To contact a member of staff, call 1800 033 660, or visit our Contact page.

Chief Executive Officer – Deb Deshayes

General Manager, Operations – Angela Jaeschke

Executive Assistant – Sarah Reilly

Communications Co-ordinator – Amila Dedovic

Information and Administration Officer – Samantha Marsh

Senior Policy Officer – Jackson Reynolds-Ryan

National Advocacy Officer – Martin Stewart

Engagement and Consultation Officer – Layal Hage 

BCA Board

To meet regulatory requirements, Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) is required to appoint a board of directors. The policy aims to balance BCA’s desire for a board that holds diverse skills, qualifications and interests with the entitlement of all members to be elected as a director.

Read our Board Recruitment Policy. 

Board of Directors

Fiona Woods 

President, Chair Fee for Service Committee
New South Wales

Fiona was elected BCA President in December 2021, after serving as a director since 2017. Other positions have included BCA Vice President, Chair National Policy Council and President of the National Women’s Branch. Totally blind since early childhood, Fiona studied Law and Arts at the University of Melbourne and worked as a lawyer and public servant, before choosing to be a stay-at-home mother to her six children while continuing to serve the community as a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor with the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Fiona lives on Dharug and Gundungurra country in the Blue Mountains. Fiona is also a director with Vision 2020 Australia.

Contact: Email or call on 1800 033 660

Stephen Belbin 

Branch Liaison Officer
Portfolio responsibility for the Reconciliation Action Plan
Co-chair 50th Anniversary Celebrations Committee
New South Wales

Helen Freris

Vice-President
Portfolio responsibility for International Involvement
Victoria

Helen Freris is a not-for-profit, community, and disability sector leader with more than 20 years of experience in capacity building, service and training delivery, program design and coordination.  She is strongly committed to social justice, equality and inclusion, and brings community sector experience in service delivery and management within family service and disability organisations.

Helen is currently the Health Services Program Manager at Women with Disabilities Victoria. She serves as a member of the Board and Policy Council of the World Blind Union Asia Pacific region.

Andrew Webster

Chair, Finance Audit and Risk Management Committee
Australian Capital Territory

Andrew joined the BCA board as a director in December 2020. He is currently Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee. Prior to joining the board, he was a member of BCA’s National Policy Council.

Andrew worked in the Australian Public Service for over 25 years where he led project teams engaged in the production of national statistics, change management and technology development.

Francois Jacobs

Chair, National Policy Committee
Victoria

Francois Jacobs is a sessional academic teacher in the Disability and Inclusion pathway at Deakin University. He also consults on digital accessibility as a freelancer, and his most recent work includes representing the student perspective for an advisory group on accessible procurement with the Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training.

Prior to emigrating from South Africa in 2015, Francois worked as a degree-qualified IT Business Analyst with over twelve years of technical and strategic experience in various sectors including Long Term Insurance, Customer Feedback Management, and Retail (Reward and Loyalty program).

Lee Chong

Board Representative, Finance Audit and Risk Committee

New South Wales

Neale Huth

Board Representative, National Policy Committee

Queensland

Robyn Mckenzie

Co-Chair 50th Anniversary Programming Committee

Portfolio Responsibility for Communications

Victoria