Meet our judges

We’re thrilled to introduce our expert judging panel for the 2026 SIMNA Awards. Read more about them below.

  • Danny is an impact strategist and systems change evaluation specialist with 15 years of experience helping global movement-building and advocacy organisations understand and grow their impact.

    He has led impact strategy and measurement work for Change.org and the Change.org Foundation, the Foundation for Young Australians, Nguvu Collective and Climate Action Network, among others.

    He is the co-founder of Complexys.ai, which helps organisations map the systems they work in and simulate the impact of their strategies.

  • Christina is an experienced impact measurement and social policy researcher with over 15 years’ experience delivering significant national and state-wide research, impact and evaluation projects.

    Her work at Urbis has provided her opportunities to work on numerous mixed methods research projects and she loves the challenge of using evidence to understand impact and support better outcomes for communities.

  • Johana is the Executive Manager, Research and Outcome Measurement at The Salvation Army.

    With qualifications in science, public health, medicine, and research management, she brings extensive expertise in quantitative and qualitative research, evaluation, and outcomes measurement.

    Johana established and leads The Salvation Army's research, evaluation, and outcomes measurement function, developing organisation-wide approaches that embed evidence-informed practice and strengthen mission impact across diverse frontline services.  She has led the implementation of frameworks that integrate robust evidence, frontline expertise, and lived experience to better understand, measure, and demonstrate outcomes.

    Through building organisational capability and advancing best-practice measurement approaches, Johana supports strategic decision-making and continuous improvement across the organisation. Her work champions collaborative, adaptive, and practical methods that ensure evaluation and outcomes measurement remain meaningful, actionable, and grounded in service delivery and community experience.

  • Rootu is a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) specialist with a passion for using data and evidence to create meaningful social impact. With over five years of experience working across India and Australia, she has led and supported projects spanning gender equality, social and financial inclusion, livelihoods, and agriculture. Rootu enjoys combining analytical rigour with curiosity and compassion, diving into both numbers and narratives to help programs understand what truly drives change. She has closely worked with marginalised and vulnerable populations and brings a culturally aware lens to all her projects. 

    Grounded in a background in Economics, she brings expertise in mixed-methods evaluations, translating complex insights into practical strategies that strengthen decision-making and outcomes.

    Rootu currently works as a Consultant in Clear Horizon’s Social Impact team, where she continues to design and deliver evaluations that make a difference. As part of SIMNA’s Organising Committee, she’s excited to contribute her international perspective and enthusiasm for collaboration to help grow Australia’s impact measurement.

  • Jack is a Director in SVA’s Consulting team, he has worked with non-profit, government and corporate clients to help clarify, pursue, and achieve their social impact objectives.

    Leading SVA Consulting’s practice in Queensland, Jack’s work has spanned across sectors, including mental health, disability, health, housing, early childhood, and education. His projects have focussed on strategy and business planning, data analysis, and community engagement. Recent notable projects have included leading local and national projects for Goodstart Early Learning, Country to Coast Queensland, St Vincent’s Care Services, Youth Live4Life, and the Brave Foundation.

    Jack values working with motivated organisations and leaders and has collaborated with two of his clients on a SVA Quarterly article about succession planning for outgoing founders. Jack has served on several not-for-profit boards, including current positions with a family foundation and SEED Futures, an initiative to design approaches and systems that place people at the heart of policy.

    Prior to joining SVA in 2018, Jack worked as a design engineer on infrastructure projects in Queensland, and on research projects at the National Opinion Research Centre at the University of Chicago.

    Jack holds a Master of Public Policy (Hons I) from the University of Chicago, Master of Engineering from the Queensland University of Technology, and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Queensland (Hons I).

  • Nicola Smart is a community partnerships and social impact professional with more than a decade of experience across the corporate and not-for-profit sectors.

    As Manager, Community Partnerships & Inclusion at nib Group, she works at the intersection of business and community, leading partnerships and initiatives focused on health equity, social impact and inclusion.

    Nicola is a Level 1 Social Value Practitioner with a strong interest in impact measurement and evaluation, and is passionate about supporting organisations to demonstrate and maximise the positive outcomes they create for people and communities.

  • Janet is a commercially astute leader with nearly twenty years experience in the corporate sector, including fourteen years managing Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) issues on behalf of ASX listed companies. This involves working directly with those most vulnerable in the community to ensure their voices are represented.

    During this time, Janet has has nurtured excellent and extensive relationships within Federal Government, corporate (she is the Chair of the Australia and APAC Chapter of Business for Societal Impact), philanthropic and not-profit sectors. Janet is also a Director of Good Things Australia and Volunteering Victoria.

    Outside of her professional engagements, Janet enjoys reading, hiking and travelling to see new parts of the world. Her favourite genres are crime and non-fiction.

  • Renée Madsen is Principal Consultant at Create and Evaluate, specialising in regional community engagement, group facilitation, strategic planning and social impact measurement. With a strong commitment to stakeholder-centred decision-making, her work spans a broad range of sectors, including agriculture, natural resources, environment, renewable energy, infrastructure, defence, local government, community services, small business and volunteering.

    Renée brings extensive on-the-ground experience working alongside regional communities across Queensland and the Northern Territory. She holds an Advanced Diploma of Group Facilitation – Australia’s highest accredited qualification in the field – as well as a Certificate in Engagement from the Engagement Institute (formerly IAP2).

    Renée believes that individuals and communities should have a say in decisions that affect their lives. Living and working in a regional community herself, she views social value measurement as a meaningful way to give voices to underrepresented stakeholders, recognise local strengths, and help regional communities create better outcomes for everyone.

  • Sarah Barker is a technology and governance leader with more than 20 years’ experience spanning executive leadership, software engineering, data and AI, international development and social services.

    She is Head of Robotics Safety & Policy at Andromeda, where she leads the safety, regulatory, privacy and compliance strategy for Abi, its emotionally intelligent humanoid companion robot. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Software), a Bachelor of Commerce, a Graduate Certificate of Sustainability and a Diploma of Governance.

  • Lorelei is currently the Practice Lead Engagement and Change Advisory, Western Australia and Northern Territory with Aurecon. She is a practitioner with a strong passion for the social impact and social performance space and enthusiastic to give back to the industry. 

    She currently leads a team of ten engagement, social value and change management specialists in Aurecon’s Western Australian and Northern Territory region. Lorelei is part of a national practice of over 70 specialists across Australia, who work on large infrastructure, energy and resource projects to ensure the impacts on people are considered through every stage of the project lifecycle. 

    Lorelei also sits on the Board of the not-for-profit, Mesothelioma and Dust Diseases Australia. Keen to continually keep learning, Lorelei is currently studying for a Graduate Certificate of Social Impact through UWA’s Centre for Social Impact.