Executive team

Dr. Lisa Murphy is the Chief Executive Officer of Stroke Foundation Australia, having been appointed to the role in April 2023. She previously served as Executive Director of Stroke Services and Research, a position she held since 2020.

Dr. Murphy brings more than 25 years' experience in health, both clinically in general and emergency medicine and in anaesthesia and intensive care from the UK, and more recently in the non-profit health sector in senior management and executive roles. Prior to joining Stroke Foundation, she spent time at Kidney Health Australia in various leadership roles including Interim CEO.

Dr. Murphy serves as co-chair of the World Stroke Organisation (WSO) Stroke Support Organization Committee and was a previous WSO Board member. She is Chair of the Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance, Australian Stroke Alliance Board member, Australian Stroke Clinical Registry Advisory Board member and Co-chair of the Australian Stroke Coalition.

Dr Murphy has published articles on stroke, prevention of chronic conditions, chronic kidney disease, and lived experience co-design. She is passionate about prevention of chronic conditions, equity in health, and lived experience involvement and co-design.

Rachel Bailey is a Certified Fundraising Executive, with over 25 years of expertise in fundraising, strategic development, and organisational leadership. A passionate advocate for social impact, Rachel has led strategic initiatives across various sectors, including health, human rights and conservation.

Previously, Rachel served as the Executive Director of Fundraising, Marketing & Communications at Red Nose, where she led multimillion-dollar fundraising programs, and developed innovative strategies to engage donors, corporate partners, and stakeholders. She headed up the GRIEFis247 advocacy campaign that generated $6 million in funding and significantly expanded the charity's reach. She also held Director positions with The Nature Conservancy and Cancer Council NSW, where she delivered significant funding and drove digital revenue growth.

Rachel is a member of the Institute of Community Directors Australia and a member of the Fundraising Institute Australia State Committee for Victoria.

James Burnet brings over 15 years of C-suite experience spanning the professional services, international development, membership, and education sectors. He has led multidisciplinary corporate services teams—including finance, IT, HR, administration, customer service, risk, governance, and property—and has also served in company secretarial roles.

While most recently, James has held the position of General Manager, Corporate Services at a membership and education-focused organisation, prior to that he served as Chief Financial Officer at Tearfund Australia, an ACNC international development organisation supported by government grants, donations, and bequests.

James is passionate about coaching and mentoring high-performing, customer-focused teams. He is committed to embedding best-practice operational systems and delivering insightful, organisation-wide reporting. He also thrives on working collaboratively with executive teams to shape and implement corporate strategy.

Kelvin joined the Stroke Foundation in 2003 after several years working as a physiotherapist across metropolitan and regional Australian and in the UK. Over more than two decades working at the Foundation, Kelvin has overseen some the most significant projects to improve the services that are provided to people recovering from stroke. For example, Kelvin has overseen the National Stroke Guidelines since 2004 and led the transition to one of the worlds first ‘living’ guidelines. 

For more than a decade he was also involved in overseeing the National Stroke Audit which monitored evidence-based care delivered to people in acute and in-patient rehabilitation across Australia. Kelvin has also supported the development of the InformMe website dedicated to supporting health professionals by providing care recommendations, resources and online education and now leads the research program to support find the next major break throughs in stroke and support the development of the next wave of research leaders. He supports policy and advocacy efforts for stroke and remains actively involved in national and international efforts to improve guideline methods and their implementation.

Jacqui McCallum is a strategic communications and advocacy leader who brings evidence and lived experience together to build trust, drive reform and deliver measurable impact.

Over an 18-year career spanning public health, consulting and media, Jacqui has led communications that influence policy and improve health outcomes with a strong focus on prevention and equity.

At Oral Health Victoria, Jacqui directed statewide communications and national advocacy campaigns that positioned the organisation as a leader in health system reform. Highlights include guiding the sector’s transition to value-based models of care and securing broad political support for the inclusion of dental in Medicare.

Alongside her public health leadership, Jacqui founded and led a successful communications consultancy, advising C-suite clients across health, education, law, finance and technology. Earlier in her career, her work as a Fairfax opinion columnist honed her ability to sharpen messaging and influence public debate.

Jacqui holds a Master of Communication and is known for aligning teams behind organisational purpose and delivering integrated campaigns that are not just seen, but felt. Jacqui credits her South African heritage for her strong sense of social justice and sometimes perplexing accent.