Board of Directors
Margaret Bell, AM
Chief Executive Officer - Chain Reaction Foundation Ltd
Margaret has been working with community, business and government leaders during 30 years of wide involvement with the volunteering movement at state, national and international levels. Margaret was founding President/CEO of Volunteering Australia, the peak national body for volunteering, founding member of the Australian Prime Minister's round table on business and community partnerships, a founding Director of CIVICUS, the World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and World President of the International Association for Volunteer Effort. She is the founder of Chain Reaction Foundation, dedicated to working with community, business and government leaders to find clearer, more sustainable ways to live and work as an inclusive multicultural society.
Benjamin Chow, AO
Council of the National Museum of Australia
Benjamin Chow was reappointed to the Council of the National Museum of Australia in June 2006. He is a civil engineer and the Managing Director of Sydney Subdivision Pty Ltd. He is a member of the Urban Development Institute of Australia and a Council Member of Bond University, Queensland. Previously, Benjamin was Chair of the Council for Multicultural Australia, President of the Australian Chinese Community Association of NSW and has been active in a number of community organisations including the Scout Association of Australia. He was born in Shanghai and lived in Hong Kong until coming to Australia as a teenager in the early 1960s. He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1969 with a Bachelor of Engineering.
Dorothy Harding
Communications Consultant
Dorothy Harding has over 30 years of communications industry experience, she has worked for private, not for profit and government clients including six years with Volunteering NSW. Currently working as a consultant her diverse client portfolio includes ASX list oil and gas companies, environmentally friendly coffin manufacturers, nuclear radiology association and hospitality. As a Board Member of Chain Reation she provides pro bono support with grahic design and communication issues.
Hon John Hood
Business Advisor
John Hood is a company Director with a considerable business background with George Wimpey London, Chemical Bank, Chase Manhattan and JP Morgan. He is a founder Director of The Parent Practice UK, The Parent Practice Australia and Bellanga Pastoral Co Australia. He comes to Chain Reaction Foundation as a business advisor.
Prof Abd-Elmasih Malak, AM
Executive Director Workforce and Organisational Development - Sydney West Area Health Service
Abd-Elmasih Malak is a leader in the fields of Australian health, social welfare and multiculturalism. For the past 25 years he has had broad experience in several areas of health and social welfare including service provision, policy planning and management. He acts as a resource person to approximately 20 migrant, general welfare and health organisations in NSW. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Cross Cultural Social Work Education at the University of NSW, Member of the Western Sydney Regional Advisory Committee, and a Member of the NSW Ethnic Community Council Executive Committee.
Andrew McCallum, AM
Chief Executive Officer - Association of Children's Welfare Agencies (ACWA)
Andrew McCallum comes from a teaching background and has served over 30 years in community development and as President of the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) and President and Executive Member of the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS), in addition to holding many board appointments.
Dr Sev Ozdowski, OAM
Director Equity and Diversity, University of Western Sydney
Dr Ozdowski has an outstandng history in public service including the role of Australian Human Rights Commissioner 2000-2005. He is currently Director Equity and Diversity, UWS and Associate Professor, Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies at University of Sydney. He has received many awards including Order of Australia Medal 1995, FECCA 25th Anniversary Medal 2005 and the Officers Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland 2007.
Ali Roude, OAM
President Islamic Council of NSW
Mr Ali Roude OAM is an Australian who migrated from Lebanon with his family in 1971. He has been Chairman of the Islamic Council of New South Wales since 1983, making him the longest standing democratically elected leader of the Muslim communities in Australia. In this role, he has initiated numerous projects, including the development of a comprehensive Islamic Scripture Program for New South Wales Muslim children covering 300 public schools, the organisation of the Bosnian Humanitarian Appeal, burial according to Islamic law and the establishment of the Muslim Cemetery Trust, the establishment of the Voice of Islam radio station and the establishment of Rissalah College, a Muslim school in Sydney, where is he is now the Principal. Mr Roude has also served on many government advisory committees, including the Olympic Multicultural Advisory Committee and the Police Ethnic Advisory Committee. His voluntary work and ongoing commitment to Muslim communities resulted in him receiving Australia’s most prestigious award, the Order of Australia, in 1988.