Meet the Board
The work of The Social Outfit is guided by a skilled Board (Committee of Management) that meets every two months to determine strategic direction and oversee operations and budget allocations.
Jacquie Macdougall
Jacquie joined The Social Outfit as Chief Executive Officer in June 2024. Jacquie is an accomplished business leader with extensive experience across the fashion industry. From 2018 to 2024, she was the Head of Product & Production at Johnny Bigg, a specialty retailer with 92 locations across Australia and New Zealand and an expanding international business. In this role, Jacquie was responsible for the overall vision, direction and performance of the business, managing and mentoring a team across product, supply chain and production. From 2007 to 2019, Jacquie was also the Executive Chair of a Before & After School Care Management Committee, leading the transformation of this not for profit into a highly regarded care and education facility.
Beverley Brock
Beverley is passionate and energised stepping into her dream role as the Social Outfits’ Head of Impact. This role demonstrates her commitment to social justice as well as her ethical values around sustainable fashion and changing women’s lives for the better.
Beverley has 20 years of fundraising experience in the sector, having held senior leadership positions and instrumental roles in many of Australia’s best loved fundraising campaigns including Dress for Success, the Cancer Council’s Daffodil Day, the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave and CanTeen’s National Bandana Day.
Joucelen (Joss) Gabriel
Joss manages our manufacturing workroom coordinating the development of our collections and guiding the sewing technicians to further develop their skills and confidence in Australia's fashion industry. Joss also guides the work of our volunteers and runs our Sewing School.
Sonya Price-Kelly
Sonya is The Social Outfit Programs and Employment Transitions Manager who has also facilitated our Community Print Projects, creating our signature community textile designs, since 2021.
Prior to working at The Social Outfit Sonya's professional background centred around social justice advocacy, policy reform, research, project management and community engagement working with people with disability and refugee and new migrant communities. Since 2014 Sonya has been developing a creative design practice using focal mediums of textiles, ceramics and photography.
Her passion lies with using her unique skills in creative roles and projects that are person centred, celebrate diversity and facilitate inclusion, highlight social issues, build skills, confidence and agency.
Laura Anderson
Our Scottish lass, Laura, joined our team as Marketing and E-commerce Manager, where she runs the operations of all things Marketing, Socials our Website.
She is a marketing professional with over 8-years marketing experience and a Masters in Fashion Management. Her career background is in Fashion Marketing, working in similar fashion ventures looking to champion inclusivity and change in the industry.
Laura has proven experience in growing online presence and sales. She is keen to use her marketing and creative skills to continue making a difference, supporting the vision and values of The Social Outfit’s slow fashion model that empowers women.
Eliza Da-Costa
Eliza is our Store Manager and heads up our retail training program and manages our Newtown Store shopfront, ready to solve any styling faux pas or questions you may have.
She has extensive experience in retail management and training and is dedicated to empowering our young trainees by providing them with the education and support they need to succeed in the Australian retail industry.
Eliza's background in fashion design and production has given her a passion for promoting ethical and sustainable fashion practices.
Xiuyan Han
Han assists with the effective running of the day-to-day operations of our manufacturing workroom, and produces high-quality clothing and other products for sale by The Social Outfit.
Pictured, L-R: Fatima, Marzia, Han, Deepa, Joss, Elena, Lilyrose
We employ women from the refugee and new migrant community as part of our sewing technician employment program, making all of The Social Outfit's garments and accessories on site. These are paid positions, and for the majority of our sewing staff they represent their first job in Australia.
These placements run from 6 months to 2 years, and are designed to transition people into external paid employment.
Find out more about our community employment programs' impact.
Pictured: Nasima, Shrishti, Keziah & Haya
We employ young people from the refugee and new migrant community as part of our retail training program, providing paid placements to learn retail skills and confidence in a supported Australian environment.
These placements run for 3 months and are designed to transition young people into external paid employment.
Find out more about our community employment programs' impact.
Fezeh
Fezeh leads the Sewing Circle in Granville as our Sewing Tutor.
After transitioning from a past student Fezeh now steps into the role of teacher. This role represents her first employment in Australia beyond supporting The Social Outfit to manufacture face masks during the Covid lockdowns.
Kobra
Kobra joined The Social Outfit as a Community Coordinator supporting the Earn & Learn program as well as The House of Welcome Sewing Circle. Kobra had never worked in Australia prior to this role and is very much enjoying the
opportunity.
The work of The Social Outfit is guided by a skilled Board (Committee of Management) that meets every two months to determine strategic direction and oversee operations and budget allocations.
Over a 40 year career, David has been an effective leader in government, not-for-profit and philanthropy organisations, most recently as the Foundation Manager at the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation. In this role he managed a grant making team responsible for a diverse $10M annual grants program.
