Tracey Brand, Chief Executive Officer

Tracey is a proud Eastern Arrernte woman, born and raised on Mparntwe country in Central Australia. She has dedicated over 25 years of her working career to leadership within the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Sector, including five years with the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service in Perth. She was instrumental in expanding health programs and increasing revenue, earning respect for her tenacious advocacy, knowledge, and strategic leadership. Tracey’s leadership extends to numerous advisory and directorial roles. She has advised on several state and federal ministerial committees and currently serves as an Independent Director for Indigenous Allied Health Australia and Director of Centrecorp in Alice Springs. She is also a member of the Department of Communities’ Aboriginal Strategic Advisory Committee and a casual Director on the Social Reinvestment WA Board. Tracey’s expertise is underpinned by master’s degrees in Business Leadership, Business Administration, and Aboriginal Administration.

Rachel Emer, Chief People and Culture Officer

Rachel is a dedicated People and Culture leader. She brings knowledge and experience from a wide range of industries including community services, financial services, resources, agribusiness, aviation and health care. Rachel is a values-led executive with significant experience working alongside regional and remote workforces and communities. Rachel is a Graduate of Australian institute of Company Directors and continuing her learning journey as a master’s student at Curtin.

Donna Lawrence, Chief Services Officer

As Chief Services Officer, Donna is responsible for ensuring HOPE’s frontline services around the State are delivering the highest quality of care to clients. 

With a background that includes 20+ years as a clinical psychologist, Donna ensures that HOPE provides evidence-based and trauma-informed care to clients across HOPE’s four service pillars.

Donna has previously held senior leadership roles at high-profile community service organisations, including Ngala, St John’s WA and 360 Health + Community, giving her experience that spans primary care, disability, emergency services and community services.

Danielle Airton, Chief Strategy and Impact Officer

Danielle Airton is a strategic leader in stakeholder engagement, social impact, sustainability and partnerships with more than 20 years’ experience across government, resources, higher education, local government, and the private sector.

She has led high-level policy, strategy, governance, social investment, sustainability, and community development initiatives across metropolitan, regional, and remote Western Australia, building trusted partnerships and alliances that drive meaningful, long-term outcomes.

Danielle holds an MBA (Social Impact) from UNSW and brings a systems-thinking approach grounded in strategy, collaboration, and genuine relationship-building.

Sam Kronja, Chief Financial Officer

Sam is an experienced and commercially astute Executive Leader with a proven ability to consistently drive organisational success and growth in high performance environments. Sam has 20 years’ experience in not-forprofit organisations managing change, developing selfsustaining leaders and teams, financial strategy and operations, business process improvement and enabling business strategy with a focus on high-quality service delivery. Sam has demonstrated a strong ability to lead and inspire teams, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.