Lavinia Tyrrel was appointed to Karinya House as Chief Executive Officer in March 2022 with a delayed start date, due to the impending birth of her second child.  Karinya House welcomed Lavinia to the team to commence her role officially on 6 March 2023.  Whilst on parental leave during the intervening 12 months since her appointment, Lavinia has been in touch on a voluntary basis, keeping informed of governance and operational matters in various ways.

Having experienced, firsthand, the institutional, normative and organisational barriers that women face in self-determining their pre- and post-natal pregnancy experience in Australia and overseas – Lavinia brings a deep commitment to Karinya House’s values and mission.

Lavinia believes that the starting point for services must be compassion and respect for the woman: her care, her dignity, her needs and rights, an understanding of her unique situation, her strengths, and empowering her to self-determine her pre and post-natal experience. Women are not victims or passive recipients of services, and there is no one size fits all. It is this philosophy and passion that Lavinia will bring to Karinya House.

Lavinia’s career spans four areas that will be critical to the ongoing delivery of Karinya services: executive leadership and strategic planning, team leadership, experience delivering services from within a social justice framework, and financial and business acumen.

Prior to joining Karinya House, Lavinia has worked extensively in the international development sector – including in social services (health, education), governance, monitoring and evaluation, foreign policy, national security and community and women’s empowerment programs. Lavinia has held executive, leadership and policy roles in the Australian Federal Government (Prime Minister’s Department, Foreign Affairs and Trade), not for profits (The Asia Foundation, BRAC Bangladesh, UN Women) and the mission driven private sector (Abt Associates).

Lavinia holds a Masters in International Crisis management, complemented by degrees and diplomas in public administration, corporate and public governance and anthropology.