vonne was born in Mount Beauty, where her father was working on the Snowy Hydro Scheme; the 3rd of three daughters with a younger brother. The family moved to Ballina in New South Wales where she completed all her schooling. Her father is 99 and still lives in Ballina; her mother died in 2015.

Yvonne has been married to Bob, an Agricultural & Resource Economist for 44 years and they have 3 adult children (a geotechnical engineer, an archaeologist, and an editor in the publishing trade) and 4 grandchildren who live in New South Wales. Education is a big part of our family life! 
 
Yvonne gained a BA from the University of New England and a Diploma of Education at the University of Canberra. Her whole working life has been in education, mostly teaching in high schools and primary schools.  Her last role was as VCE Coordinator at Gilmore Girls College, Footscray.
In 2017 she founded “Filter Your Future” and created the "Healthy Kidneys Education Project”, an education program for young children to reduce the incidence of preventable chronic disease. The program is aligned to National Curriculum and the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 for Health and Well-being. The program is freely available for teachers across Australia and New Zealand.
 
Yvonne was a Rotary Exchange Student hosted by the Rotary Club of Wynberg in Cape Town, South Africa in 1973. She has always valued the ideal of service and the objects of Rotary and after retirement she reached out to the club. She was inducted at our Changeover evening in June.    Rotary Exchange whet her appetite for travel. Her most recent travel experiences pre-pandemic were a fascinating boat trip in 2018 along the Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar (Burma) and a ‘Women in Leadership’ 2019 Tour to Cambodia with World Vision, to visit education and health centres.
 
In her spare time, Yvonne likes to complete the daily New York Times Wordle, Quordle and Sudoko.  She also enjoys swimming, Clinical Pilates and occasionally riding her bike when the weather is nice. She played field hockey and represented Australian Universities and the ACT in her younger, fit days.
 
The last word: “Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.” I have applied that throughout my life, my faith and my teaching career.
 
Yvonne was interviewed by President Shraddha Sharma.