Meet our Board
Tara – Chair
Tara Piazza is an experienced Non-Executive Director and transformation, digital, and strategy professional with over 12 years of board experience across the healthcare, not-for-profit, and public sectors.
Tara’s board experience includes nine years with the Institute for Breathing and Sleep at Austin Health and six years with the Mercy Health Foundation, where she played a key role in governance, strategy, and operating model change.
Professionally, Tara’s career spans executive leadership roles in global financial services, aviation, management consulting, and the Australian public sector. With expertise in customer experience, digital transformation, and organisational change, she has held senior positions at Goldman Sachs, Qantas, Myer, Public Transport Victoria, and Victoria Police.
Tara holds a Graduate Diploma in Applied Information Systems, an MBIT (Masters of Business – IT), has completed the AICD Company Directors Course, and has undertaken executive leadership programs at Harvard Business School. She is also an experienced executive coach, specialising in transformation, change management, and customer experience.
David – Vice Chair
David is a commercial sales and marketing leader with more than twenty years of experience. He holds a Bachelor of Business, Master of Business Administration and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. David is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Companion Member of Engineers Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.
David joined Wombat’s Wish as a board member in 2014. He is passionate about the cause and dedicated to its aim of being the leading service for parentally bereaved children across the state of Victoria.
Simone – Treasurer
Simone, a compassionate accountant with over 17 years’ experience, and currently Founding Director of Ascend Accounting and Advisory in Geelong. Simone’s dedication to her clients goes beyond numbers; she deeply values the personal connections she forms, especially with those who have experienced grief. Having previously served on charity boards, Simone is thrilled to join the Wombat’s Wish team, where she aims to expand the charity’s reach to support more vulnerable children coping with the loss of a parent. As a mother of two, Simone understands the importance of providing comfort and stability to families in difficult times. With her expertise and passion, Simone is committed to helping Wombat’s Wish make a meaningful difference in the lives of those who need it most.
Jo – Secretary
Jo is the author of Grief – a guided journal and a passionate advocate for giving grief a voice within our community, having experienced the sudden death of her own husband in 2017. Jo is also a marriage celebrant and the co-founder of Ivory Tribe, a digital wedding publication and a mother to her gorgeous 8 year-old daughter.
Raghu
Dr Raghu Baburaj completed his primary medical education in India. He moved to the UK in 2002 and trained in Psychiatry. He qualified with MRCPsych and also completed a CCT (Certificate of Specialist training) in Intellectual Disability ( ID) recognised by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK). He worked as an Inpatient Consultant and rehabilitation Consultant for people with ID in the UK from 2011-2019. He also managed epilepsy for people with ID in the UK as part of a joint working initiative with the Neurologist. He trained in diagnostic instruments such as ADI-R, Abbreviated DISCO and ADOS which are validated tools used in the diagnosis of ASD and used his experience to diagnose Adults with Autism and manage their co-morbidities as appropriate. He has a few publications on ID / Epilepsy.
Following his move to Australia in 2019, he successfully completed his FRANZCP in 2021 and had a public appointment with Barwon Health Baburaj started a public ASD clinic within Barwon health and engaged in complex Neurodevelopment diagnosis for adult clients known to Community Mental Health Teams. This team was recognised by Barwon Health and won an award for innovative practice. He is currently working as a Psychiatrist with Mildura Mental Health and Well-being services and Private work in Rural Victoria .
He is married with a 11 year old Son . He is passionate about care for people with Mental Illness and Neurodivergence. He enjoys Jogging , Cricket and Badminton in his spare time.
Peter
Hi, my name is Peter. After 16 years as a secondary teacher I moved into Financial Planning in 1996 and am one of the 2 Directors of our business, BURKE BRITTON Financial Partners in Geelong West.
I am delighted and privileged to have recently been approached to join the Wombat’s Wish Board. We as a family and a business have had a strong commitment to the great work of Wombats Wish for some time now. This very personal commitment is due to the fact that sadly two of my sons have been taken from us way too early, leaving young children without Dads.
I sincerely look forward to being able to assist the growth and capability of Wombats Wish in order to be able to provide invaluable guidance and support, for many more young people who have/are suffering through the horrible loss of a parent.
Hannah
Hannah has worked in various roles in the Insurance sector, with many years working as a lawyer.
Hannah has been with Wombat’s Wish since 2014 and is very passionate about the organisation and the support it provides not only to the local community, but the broader community across Victoria and Australia. When Hannah first heard about the organisation, she was drawn to it due to the free support it provides to people that otherwise is not readily available. Hannah is committed to continuing to see Wombat’s Wish grow and to be able to provide more services to parentally bereaved children and their surviving parent or carer.
Amy
Amy is currently a member of the Executive team at Yarra Valley Water accountable for People and Safety. She gravitates to for purpose industries which provide essential services to local communities. Her experience spans multiple industries including water, public transport, hospitality and entertainment FMCG, retail, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. Amy is passionate about leveraging the collective power of people working in organisations as a vehicle to enhance collective wellbeing of our people & planet. She is also a widow and single mum to 2 young boys and enjoys holidaying down in Phillip Island where she bought a holiday home during COVID 19.
Luke
Luke is the Manager of the Sport Rec and Health Team at Leisure Networks and has his own Master of Ceremonies business. He previously worked in the AFL system for 11 years. He is a family man with a lovely wife and 5 kids, with his passion lying in “Inclusion”.