Suggestions
Sarah Davies
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation
Sarah Davies AM is a prominent leader in the Australian not-for-profit sector with a diverse and impactful career. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, a role she assumed in March 2021.124
Professional Background: Sarah has had a wide-ranging career spanning multiple sectors, including:
- Executive roles in tertiary education
- Private sector consulting in HR, marketing, and strategy across Australia, Europe, and the Middle East
- Extensive experience in the charity and for-purpose sector for the past 18 years123
Key Leadership Roles: Her notable leadership positions include:
- CEO of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation
- Former CEO of Philanthropy Australia
- Former CEO of Australian Communities Foundation
- Former CEO of The Reach Foundation35
Board and Governance Involvement: Sarah serves on several boards and committees, including:
- Chair of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Advisory Board
- Deputy Chair of Teach for Australia
- Non-executive Director of Social Ventures Australia
- Director of Kids Under Cover
- Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University of Technology23
Personal Philosophy: Driven by a deep commitment to social justice, Sarah believes in creating opportunities for equality and empowering communities. Her work focuses on supporting children and young people, ensuring they can grow up safe, happy, and strong.67
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation, where she currently leads, was founded in response to the Port Arthur tragedy and works to protect children from violence and trauma, providing therapeutic support and running programs like Dolly's Dream to promote online safety and wellbeing.6
Highlights
Quite rightly, there’s much attention on children & young people’s interaction with tech, & the impact on their wellbeing. Here are 3 excellent (balanced, evidence based) pieces of research to help inform us & guide us to take effective & positive action (& avoid the risk of knee-jerk action that does not actually change anything for the better). Check out pages 13-19 of the US Surgeon’s General Advisory: there’s our map forward. It’s Government’s responsibility to ensure children’s digital rights are upheld & realised; it’s tech’s responsibility to prevent their services & products being used in ways which violate these rights; it’s all of our responsibility to skill & educate ourselves and our children on how to navigate tech safely and well.

From Yes23 - we have been asked to share widely.
