Matilda and Jayne

Matilda has worked in research roles within PNG's agricultural sector since 1994. From 1998 to 2016, she worked for The Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC), where she started as their first female extension officer. She soon headed up its Women in Development Program and became the Country Project Coordinator on all of its ACIAR-funded socio-economic projects.

Within these roles at CIC, Matilda has led activities to promote women's participation and involvement in the coffee sector. Now Matilda would like to encourage PNG's women coffee farmers to collectively export their green bean coffee through speciality markets to earn premium prices. The income from these sales would be used on social development projects in their communities and on collectively improving their quality of life.

Jayne is an anthropologist (PhD) with 18 years of leadership experience in international aid and research for development spanning the water, agriculture, natural resource management, legal, economic, and health sectors. She is skilled at weaving the cross-cutting priorities of governance, gender equity, adult education and training into core business. She chairs ACIAR’s Gender Committee and led the development of the agency’s Gender Equity Strategy and Policy.

With extensive experience and networks across Asia and the Pacific, Jayne has direct oversight of a portfolio investing in collaborative research projects between Australian researchers and country partners in PNG, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

She also is a Visiting Fellow at ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific, a Director on the Board of Volunteering ACT, and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.