western Australia.
He joined GRAI as a founding member to support the leading role played by his partner, Graham Lovelock, and to play a role in creating retirement living options that recognise the needs and desires of the GLBTI community. Steve has served on the GRAI Board since its inception.
Steve’s professional experience includes employment in the Western Australian resource sector in a range of engineering and commercial roles.
Damian Douglas-Meyer — Board Member
As the former chair of Gay and Lesbian Equality (WA) Inc during the West Australian gay and lesbian law reform process from 1999 to 2003, Damian Douglas-Meyer has put in many hard yards as an activist and lobbyist. With his husband, Graham Douglas-Meyer, he was a founding member of Australian Marriage Equality and was previously on the GRAI board from its inception through to 2007. Damian rejoined the board after being elected at the 2008 AGM.
Malcolm Fialho — Board Member
Malcolm has more than sixteen years experience in the equal opportunity, diversity and human rights sector in WA.
Prior to taking on the position of Senior Consultant Equity and Diversity at the University of Western Australia in 2000, Malcolm held leadership positions in the equity and diversity area across the Commonwealth and non-government sectors including Director, Northern Suburbs Migrant Resource Centre sectors.
Malcolm holds postgraduate qualifications in both cross-cultural psychology and public sector management.
He is passionate about further developing and deepening the nexus between human rights and organisational change through education, awareness raising and responsive service delivery.
June Lowe — Board Member
June has been involved in social and environmental justice campaigns since the early 1980s, working with a wide range of community groups. June also took part in the gay law reform campaigns with GALE, leading up to the successful passage of the Lesbian and Gay Law Reform Bill in 2001.
June is currently at university studying Asian Studies and Anthropology. She joined the board of GRAI in 2009 and looks forward to learning more about GLTBQI aging issues and being able to contribute to this important field.
Leonie Stickland — Board Member
Community Representatives
Virginia Hailes — Alzheimers Australia
With a background is in psychology, Virginia has been at Alzheimers Australia for 7 yrs as a counsellor plus group facilitator. Previously she has worked in Melbourne with HIV / HepC clients doing both pre & post counselling for 2 years.