Katrina Penney, President
Katrina was re-elected to the MSFA Board by the Association and elected as President by the Board in 2021. Her appointment builds on significant experience as a Board member having performed the role of Vice President from 2013 to 2019.
Katrina is a founding Trustee to the MSF New Zealand Charitable Trust and a founding member of the Auckland MSF support network group.She began her work with Médecins Sans Frontières in 2002 and has been an MSF Association member since that time. She and has worked in the field in Afghanistan,Nepal, Yemen, Haiti and Sierra Leone as a nurse, midwife, hospital manager and field coordinator. From 2006 to 2009 Katrina worked in the Human Resources department of Médecins Sans Frontières Australia.
Since returning from Australia back to New Zealand, Katrina has worked in Midwifery care, Refugee Health, Public Health, Cultural Competency and recently as the Returning Officer for the Northland Electorate for the 2020 General Election. Katrina currently lives in rural Northland, New Zealand with her husband managing their Avocado Orchard.
Dwin Tucker, Vice President
Dwin Tucker is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He was one of the founding Médecins Sans Frontières Australia Board members as Treasurer from 1996-1998. More recently, he returned to the Board, being re-elected in May 2021 by the association and elected as Vice-President by the Board. For MSFA, he has been Treasurer for eight years, a Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk, and Branding and Resources Committees, a member of the Remuneration Committee and a representative to both the Operating Centre, Geneva Congress and Operating Centre, Paris Group Committee. Dwin has undertaken field audits in Thailand and Laos and facilitated a Field Association Debate in Nigeria in 2019.
Outside of MSF, Dwin has been a CEO of seven companies (from small-medium to large) and has been a director of public, private and not-for-profit boards. He has a depth of experience in leadership, strategy, finance, technology and marketing and has advised numerous companies and leadership teams as a consultant and mentor.
He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Business from UTS and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Dwin is based in Sydney and amongst other involvements, chairs/owns Clearasound, a leader in technologies and services for the deaf and hearing-impaired community in Australia.
Ghassan Abou Chaar, Vice-President MSF France
Ghassan Abou Chaar is currently the Vice-President of Médecins Sans Frontières, France. He was appointed to the Médecins Sans Frontières Australia Board in September 2022 as the MSF France representative. Ghassan is a French resident and Lebanese citizen.
Ghassan began working with MSF in 2009. He has worked in the field in Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Somalia, Kenya, Mali, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Yemen as a project coordinator, emergency coordinator and head of mission. From 2018 to 2020, Ghassan worked in the Emergency Cell of MSF France.
Since then, Ghassan has worked as an independent consultant in the development and humanitarian sector, and has continued being involved in various MSF initiatives. and was elected to the board in June 2022.
