Shelly has lived in Wannon since she moved to Camperdown about 25 years ago from Tasmania to take up a job in local government. She has since moved to Allansford where she lives with her partner and children on a rural block. She enjoys voluntary work in the community with past roles on school committees, as a Bike Ed coach and more recently with the Warrnambool Pony Club. In Tasmania she was involved in student politics, was a member of the University Council and the Academic Senate and was student union president. Later while working for the Launceston City Council she had voluntary roles on the Board of Theatre North and the Launceston Community Legal Centre.

Shelly has a degree in law, post graduate qualifications in town planning and local government management and currently works as a Community Liaison Officer for a scientific research organisation. Her hobbies are yoga, bushwalking and community advocacy.

Lorraine was born and spent her early years in Casterton before moving to Warrnambool taking up a position at Fletcher Jones. There she worked in product development, then as a production supervisor, before starting up her own business in partnership with a friend, producing made to measure bridal and debutante dresses.

A move to the North East of Victoria gave more opportunities in small business and community projects to be involved with. After many very hot summers, the cool sea breeze and family enticed her back to Warrnambool, where she was able to resume dress making.

Greg grew up in north east Victoria and spent some time living overseas and in Melbourne before moving to Warrnambool about 18 years ago. The move to Wannon was prompted by several things, primarily that it is an excellent place to raise kids but also because his wife’s family are locals, having farmed in the area for several generations.

Greg is trained as an engineer and a secondary school teacher. He taught at Warrnambool College for nearly 10 years and since then has worked in the manufacturing industry in Port Fairy and Cobden, and now in the water industry based in Warrnambool.

Greg is passionate about public education and has been on school council at two of the schools that his children have attended. He enjoys kicking around a soccer ball and has been a volunteer soccer coach with a special interest in enabling girls to join in. During his spare time Greg enjoys exploring the outdoors, spending time with friends and family, and relaxing on the couch watching TV.

Barb first lived in rural Victoria, as a young adult, in 1976. She has always been drawn to living in the country and she bought her first home with her husband in what was the electorate of Corangamite, in 1982. Following an interlude of a few years back in Melbourne, she finally was able to retire to Peterborough where she had been a holidaymaker since 1985. The south west of Victoria has been a constant pull and Barb feels strongly connected to the country here, and its people.

Barb has always been dedicated to giving back to her community and has a long history of commitment to issues of social justice and the environment. She is particularly interested in women's issues, the environment, mental health and community development.

Barb has a Diploma in Corporate Governance, a BA in Social Science, a Post Grad Diploma in Education and a Masters in Educational Management. And she hopes to draw on her skills and experience in governance to strengthen the Voices of Wannon.

Mary is a born and bred local with extensive family roots in the Warrnambool community. She has had a long career in education, including a successful stint as Principal of Warrnambool College and other senior roles in the education sectors in both Victoria and Queensland. Mary has served on a number of boards of governance in the region including the board of SouthWest Healthcare.

Mary has long been a champion of the value of public education. She is passionate about ensuring that our society has strong supports in place to give everyone in the community an opportunity to succeed. In her down time, Mary loves spending time with her grandchildren and is a keen swimmer. Whilst not being a competitive swimmer herself, she has previously been heavily involved in the sport and was the Assistant Manager for the Australian Swimming Team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Kate might be new to Wannon - having moved to Warrmabool from Melbourne in April 2024 - but she has followed the community independent movement since the early days. She was very excited to be able to support the community independent campaign of Alex Dyson, meeting lots of like-minded people in the process.

Kate is grateful that the shift to work-from-home arrangements has allowed her to keep her old job in Melbourne while getting to know Warrnambool and the rest of the region as a resident after many years of visiting. Most of Kate's career has been in state government in social policy and integrity roles. She is looking forward to learning more about her new community while using her skills to help Voices of Wannon grow and succeed.

Leigh lives on a farm at Gorae West, Victoria with her husband Andrew. They have a son and a daughter and two grandchildren. Leigh's focus in life is best practice based on evidence. In her working life she was a midwife and was a long-time staff member at Portland District Health. In later years Leigh was privileged to be able to work in a midwifery group practice providing one to one care for women and families, which she loved. Leigh retired from midwifery in 2017.

In 2020 Leigh completed a Cert IV in Agriculture to ensure that the farming practices on her farm are evidence based and meeting legislative and market requirements. In 2022, disheartened with politics under our predominantly two party system and concerned at the state of democracy in Australia, Leigh met Alex Dyson when he was standing as the community independent for Wannon. Alex was the only candidate who indicated that his support for policy would be based on the evidence relevant to each issue.

In 2024 Leigh joined Voices of Wannon, was inspired to join Alex's second campaign as a community independent, and co-led the campaign's Portland hub. Leigh's hope is that the community independent movement can rejuvenate our democracy, improve our governance and bring us to a fairer and more just society.