David’s professional background is the government sector, including leadership roles in Communications and Human Resources at Sydney Water. David holds a Bachelor of Business, Master of Policy Studies and Graduate Certificates in Arts (Environmental Policy) and Business (Philanthropy and Nonprofit
Studies). He is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
David is also a Director of Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), St Francis Social Services, Slingsby Holdings and the Slingsby Foundation, and a Patron of GiveOUT.
Amy Low is a marketing specialist with 15 + years in the fashion industry, working with retailers and wholesalers from brand concept through to product development, retail management and marketing. Amy currently holds the position of Brand & Marketing Director of Piping Hot Australia. She was previously the Marketing Director of Saban brands. Formerly a litigation lawyer, Amy left law to focus on growing and nurturing brands, helping them translate their creative vision into memorable customer experiences. She has worked in a marketing capacity with well-known Australian brands Myer, VB, R.M. Williams and Penfolds, gaining experience building brands and winning with customers in the digital era.
Melissa is a Director at EY in Accounting Compliance and Reporting. She was formerly the Corporate Finance Manager at Brookfield and a Client Manager in Deloittes's not for profit specialist group in NSW. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has 17+ years’ experience working within audit and advisory in a diverse range of industries with a strong focus on the not-for-profit sector.
Alexandra is a creative business strategist, entrepreneur and advisor, with over 30 years of experience in hyper-competitive industries such as media, fashion and retail.
Alexandra is best known for founding and scaling luxury fashion luxury enterprise, GINGER + SMART. As Managing Director, Alexandra led the growth and expansion strategy of the brand across multiple channels. This lived entrepreneurial experience has equipped her with highly practical insights and management skills. Both now enrich her work as an executive coach and business advisor. Alexandra is also a board member of the Melbourne Fashion Festival
Author, inspirational speaker, performer, mother, wife and former refugee turned Founder and CEO of the Aminata Maternal Foundation. Aminata was born in Sierra Leone, growing up in Freetown. She is passionate about sharing her experience as a refugee woman, and is an advocate for the rights of women and global action to combat violence against women. She regularly addresses community groups, schools and the media. Aminata is also extremely passionate about fashion, having worked for David Lawrence for almost 10 years as store manager. Aminata’s story has been an intrinsic part of Ros Horin’s critically acclaimed theatre production, The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe and is now told in her biography, Rising Heart, published in 2020.
Jaana is the CEO of the Australian Fashion Council (AFC), the peak body of the Australian fashion and textile industry. The AFC guides the just transformation of the fashion industry to a socially, environmentally and economically prosperous circular economy by 2030 and to Net Zero by 2050. Prior to this, Jaana was the Chief Sustainability Officer of Global Fashion Group, the parent company of four online retailers, including THE ICONIC in Australia. In this role Jaana was responsible for delivering the business’ comprehensive sustainability strategy in Ethical Sourcing, Environment and Community across 19 countries. Jaana has dedicated her career to driving impactful change within the global fashion industry, creating a track record of delivering market advantage through sustainable practices and innovation.
Janine Collins, Principal of J9 Consulting, draws on 30 years in national and international business development to build investment in creative industries and culture through business partnerships, philanthropy, place making, cultural tourism and commercial activities while building the capacity of non-profit organisations.
Janine founded 14 vocational training centres and completed international consultancies for AusAid prior to raising 30M+ for the human rights, education and arts sectors. She has provided strategic advice to leading organisations Sydney Dance Company, The Guardian and AIATSIS. Her award winning partnerships have been recognised by Creative Partnerships Australia amongst others.
A leading Australian designer for over 10 years, Bianca Spender has a personal history. As the daughter of Australian fashion matriarch Carla Zampatti, she has grown up in the business, and has forged her own independent identity as a womenswear designer of integrity.
Our first ambassador Carla Zampatti played a key role in introducing The Social Outfit to the Australian fashion industry. Bianca Spender has now stepped into the role and works with us to further strengthen our connection with the industry and tell our story.
From 2019 to 2024, Camilla’s outstanding leadership as CEO expertly steered The Social Outfit through the disruption of the COVID years into a period of growth and significant achievement. Camilla now holds the role of Ambassador and continues to contribute to The Social Outfit's ongoing success.
Camilla joined The Social Outfit after a 20-year career in the field of international development and peace. Previously, she held the roles of Director of the Institute for Economics and Peace - which she led for the decade 2008 to 2018 - and Chief of the United Nations Office for Partnerships in New York from 2005 to 2007.
Camilla has lived and worked in Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. She is a passionate promoter of the principles of multiculturalism, equity and social justice with a particular focus on migrant affairs and issues affecting children and young women.