Glenys was born in Melbourne, Australia. She grew up in Canberra before studying in Sydney, travelling to Asia, and eventually ending up in the USA where she lived, studied and worked for 15 years. She now lives back in Melbourne in the beachside City of Bayside.

After experiencing an unexpected period of social isolation in late 2017, Glenys began introducing Chatty Café to Australia in late 2019, in an informal partnership with the UK Chatty Cafe office. The national bushfires in 2019 and current Covid-19 pandemic has made it clearer than ever to Glenys that Australia needs its local communities to be encouraged to stay socially connected to help prevent loneliness at all stages in life. Glenys believes Chatty Cafe Australia can help communities achieve that.

LLB, Bec (Hons), Grad Dip Industrial Relations

Mike has worked with the community to make a difference in people’s lives for a number of years. Initially as a founding member of the StandByYou foundation, a charity to provide financial assistance to people living with cancer, and then in other ways including supporting asylum seekers and helping to establish community gardens. Throughout his career in the corporate sector (initially as a lawyer and commercial mediator) he has focused on listening to people to understand underlying needs and enabling them to find creative solutions/ resolution.

Jon Griffin is a member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, holds a B Ec. Dip FS (Financial Planning) and is an ASIC registered company auditor, a registered tax agent and a registered self-managed superannuation fund auditor.

Jon, the founder of the Social Value Accounting group and director principal of APL Financial Pty Ltd Chartered Accountants has over 25 years of accounting and finance experience with for profit and NFP entities.

Max is a Director of The Chatty Cafe Scheme Australia and community and conversation are central to his life and career. Max has played many roles that support community and connection through corporate and for purpose organisations and initiatives. His expertise is in program delivery, design and management, as well as partnership development. An aspect of his work that Max is particularly passionate about is understanding the barriers to full inclusion and participation in society faced by his students, and supporting them to do so regardless. This focus aligns with Chatty’s mission, and is what drives his participation in the Chatty team.

Jill is recognised as a trusted advisor by all her clients, having successfully delivering multiple change programs both domestically and at international level focusing on: Change Management strategy and implementation, Change capability, Team leadership, Business Engagement, Executive advice and coaching.

Jill’s career spans Corporate, consulting and industry experience including Financial Services, Agribusiness, Retail and Distribution, Mining and Minerals, Public Sector, Automotive and Telecommunications.

With a background in the community and human services sector, Andrew’s life and career has been focused on the desire to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

For the last 8 years, Andrew has been the manager Learning and Development of InvoCare, a leading provider of funeral services and support services for those suffering loss and grief. Andrew has also held senior operational roles for InvoCare for many years right around Australia. Andrew now works as an L&D consultant and a celebrant and continues to support families through difficult times.

Andrew’s academic qualifications include a double bachelor’s degree (Social Science and Theology) at Flinders University (Adelaide) and a Master of Business Administration at QUT (Brisbane). Andrew also holds a Cert IV in workplace training and assessment.

Andrew has acted as a non-executive director of a number of well-known and highly regarded organisations. He was a board member (and chair) of the SMP Life skills 2 Work Group, one of WA’s leading providers of employment placement, alternative to employment and support services for people with an intellectual disability and mental illness. He was also a board member of Dementia Australia for 9 years, and a board member of the Lions International Save Sight Foundation and the Eye Institute (Nedlands WA).

A science graduate from Monash University, Sue’s always been a champion for equality, climate action, integrity and the common good tracing her activism roots back to the 1970s when, as a teenager, she discovered feminism and David Bowie.

It surprises no one that she became a founding organiser for March4Justice and Voices of Goldstein, and Zoe Daniel’s campaign manager for the federal seat of Goldstein in 2022. Founder of Barrett and the Selling Better Movement, and a leading advocate for human-centred, ethical business, sales and leadership practices, Sue works with businesses and communities to raise awareness of our interconnectedness as a foundation for empathy, compassion, decency and ethics, which in turn informs our moral cognition – our capacity to ‘do the right thing’.

She encourages us to think deeply about how our decisions affect others and the planet, and how to take positive action and affect real change. In 2019, Sue published her book, ‘142 Days of Gratitude that changed my life forever‘, a treatise on the positive power of gratitude. She is an active sportsperson living in Melbourne with her family and is inspired by David Bowie, Rachel Carson, Kate Raworth, and Maria Montessori.