Story Dogs Board of Directors
Shane Cummings - Director (Chair)
Shane has more than twenty years of experience as a leader in the public service and private sector. He has held executive roles in the media and in several state and federal government agencies, focused on communication, media relations, change management, governance, service delivery, and digital transformation. In these roles, he has delivered communication campaigns of national significance. Shane has also served on a number of advisory and executive boards across Australia and New Zealand.
Shane's passions are animals and literature. Shane has volunteered for animal charities, and he is an award-winning author, editor, and publisher, with a Master of Creative Writing, Bachelor of Arts, and qualifications in journalism and website design.
Petra Westphal - Director and Senior Project Manager
Petra joined Story Dogs in 2015 as a volunteer with her dog 'Holly'. She was a Story Dogs Coordinator for the Sunshine Coast QLD from 2015-2019 and currently Coordinates Toowoomba QLD.
Petra holds a Bachelor of Social Welfare, Cert IV in Training & Assessment and has more than 20 years management experience in the areas of Aged & Disability Care and Volunteer Coordination.
Petra is passionate about making a positive difference in her community and is a strong advocate for vulnerable people, empowerment and animal welfare.
Janine Sigley - Co-founder and Managing Director
Amanda Milroy - Director
Amanda has a background in administration and has worked in various office and school administration roles.
Amanda is a passionate about the relationships formed between animals and humans.
Amanda and her dogs are volunteers with another charity and attend weekly therapy visits to aged care facilities and a local Covid Vaccination Clinic to offer support to members of the public.
She joined Story Dogs in 2016 as a volunteer with her Golden Retriever, Donny, and has been the Mandurah Story Dogs Coordinator since 2017.
Having a love of reading played a big role in her children’s school and employment success and as such, Amanda is passionate about promoting literacy and being active in young people having equal opportunity and access to resources and assistance.
Story Dogs is a perfect match for her love of dogs and promoting a love of reading in children.
Alex Green - Director
Alex is a CEO, coach and leader who is dedicated to helping people discover their potential; to become their best.
With a day job as CEO of two charities, an evening job as football coach, and voluntary roles including Mentor, Club President and Board Director, Alex brings a depth of experience in governance, innovation, leadership and stakeholder relations, amongst other things.
Alex counts Benson, the cocker spaniel, as a member of his family. Often his favourite. Benson, along with a lifelong love of reading, and a desire to help people and see ambitious impactful organisations thrive, led him to the Story Dogs Board.
These days he is a bit more wrinkly than this photo suggests.
Cherie Vendramini - Director
Cherie is a practising Australian Legal Practitioner and sessional law lecturer. She brings knowledge and experience in both commercial law and risk mitigation.
Cherie values education and is a lover of dogs. She recognises both the therapeutic and educational benefits of involving dogs in children's reading sessions. Having a Doberman named Duke, she is passionate about the importance of children feeling secure and confident when interacting with our furry friends.
Story Dogs 'Support Central' Team
Supporting our volunteers, schools and supporters is what we do. We are not called 'Head Office' we are 'Support Central"
Leah Sheldon - Co-founder
Bev Jurd - Volunteer Registration Manager
Petra Westphal - Senior Project Manager
Petra joined Story Dogs in 2015 as a volunteer with her dog 'Holly'. She was a Story Dogs Coordinator for the Sunshine Coast QLD from 2015-2019 and currently Coordinates Toowoomba QLD.
Petra holds a Bachelor of Social Welfare, Cert IV in Training & Assessment and has more than 20 years management experience in the areas of Aged & Disability Care and Volunteer Coordination.
Petra is passionate about making a positive difference in her community and is a strong advocate for vulnerable people, empowerment and animal welfare.
Barbara Allen- Grief Support
Barbara Allen helped develop Australia’s first animal chaplaincy program at Lort Smith Animal Hospital. She is passionate about animals and about stewardship of all creation, and is the author of numerous books, including I Was There, Pigeon, Animals in Religion, and Pelican. Barbara serves as an ordained minister in the Uniting Church in Australia, and in a voluntary capacity as the grief support person for Story Dogs.
Karen Knuckey – Dog Sponsorship Administration Manager - NSW/ACT/VIC/TAS
After 25 years in the public service, Karen needed a change and is excited to work for an organisation she is passionate about.
