PEACEWISE - Key Persons
Allen is married to Jenny, and they have 6 children, and they live in the north-western suburbs of Sydney.
Allen has been a Christian since he was 15, and has been worshipping at Parramatta Baptist Church since 1991, being actively involved as a Deacon, Men's Ministry leader, worship team member, and property committee chairman. He also serves in ministry as Board Chairman of IntegriCare Pty Ltd, a Christian not-for-profit early learning organisation.
Most recently, Allen has been doing consulting work in the areas of governance, management and leadership development.
Prior to that, Allen was employed by BaptistCare NSW & ACT in a range of General Management roles for 11 years, and served as Company Secretary of Baptist Care Australia. Before BaptistCare he worked for multinational companies in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industries for over 20 years, having originally trained as a Teacher.
Angela lives in Adelaide with her husband and two boys. She works as a chaplain at a local Christian School and has had a heart for peacemaking for over 20 years. Having previously worked as a lawyer, mediator (NMAS) and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP), Angela has seen first hand the consequences of poorly managed relational conflict, as well as the life-giving power of forgiveness. A long term supporter of PeaceWise, her heart is to see every believer equipped and encouraged to be a peacemaker, bringing the hope of the gospel to all relationships.
Job Titles:
- Founding Director
- NSW and National Director
Bruce Burgess is married to Helen and they have two adult children.
Bruce is the Founding Director of PeaceWise and is Australia's first Certified Christian Conciliator™. He holds degrees in Arts, Law, Christian Studies and Theology. Bruce has extensive legal, risk and governance expertise, advising in these areas professionally on the day's that he is not working for PeaceWise.
Bruce's peacemaking work has led him to become involved in teaching and working with schools, workplace disputes, church and para-church based conflict and victim-offender cases. He is a sought after international speaker and his two particular areas of passion are working with organisations to build cultures of peace and teaching children and young people peacemaking so that they become peacemakers for life.
Job Titles:
- Office Manager
- Office and Training Manager
Catherine is our office manager, with responsibility for the overall smooth day to day operations of the ministry. Catherine comes from a small country town but moved to Sydney to complete her university education. She has completed a Bachelor of Business and Commerce at Western Sydney University. Catherine attends Servants of Jesus Community Church.
Deborah joined us in 2017 as the Minute Secretary to our National Board. Deborah has a Theology degree and has experience in leadership, training, and as a Community Carer in Anglican Retirement Villages. She is extremely gifted with technology and has helped PeaceWise tremendously with our database and online processes.
Serving people in conflict is something that Deborah has experienced in pastoral care and now even more so as a peacemaker. She has fast become a passionate PeaceWise advocate and not only seeks to live as a peacemaker but also promotes PeaceWise training and assists people to reconcile through PeaceWise mediations.
Deborah is married with two independent adult daughters and is on the Ministry Staff at St Matthews Church in Manly.
Elizabeth is a C-suite Executive with a career that expands 30+ years in broadcast media; strategic communications; public participation; policy and governance; and project management in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors.
Her PeaceWise journey started after learning about the ministry at a conference which led to her championing all staff at Vision Christian Media where she serves as Chief of Staff to undertake the training. In 2022 she started volunteering at PeaceWise to lead the content strategy on LinkedIn.
She was born in Barcelona, Spain, and grew up in an era where her parents were legally discriminated against and persecuted for their Christian religious beliefs.
Job Titles:
- Administration and Communications Officer
Ginny is our Administration and Communications Officer who brings over a decade of strategic marketing communications experience, in both corporate and not-for-profit organisations, to the PeaceWise team. Ginny and her husband Reuben spent ten years in Singapore, where she built a successful small business whilst staying home with her two young children, before moving back to Australia in 2021. She now lives in the Hills area of Sydney and worships at Parramatta Baptist Church with her family.
Ginny is passionate about marriage and family and seeing unity in the body of Christ. She has a heart for prayer and encouragement and is excited to support the unique and crucial ministry of PeaceWise in building peacemakers for life.
Hadyn has a background in finance, business development and relationship measurement as an Actuary. Haydn's appointment to the board came after Haydn began his own personal peacemaking journey by participating in PeaceWise's biblical peacemaking training that awoke in him a passion for living out the gospel as a peacemaker, and helping others to do the same. Hadyn is married with two boys whose homeschool curriculum includes PeaceWise Kids. Hadyn attends Hills Bible Church.
