Access & Inclusion Advisory Committee

Access & Inclusion Advisory Committee

Alexis Nicholson

Alexis is originally from Canada and holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, a Diploma of Project Management, and is currently completing a Graduate Certificate in Social Impact. She also works as the Assistant Manager for Branding and Welcoming at My Place.

My Place is a National Disability Insurance Scheme registered, not-for-profit provider of individualised and flexible supports to people with disability and their families and a proud sponsor of Perth Festival.

Prior to joining My Place, she worked with an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation in child protection, a foundation supporting all children to thrive. Alexis is looking forward to working alongside Access and Inclusion Committee members with lived experience.

Rafael Gonzalez

Raf Gonzalez is a Latino multi-disciplinary artis. Born and raised in Perth, he comes from a family of migrants who moved from El Salvador to Australia during the Salvadoran Civil War. Raf is a proud Aspie whose work highlights often-marginalised diverse identities, raising them from supporting character to protagonist and giving them the agency they often aren’t afforded. Raf has been supported by DADAA and the Centre for Stories with his writing. 

Grace King

Grace King is an assistive technology assessor with the National Disability Insurance Agency. In 2009 Grace came to Perth from Madison, Wisconsin, to volunteer at the Cisco Academy for the Vision-Impaired, teaching people who are blind or have low vision to build and maintain computers along with customer service skills. Before this Grace was working in IT for NASA. Grace is also an award-winning mezzo-soprano and performed alongside Little Birdy gold record-awarded musician Fergus Deasy in Playtime with Grace and Fergus: The Musical at Perth Fringe World in 2019. 

Zel Iscel (DADAA Representative)

Zel Iscel was born blind and arrived in Australia with her family at the age of six. She began her education with no English but learned quickly because she loves to talk. 

Zel completed her degree in Politics and Government at Edith Cowan University in 2003 and became involved in disability advocacy while at university. She currently runs her own consultancy, Inclusive World, where she provides training in disability awareness, consultation on inclusive events and projects, translates documents into easy read and undertakes many other interesting activities. She became involved in the arts in 2006 when audio described theatre was being trialed in WA. Since then Zel has become an ardent theatre goer and attends other arts events that are audio described.  

In 2018 Zel very fortunately acquired a position on the Board of DADAA, where she is now Secretary. 

Naomi Lake

Naomi Lake is a health ambassador for Down Syndrome Australia and an employment Ambassador for Down Syndrome WA. As a Health Ambassador she gives presentations and speeches to doctors, nurses, allied health, support workers and students to inform them how to treat people with Down syndrome when they attend their practice. Inclusive communication is a powerful tool. It is very important for health professionals to actively listen and respond to people with Down syndrome and involve them in health care decisions. 

Naomi is committed to being a voice for people who cannot speak up for themselves. She has written and published two children’s story books with another on the way. She was commissioned by Carers WA to write a short biography of her life called Naomi’s World for their ‘disable the label’ project.  She has also written a story that has been put to music and dance and  performed on stage at the Albany Entertainment Centre. 

Naomi tours throughout the State visiting schools and remote communities, sharing her story and conducting literacy sessions. She is passionate about encouraging children to read and write and her visits show them that anything is possible – it inspires children and spurs them on to read more and write their own stories. She is proud to be a leader and a role model. 

When she is not working she enjoys performing arts and has been a participant in several shows. Some of her hobbies include reading, sewing, camping, fishing and cooking when she has time, and her favourite thing to do is to look after her chickens. 

Morwenna Collett

An accomplished leader, practitioner, consultant and facilitator with experience in government, the arts, not-for-profit and university sectors, Morwenna has worn the hats of CEO, Board Director, senior leadership team member, lecturer, researcher, trainer and advisor. Morwenna runs a national consultancy practice specialising in access, diversity, equity and inclusion. She has worked closely to support a range of large and small organisations to help them improve their practices,with recent consulting clients such as Creative Australia, Screen Australia, the Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Questacon, the National Gallery of Australia, MCA, Blazing Swan Festival and more. 

Morwenna is a member of the Festivals Board at Create NSW, Board Director of the Peggy Glanville Hicks Trust, Chair of both the Sydney Festival and Sydney Fringe Access Committees and member of the Perth Festival’s Access Committee. She is also an Affiliate of the Association of Consultants in Access Australia (ACAA) and a member of The Inclusion Circle network. She has previously been CEO of Accessible Arts and held various senior leadership positions at The Australia Council for the Arts (now called Creative Australia).  Morwenna completed a Churchill Fellowship, exploring inclusive music programs, venues and festivals which actively engage disabled people across the USA, UK and Ireland. Her work is influenced by her own lived experience as a disabled musician.