ALIMA Australia Board of Directors
ALIMA and ALIMA-Australia are distinct organizations working towards the same goal. ALIMA is registered in France under the Association Law of 1901. ALIMA-Australia is a Company Limited by Guarantee by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), and a registered charity by the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC). ALIMA-Australia is also registered as a Public Benevolent Institution (PBI) with Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status by the Australian Taxation Office.
ALIMA-Australia has zero tolerance to child abuse in all its forms and allegations.
Nikki Blakwell
President
Nikki Blackwell is an Associate Professor of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Queensland. She works part time as an intensive care specialist at the Prince Charles hospital. Nikki previously worked for Doctors Without Borders for several years before co-founding ALIMA with a small group of colleagues. Nikki was the director of medicine and research for ALIMA from 2009-2013 and remains actively involved. She has also contributed in transforming ALIMA’s response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014 into the ground-breaking, high-quality care, which we are now able to provide during emergency Ebola outbreaks.
Juanita William
Secretary
Juanita is an environmental lawyer who specialises in climate change litigation. She has been working at Queensland’s premier not-for-profit public interest environmental law firm for more than five years and is now primarily involved in overseeing the free advice services within the organisation, which includes providing general advice to clients on public interest environmental law matters. Juanita has a keen interest in the operations and governance of companies (whether large corporations, not-for-profits, or NGOs). It is this interest that has led her to pursue her postgraduate studies of Master in Law (Business Law) and a reason behind her eagerness to be a part of ALIMA Australia’s Board as Secretary. Juanita holds a Bachelor of Laws with 2nd class Honors from Southern Cross University, and owns and operates her own business.
Sonia Girle
Member
Sonia Girle is a Registered Nurse/Midwife who has a background in Emergency Nursing, Remote Area Nursing, Aeromedical Retrieval, Public Health, Child Health and is a lecturer at the James Cook University’s of Public Health. Sonia has completed a Master’s degree in Public Health and Tropical Medicine, holds a Masters in Nursing (Child, Youth and Adolescent Health), PGDip Nursing (Critical Care) and PGDip Midwifery. She worked as the Deputy Medical Director for ALIMA from 2010 to 2012 and held several positions within Doctors Without Borders. She has worked in Iran, Nigeria, South Sudan, Haiti, Mali and Niger. She has been on ALIMA’s board since 2011.
Chris Brasher
Member
Dr. Chris Brasher is a pediatric anesthetist in Melbourne, Australia. He also holds a diploma from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He worked full time with Doctors Without Borders from 1996 until 2006, where he worked as a field anesthetist, field and country coordinator, and in the Paris head office as a program and research manager. Highlights of his career included caring for surgical patients in challenging remote environments, coordinating emergency responses to conflict and famine, and piloting research of scaling up HIV therapy and the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in resource-poor environments.