Job Titles:
- Administration Officer
- Finance
Jenny started with PeaceWise in 2013, after working for 20+ years in partnership with her husband John managing a small retail business. Jenny was seeking a change that was more in-line with her Christian faith and which gave her the opportunity to use her experience within a Christian or not-for-profit organisation. PeaceWise provided this role and Jenny has put her financial and administration experience to good use, providing support across all the ministry areas.
Jenny and John live in the Hills district of Sydney and attend the local C3 church. They have four adult children, two in-law children, and currently two beautiful grandchildren. Outside of PeaceWise Jenny spends her time caring for their special needs daughter, assisting her elderly parents, walking the dogs, and planning the next holiday!
Jeroen has a professional background in the oil and gas industry. Originally from Holland, but calling Australia home for many years, he has also lived and worked in the U.K., Oman and Nigeria. Jeroen has been the Chair of the PeaceWise Board since 2013. In December 2019 he also joined the Esther Foundation board.
Jeroen has been a follower of Jesus since he was 18. His passions and giftings are in the area of prayer, spiritual direction and biblical peacemaking. This has caused him to be involved in a variety of ministries, including his current involvement with PeaceWise. His deepest desire is to see the Christian faith transform people's lives and share the good news of Jesus.
Jeroen has been married to Eva for over 40 years. They enjoy three adult children, their spouses and six grandchildren. Jeroen and Eva are actively involved in Providence City Church. The more recreational passions of Jeroen are running, cycling, hiking, bird watching, reading and more recently sculpting or just spending time with family and friends around a good meal.
Job Titles:
- Coordinator
- Secretary of the Board
- Trainer
Josh is a Barrister and Mediator who lives, works and worships in Darwin with his wife Sarah and 5 young children. Josh has experience in church leadership and ministry governance teams, having variously held the position of secretary and public officer for Darwin Baptist Church over a period of 10 years, and more recently with the Baptist Union of the Northern Territory. Josh attends Emmaus Road Christian Church.
Josh is also a PeaceWise trainer and is the State Ministry Coordinator for PeaceWise in the Northern Territory.
Job Titles:
- Relationships and Content Manager
Karen is our PeaceWiseKids and PeaceWiseYouth Relationships and Content Manager. This spans both ongoing responsibility for the maintenance and development of content, as well as working at building and supporting those using PeaceWiseKids and PeaceWiseYouth.
Karen lives on the Gold Coast with her husband, Mike, and four children. She has many years experience as a teacher, chaplain and children's ministry leader. Karen is also a published author and writes and speaks about children, theology, family and women's issues. She is currently completing her Master of Ministry.
Job Titles:
- NSW Hunter Region Ministry Coordinator
Kevin has over 25 yrs Pastoral ministry with a focus on personal application of Biblical principles into everyday life. He has recently retired as Regional Minister for Hunter Baptist Churches and currently is a BaptistCare Chaplain. Kevin is also a founding Board member of HunterHarvest, Kingdomworks, and CityServe Charities, and is the PeaceWise Regional Ministry Coordinator in the Hunter.
He has worked for many years in challenging and conflicted situations to see God glorified through transformed relationships. Kevin trained for ministry at Morling College & has degrees in Engineering, Arts and Theology. As well as his serving in ministry roles for PeaceWise, Kevin is a trained PeaceWise conflict coach and mediator.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Conciliations Manager an Training Support
- Training & Conciliation Manager
- Western Australia Ministry Coordinator
Li Ai holds law and commerce degrees and practiced as a lawyer in both the private and government sectors for over a decade. She is one of the foundation PeaceWise Board members and currently is also the PeaceWise Training and Conciliations Manager. Li Ai has provided PeaceWise training and mediated church based conflicts. Her greatest passions are spending time with and learning more about Jesus, and sharing her love of him with others through practical helps and conversations over a cup of tea (or coffee!). She attends Providence City Church.
Lucy is married to Ryan and lives in the Perth Hills. Lucy first came to know PeaceWise through ‘The Board Internship' (CMA Korus Connect) where she was hosted by the PeaceWise board and mentored by Bruce Burgess. Lucy is passionate about sharing Jesus with young people and equipping local churches to be thriving, Jesus-centred communities for all generations. She is an experienced allied health professional and has also worked in the area of youth engagement for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Lucy has a growing interest in governance and has completed studies with the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and NonProfit Studies (QUT).
Wayne is the CEO of PeaceWise. He is married to Amy and has three children. He comes to these roles from a diverse background in mental health nursing, pastoral ministry and para-church organisations where he has held a variety of senior leadership and training roles.