A lifelong reader herself, Karen joined Story Dogs in 2019 after looking for a therapy type role for her dog 'Penny'. Story Dogs fit perfectly with Karen’s own love of reading and desire to help out in local schools. In 2022, 'Penny' was forced to alternate her reading sessions at school with younger dog 'Libby'.
Karen started up the Geelong area in 2019 as the first dog team, which has expanded to over 30 dogs and separated into three areas.
Karen is very involved with her dogs, running a local Cavalier Social group and taking 'Penny' & 'Libby' out regularly to live their best lives.
Christina Line – Dog Sponsorship Administration Manager - SA/WA/NT/QLD
Chris has been a Volunteer and Coordinator for Story dogs since 2019, where she set up the first teams in Yanchep, WA. She originally commenced Volunteering with Scruffy who is now retired as a senior at 21 years of age. A Nurse by background, Chris recently "retired" from nursing and moved into a renaissance to spend more time with the Story Dogs' program. Chris is passionate about the Story Dog program and working with volunteers and dog teams that make the program the success it is.
Kim Butler - Working With Children/Vulnerable People Checks (WWCC) / (WWVP)
go-to person and also Vet Check admin manager
Kim joined the Support Central Team as a volunteer in February 2022. She looks after all our Working with Children/Vulnerable People Checks, a big job with all States having vastly different systems and keeping track of all our volunteer records!
Kim also supports our volunteers in making sure the information about their annual vet checks is up-to-date.
She has a background in sports administration and events and held the position of Administration Manager – Tennis for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. She enjoys playing competitive tennis, walking and has recently been introduced to golf.
Jan Upton - Book coverer extraordinaire
Jan has been with Story Dogs since 2014, volunteering with her dog and has been our book coverer for many of those years. Jan covers hundreds of books every year!!
Robyn Faint - Administration Assistant
Robyn looks after everything behind the scenes to do with the Schools we partner with. Robyn also looks after all our financial actions of invoicing and receipting.
Robyn holds a Bachelor of Business; was a Flight Lieutenant in the Air Force and has, for over 20 years, worked as a Practice Manager and Administrator in General Practice, both in rural Queensland and on the Sunshine Coast.
However, mostly, she is known for her love of dogs – she has an English Springer Spaniel, who is spoilt and just a little bit chunky. Robyn and ‘Angie’ also volunteer for Story Dogs on the Sunshine Coast.
Robyn can’t imagine a better job than helping Story Dogs to foster a love of reading in children.
Gavin and Janine - Warehouse Managers
Gavin and Janine look after the Story Dogs Warehouse which ensures all of our Coordinators have all the necessary equipment to bring on new volunteers and promote the program.
Gavin is also on the end of the info@storydogs.org.au email address. He filters all the spam and passes on all the enquiries etc. A not so small task.
Gay Pathmanathan – Varied Admin roles
I was born overseas and have always loved dogs. The sentiency of animals, their innate ability to connect, learn and offer unconditional loyalty has always been a passion.
The highlight of my teaching career, was the introduction of a school therapy dog program.
It lit a spark and the start of a lifelong mission to support students at risk with regular attendance, develop a love of reading and enjoy positive interactions with dogs.
I hold a Bachelor of Business, Certificate 1 in animal care and 10 years of volunteering and training experiences with volunteers and dogs.
I am excited to be part of an amazing team with similar passions and commitments.
Naomi McKee - Online Enquiries
Naomi is the first responder to all enquiries we receive from the website or other sources. Naomi volunteers for us and works full time for Westpac. She is part of the Westpac Skilled Volunteer Resource.
Amanda Milroy – Coordinator Trainer
Amanda has a background in administration and has worked in various office and school administration roles.
Amanda is a passionate about the relationships formed between animals and humans.
Amanda and her dogs are volunteers with another charity and attend weekly therapy visits to aged care facilities and a local Covid Vaccination Clinic to offer support to members of the public.
She joined Story Dogs in 2016 as a volunteer with her Golden Retriever, Donny, and has been the Mandurah Story Dogs Coordinator since 2017.
Having a love of reading played a big role in her children’s school and employment success and as such, Amanda is passionate about promoting literacy and being active in young people having equal opportunity and access to resources and assistance.
Story Dogs is a perfect match for her love of dogs and promoting a love of reading in children.
