Dr Sara Quinn MAPS GAICD President Dr Sara Quinn is an experienced leader working with individuals, organisations, and communities. Her expertise are diverse including: Board Director (Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors), company founder and director, owner of a private practice, academic roles of lecturer (undergraduate and postgraduate psychology masters and PhD programs), researcher, and supervisor, and experience working within Federal government agencies in organisational, clinical, and executive roles (as a consultant and employee managing psychological services and large multidisciplinary teams across Australia). Sara is an endorsed clinical psychologist, Fellow of the Clinical College, and has previously held numerous APS committee positions. She currently holds the clinical role on a local health promotion charity and is the chair of scientific programs in a Federal Government agency. Her clinical practice is focussed on organisational risk, leadership, and trauma and her academic research into cognitive development has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented internationally.

Dr Zena Burgess FAICD FAPS Zena Burgess is an experienced non-executive Director and Chief Executive Officer with significant experience across commercial and social enterprise organisations. She holds a PhD in Organisational Psychology and Master’s Degrees in Business Administration and Education. Zena was awarded Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2013. Prior to joining the APS in 2020, Zena was the Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) for 11 years. During that time she oversaw a transformation of the RACGP to be the largest, most influential and innovative medical college in Australia. Zena has a passion for building human capability in individuals, organisations and systems. Zena has driven new strategic directions and change implementation, achieving a culture of high-performance and innovation in organisations.

Dr Carolyn Deans MAPS is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience working in high-risk environments, including military, emergency services, first responders, and frontline workers. She has a combination of private practice, consulting, training and internal organizational expertise working with various populations to support their mental health and wellbeing. Carolyn has worked across local and international settings in clinical and community health interventions, as well as research projects on resilience and wellbeing in teenagers, parents, hard-to-reach populations, high-risk workers, and veterans. She worked in academic research, teaching and supervision of students in these areas. Her work spans program design, strategy development, clinical governance, and learning and development, with a focus on developing tailored interventions for those in high-risk occupations. Currently, Carolyn coordinates the Australian Psychological Society's Disaster Response Network, which connects over 1,000 volunteer psychologists who assist frontline and emergency service workers in maintaining their psychological resilience and wellbeing during critical incidents.

Stuart worked as senior manager for the Australian Red Cross and has been deployed numerous times to both coordinate Disaster response and support psychosocial aspects of the response in Australia. Stuart has also been deployed several times by the international Red Cross in Papua New Guinea both coordinate Disaster response and support psychosocial aspects of the response where Stuart lived for 4 years.

Dr Lynne McCormack is and Honorary Professor at the University of Newcastle, a researcher, clinician, supervisor, and humanitarian mental health psychosocial delegate. With greater than 100 peer reviewed publications, her career spans over 3 decades with a focus on the interface of complex trauma and posttraumatic growth. She is a member of the Disaster Response Network, a national volunteer network of Australian psychologists with specialist training in supporting first responders affected by disasters and is an international delegate/trainer for the Red Cross. She has deployed to international and national crises including the summer of 2019/2020 bushfires in Australia, and to Vietnam, Aceh, East Timor, and Uganda. She fosters disaster risk reduction and growth out of adversity. Amongst her community work she is a mental health advisor for Hostage International, supports the carers of survivors of child sacrifice at Kyampisi in Uganda, a Board Member for Heal for Life, and has secured successive government grants for cultural immersions for students in the Pacific region. Her own career creates a platform for mentoring and supervising the next generation of psychologists supporting the wider humanitarian, military and first responder communities and all those confronted by interpersonal trauma.

I have worked as a psychologist for over 40 years including education and private practice. I have been on multiple deployments with the DRN since 2011 to support Red Cross volunteers after natural disasters , and more recently NSW Wildlife Carers. I presently provide onsite support to front line responders after events. This sort of work has a lot of challenges but is incredibly rewarding and Im looking forward to answering any questions about my experiences