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Michael Bascetta

Michael is a hospitality professional with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He’s spent time working across many sectors of the hospitality industry including fine dining, hotels, wineries and bars. Michael spent his formative years at Attica Restaurant, before opening Bar Liberty, Capitano and Falco Bakery. During this time he co-founded Worksmith, a community hub and incubator for the food, beverage and hospitality industry. Worksmith has also launched its own projects, including Melbourne Cocktail Festival, Stella Coffee and most recently, Home Grown Drinks. Michael is passionate about people and building resilient communities within hospitality and beyond. Having seen the Scarf team in action at Worksmith since 2018, he’s excited to join the Scarf board in mid-2022 and hopes to assist the organisation to grow its reach to more trainees and the broader hospitality industry.

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Hannah Brennan

Hannah wears a few hats at Scarf! She's a co-founder, current CEO, and she's sat on Scarf’s board of directors since 2010. After working in hospitality for over ten years and volunteering with Fitzroy’s refugee community via The Social Studio, Hannah co-founded Scarf with Jess Moran in 2010. Hannah is a Typsy mentor who holds a Bachelor of Multimedia (Media Studies) from Swinburne University of Technology. Her love of cooking lasagna is only matched by her love of eating it. Hannah is highly motivated by the determination, talent, commitment and resilience demonstrated by Scarf trainees and graduates. She holds hope for a more equitable society where all young people are given the opportunity to grow their skills, confidence and connections so they may pursue the job of their dreams. 

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Alexandra Gronow 

Prospective board member, joining in early 2023

Ali is a specialist practitioner in discrimination and equality law and is a trusted advisor to employers and education and service providers seeking strategic advice and representation in complex sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination claims as well as prevention initiatives. She’s a Senior Associate in the Workplace Relations and Safety Group at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers. Ali's expertise includes conducting workplace investigations and representing employers in discrimination and human rights matters in both State and Federal jurisdictions. Ali has also worked in government and community legal services in human rights and discrimination and has experience in the implementation of challenging social policy and law reform initiatives that promote equality, diversity and inclusion. Outside of work, Ali likes to keep fit swimming, surfing and participating in cross fit and spends a lot of time at the beach and walking with her (very naughty) two year old labrador.

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Tharindu Jayadeva 

Tharindu has a background in public health and community development, and is a proponent of youth participation. Working with youth-led and youth-engaging organisations including Orygen, headspace, batyr and CHASE, he strives to develop more accessible, culturally safe and meaningful platforms for health promotion, education and service provision in partnership with the communities these projects seek to support. From delivering health education programs across Melbourne's western suburbs, to designing youth empowerment projects locally and overseas, Tharindu joins the Scarf board in mid-2022 to continue showcasing the power and ability of young people as change-makers, leaders and innovators within their communities. Outside of work, you'll find him rowing, reading, or leaning into his experience from the hospitality industry and using the kitchen as a tool for storytelling and connection with friends and family.

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Lisa Jones

Chair

Lisa spent 15 years working overseas with international aid organisations, mostly in countries in conflict and post-conflict, assisting people forced to flee their homes. Lisa is now the CEO at Ardoch, a not-for-profit organisation supporting children and young people from disadvantaged communities to realise their potential through full participation in education. With degrees in arts and law, Lisa has brought her advocacy and governance skills to the Scarf board since early 2018, along with a drive for social justice. Always an enthusiastic restaurant goer, Lisa is delighted to have found Scarf and to help create opportunities for young people seeking protection and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds – amazing people who have endured the worst and continue to show extraordinary determination in the face of barriers.

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Henry Le

Henry is a first-generation Vietnamese-Australian who has witnessed first-hand the uplifting impact that hospitality and the magical nature of food can have on migrant and refugee communities. Although formally trained as a scientist, Henry has spent the last 7 years working as a consultant in telecommunications, superannuation, insurance, and major retail banking. In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, he transferred this skillset into the not-for-profit space by co-founding and operating The Covid-19 Employee Assistance Directive, whose “Meals for Hospo” program delivered over 62,000 meals and 100 metric tons of fresh food to unemployed and underemployed hospitality professionals around Melbourne. Henry is excited to be continuing his involvement in social enterprise as a Scarf board member from mid-2022, and seeks to bring a human-centric, digital-driven perspective to the organisation. Outside of the corporate world, Henry stays in touch with the hospitality industry as the co-owner of the sustainability focused cocktail bar Ends and Means.

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Matthew Teran

Secretary

Matthew has worked in the social and community sectors for over a decade and is a longtime supporter of Scarf’s work, initially as a practitioner working with people seeking protection and those from refugee backgrounds. More recently, after moving into strategy and business development roles, he has become a very loyal Scarf diner. Since 2017, Matthew has led innovation and service growth projects at community health organisation cohealth. With degrees in social work and public policy, Matthew joined the Scarf board in 2017, bringing great value through his knowledge of the trends shaping not-for-profits.

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Rosie Thomas

Prospective board member, joining in early 2023

Rosie Thomas OAM is a an anti-bullying activist, social entrepreneur and cofounder/CEO of PROJECT ROCKIT, Australia's youth driven movement against (cyber)bullying, hate and prejudice. Rosie launched PROJECT ROCKIT when she was fresh out of high school, and has dedicated the last 15 years to positively impacting over half a million young Aussies. Rosie is passionate about engineering a kinder digital world and serves on the Global Safety Advisory Boards of social media platforms such as Facebook. Committed to building a world where kindness and respect thrive so every person can realise their potential, Rosie is excited to find a home on the Scarf Board. She brings over a decade's experience in social enterprise and cultivating impact partnerships with some of the world's biggest companies. Even though she's only 5 ft 4, Rosie is obsessed with basketball, playing three nights a week.

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Sara Webb

Sara is a program evaluator, facilitator, and designer who works in Australia and internationally. She has been operating her business Duniya Consulting since 2005, and has worked all over the world, living in India, Timor-Leste and the Pacific along the way. Since moving to Melbourne and discovering Scarf, Sara’s become a big supporter and proud advocate for its work - and for employment and training opportunities for young people facing barriers. Joining the Scarf board in 2017 and serving as Chair for two years, Sara brings her experience in organisational governance and community development to the role. If she had to choose a favourite cuisine, she’d go with Mexican, preferably in Mexico!

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