The JFM Fund is made up of workers who are passionate about what they do.
The JFM Fund is comprised of a passionate and purpose-drive board of trustees and staff members, who together make up the JFM Fund’s team. Each individual brings unique skills and diversity of experience to their role.
Board Chair
Mark is a freelance contractor and consultant based in Adelaide, with a background in business and economics. He works with a range of clients including universities and organisations from state, federal and local government. His experience in detailed business and financial analysis, combined with his keen professional curiosity, enables Mark to uncover valuable insights that lead to improvements in the way organisations work.
Having previously held executive roles in South Australian Treasury and Finance, Mark has a deep knowledge of government decision-making processes and public sector financial management.
Mark’s board experience in the disability sector includes his current role as Chair of the JFM Fund. He is also an independent Director of Arid Recovery Pty Ltd, which operates in the science and conservation sector.
Board Member
Paula Davies is a legal practitioner with over 25 years’ experience in various sectors. She has a strong interest in supporting organisations with good governance frameworks to ensure robust, transparent, and ethically sound decision-making. She is also an independent member of several local government Audit and Risk committees in SA and has board experience spanning over two decades in retirement living, literacy, community legal services, social housing, supporting disadvantaged youth, and more.
Paula has a keen interest in safeguarding and helping remove social disadvantage and creating social equity. This has shaped her previous executive experience in the disability sector as a company secretary and general counsel for another entity. Stepping into a trustee role with the JFM Fund was a natural progression when an opportunity arose to do so.
Paula is attracted to the innovative approach to grant making and the person-centred nature of the Julia Farr ethos. Each application has human factors at its core. There is a sense that a real difference can be made to the lives of the disability community.
Board Member
Carla Martelli is a qualified lawyer with a strong background in legal practice, compliance, and advocacy. She brings a depth of experience in legal advisory roles, with a particular focus on regulatory frameworks, risk management, and ethical governance. Carla has also completed a Certificate in Governance for Not-for-Profits, further strengthening her understanding of board responsibilities and strategic oversight.
Driven by a deep commitment to justice, equity, and social inclusion, Carla is passionate about contributing to systems that uphold human rights and create opportunities for underrepresented communities to have greater influence and visibility. Joining JFM Fund as a trustee is an opportunity for her to apply her skills in supporting an organisation that is actively working to improve the lives and dignity of people with disability.
Carla sees the work of JFM Fund as vital to advancing self-determination and systemic change. The organisation’s rights-based approach and focus on inclusive decision-making resonates deeply with her values as a legal professional, and she is proud to support efforts that shift societal structures toward greater equity and accessibility for people with disability.
Board Member
Trish is a senior disability policy advisor and strategist with over 23 years of experience working to improve social justice and equity for people with disability in South Australia. Trish has served as a non-executive director and trustee on disability and health not-for-profit boards and is an AICD graduate of the Governance Foundations Program for Not-For-Profit Directors. She has extensive experience working across state and federal government and statutory settings in disability service delivery and redevelopment, person-centred planning, public policy, cultural change projects, research, law reform, and human rights.
Trish is motivated in her work as a trustee by the desire to leave a lasting legacy of impact and social transformation for the disability community. Trish places a strong emphasis on engaging deeply with the community, and building authentic relationships with grantees to identify and support innovative community ideas that will advance the life chances of people with disability and their families.
Chief Executive Officer
Robbi is CEO of the JFM Fund and has overall responsibility for supporting JFM to achieve strong and enduring philanthropy outcomes in inclusion.
Robbi has more than 30 years’ experience in the disability sector across multiple jurisdictions, including philanthropy, advocacy, service provision, community development, commissioning, and government policy. Robbi has also authored a range of resources, including the Model of Citizenhood Support.
Strategy Leader, Governance and Philanthropy
Jane is your first point of contact for JFM Fund grants. She can talk you through our grant programs and discuss your application with you, then she’ll manage the process for your application to be assessed and go to our trustees for a decision. If you’re awarded a grant, Jane will work with you on managing your grant reporting and payments.
Jane has spent much of her professional life working in organisations providing governance, management and financial support to not for profit organisations. She started her career working with community groups, including local advocacy organisations led by people with disability and their families. Jane held senior roles in large grant making organisations in the UK, where she led teams developing new funding programs and grant making processes. Immediately before moving to Adelaide, Jane was working in global philanthropy, with a focus on growing giving in key global markets.
Before joining JFM Fund, Jane led programs supporting disability service providers to transition to NDIS, and mainstream community organisations to make their services more inclusive. Her role at JFM allows Jane to live her values around inclusion. She loves working directly with grant applicants and grant holders, and seeing how our funding supports them to challenge stereotypes and develop new approaches to inclusion.
Chief Financial Officer
As the Chief Financial Officer at the Julia Farr group, Linda leads the finance, risk, IT, and administration functions. A key aspect of Linda’s role is managing strong relationships with external investment managers, who play a crucial role in safeguarding the assets that fund grant distributions. Her team is responsible for providing essential information to key stakeholders, including grant administration support, and financial, compliance, and investment performance reporting. Linda also oversees the financial management and external audit processes for the JFM Fund.
Linda brings a wealth of experience to the Julia Farr group, having worked in professional services both in Australia and the United States, as well as holding senior finance and corporate services roles within large South Australian organisations. Since joining the Julia Farr group in 2014, Linda has embraced the diversity of work and the progressive, values-driven approach of the organisation. She finds great satisfaction in collaborating with talented colleagues to produce accurate information that guides the organisation’s decision-making.
Linda takes pride in witnessing the growth of investment assets through income and capital appreciation, which has strengthened the foundation for grant funding. She is particularly encouraged by the increase in grants distributed to eligible recipients, which has expanded opportunities to achieve impactful outcomes in the disability sector.
Leader, Marketing and Communications
Marissa is an experienced professional with over two decades of expertise in marketing, communications, and community engagement, spanning the not for profit and private sectors.
Her journey into the disability sector began with her involvement in the NDIS Readiness Project in 2013, where she provided marketing advice to disability organisations to help them transition to a consumer-oriented business model. Marissa’s knowledge and passion for the disability sector deepened through serving on the boards of both the Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service SA (DACSSA) and Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Association of SA (now Estara), during the 2010s. With two close family members with acquired disability, Marissa also brings a personal perspective to her work in the disability sector.
In early 2023, Marissa embarked on a new chapter in her career, leading the marketing and communications portfolio across JFA Purple Orange, inhousing, and JFM Fund under the Julia Farr group umbrella. She is a passionate advocate for clear, inclusive, and accessible communication, recognising its potential to drive the organisation’s mission forward and amplify its impact.
Driven by the belief that there’s still ground to cover in fostering an inclusive society for people with disability, Marissa sees the JFM Fund as a pivotal player in catalysing this change.
The JFM Fund is made up of workers who are passionate about what they do.
The team is made up of trustees and staff members.
Each worker brings unique skills and experience to the team.
Our board
Our board of trustees are people who run the organisation.
They make decisions of who will be funded.
They make sure that grant decisions are based on
Many people in our board also have disability which helps us reflect the needs of the disability community.
Our staff
Our staff team manage the JFM Fund on a day-to-day basis.
They are the people you can contact first about a grant application.