Our Board
Our dedicated board members provide their time, expertise, and guidance to support children in foster care. Discover how our incredible board ensures maximum impact and positive outcomes for these kids.
Bronwyn Sheehan OAM
CEO and Founder
Bronwyn Sheehan founded The Pyjama Foundation in 2004 to positively impact vulnerable children.
As a nurse, midwife, and business owner, she was inspired by foster carers and concerned by poor literacy and numeracy levels in children in care. This led to the creation of the Love of Learning Program.
Bronwyn is a motivational keynote speaker and has received numerous awards, including 2009 Queensland Australian of the Year, 2010 Australian of the Year Finalist, 2018 EY Social Entrepreneur National Finalist, 2018 Telstra Business Award Social Change Maker National Finalist, and 2021 Order of Australia Medal (OAM).
Fiona Murdoch
Chair
Fiona brings over two decades of Board and senior executive experience to The Pyjama Foundation.
She has held senior operational roles with AMCI Investments, MIM Holdings, and Xstrata Queensland in the resources and infrastructure sectors. Fiona is a Non-Executive Director of NRW Holdings Limited, Ramelius Resources Limited, and Metro Mining Limited. She also serves on the Joint Venture Committee for the Australian Premium Iron Project.
Her roles span public and private sectors, including mining, water, minerals processing, and infrastructure. Fiona holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Laws (Honours), and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors program.
Roxanne Dunkel
Roxanne has extensive commercial experience as a lawyer and co-owner of the Australian Jewish News.
She has provided voluntary legal advice at Kingsford and Redfern Legal Centres, focusing on family issues. Roxanne chairs Kids Giving Back and has broad philanthropic sector experience.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and is currently studying for a graduate diploma in counselling. A mother of four, Roxanne is a strong advocate for ensuring all children have the best possible opportunities in life.
Anita Kariappa
Anita is a Partner at EY with more than 20 years’ experience. She has worked in the New York and Tokyo offices, and currently is based in Sydney where she leads a number of audits for both local and global clients.
Anita’s experience includes specialising in investment and retail banking, reviewing business processes and internal control frameworks, regulatory and prudential reporting.
Anita currently serves on the board for Kidsafe NSW Council and previously the Association of Women in Finance during her time in Tokyo. Anita leads the people initiatives across EY’s FSO Oceania practice, and brings energy, curiosity and a transformative mindset to all her roles.
Alex Smith
Alex is a lawyer and a partner in the Finance practice of global law firm K&L Gates, specialising in restructuring across a wide range of industry sectors.
Her professional role requires her to advise directors on risk issues and her breadth of experience in advising boards makes her well placed to contribute to the Pyjama Foundation.
As the daughter of a schoolteacher and a school librarian, and a mother of two high school children, Alex is a great believer in the benefits of education and support with literacy and numeracy. During the three years that Alex spent living in Mumbai, India, Alex undertook charitable volunteer work teaching English to underprivileged children.
Dan Woods
Dan is an experienced senior executive with more than 25 years’ experience across communications, marketing and business development, including leadership roles within some of Australia’s largest health, aged care and communications organisations.
He brings extensive expertise in crisis and issues management, mergers and acquisitions, industrial relations, operational restructuring and complex change management.
A current Managing Director of a leading PR and integrated communications company, Dan also holds several board and committee roles, bringing broad commercial, governance and strategic experience across Australia and internationally.
Justin Fenwick
Justin is a proud Wiradjuri and Wongaibon man. He is an experienced media and people leader with more than a decade of experience across broadcasting, workforce strategy and community engagement.
He is currently the Indigenous Employment Manager at the ABC, where he leads national strategy focused on the attraction, development and retention of First Nations talent. His career has spanned radio, content production and organisational strategy, he is passionate about telling the stories and amplifying the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country while forging pathways for emerging talent.
As a former foster carer, Justin brings firsthand experience of the out-of-home care system and an understanding of the importance that stability, trusted relationships and educational support can have in a young person’s life.
Eliza Pritchard
Eliza is a marketing, brand positioning and reputation executive with more than 20 years’ experience helping highly regulated and scrutinised organisations earn trust and build the conditions for growth. Her career spans global brand and marketing roles across Australia and internationally, including in-house, agency and advisory environments.
She brings a pragmatic, creative and commercial mindset to the Board, with a talent for simplifying complexity, challenging convention and turning ideas into meaningful action.
As a mother of two primary school-aged children, Eliza is deeply committed to the role education and consistent relationships play in shaping young lives and shares The Pyjama Foundation’s vision for a world of unlimited opportunity for all children.