Meet the Team
Dr Joy Townsend
Founder & CEO
Dr Joy Townsend is a Sociologist whose area of expertise is in the field of gender and sexualities. Her work centres on the lived experiences of young Australians. Joy founded Learning Consent to bridge the gap between the evidence base for teaching sexuality education effectively, and what was happening in most Australian classrooms.
Joy is one of Australia’s leading educators on sexual consent. Her research portfolio is focussed in the area of critical sexuality studies and includes a number of empirical qualitative studies with young Australians on sensitive and complex topics. Joy completed her doctorate at UNSW in 2019. The study brings the lived experiences of young people into dialogue with existing theoretical arguments concerning agency.
Joy speaks and writes extensively on complex issues such as sexual consent, pornography, sex education, pleasure and agency.
Learning Consent Collaborators
The Learning Consent team is made up of a wonderful mix of intelligent and generous humans who are passionate about comprehensive sex education and work hard to get it right for young people.
Dr Evvie Smith
Learning Strategist: senior elearn designer
Evvie is a Senior Learning Strategist with a solid track record in tertiary education teaching, and designing and developing custom online learning solutions. As a Sociologist with expertise in gender and sexualities research, Evvie is particularly passionate about promoting innovation, diversity and inclusion in the EdTech space.
Evvie is a PhD graduate who has worked at several higher education institutions and their corporate entities including DeakinCo. and Western Sydney University. Her key strengths are in innovative online teaching pedagogies and curriculum development strategies, particularly in digital learning environments. Evvie takes a hands on approach to conceptualising, designing, building and implementing bespoke digital learning solutions for clients in the corporate, commercial, not-for-profit and higher education spaces through her learning design business Stay True Stay You.
At Learning Consent Evvie leads the design of our online short courses for university students.
Winnie Adamson
Chief Operating Officer
Winnie delivers operational support at Learning Consent across all of our programs, and keeps us aligned to our strategic objectives.
She has a dynamic background in sociology, finance, event management, sexual health education and health promotion. Winnie has experience working with small businesses, NGO’s and community groups. Passionate about providing accessible, positive, and reliable content, Winnie is dedicated to empowering others to develop healthy attitudes toward sexual and reproductive health, consent and relationships.
Along with her work at Learning Consent, Winnie is also a Health Promotion Officer at the Caddyshack Project, delivering sexual health promotion and education to the local Illawarra and Shoalhaven area and beyond.
Winnie lives on Dharawal lands and loves to swim in the ocean and read in the sunshine.
Dr Adam Rogan
Sociologist: Men and Masculinities
Dr Adam Rogan is a Sociologist who conducts research and teaching in the areas of gender, sexualities, and the critical study of men and masculinities. Adam is the author of various book chapters and journal articles on the subject of gender and masculinities. His doctorate research examined the relationship between risky drinking, public violence and the construction of legitimate masculine identities. Adam is an experienced academic researcher and has previously held positions at University of New South Wales and University of Wollongong.
Tim Rowe
Clinical Psychologist & Lead Facilitator
Tim is a clinical psychologist and school counsellor and has been working with young people since he was a youngish person himself. Tim has worked in hospitals, mental health clinics, residential care facilities, drug and alcohol rehab centres, and more recently, in schools. Tim loves the journey of discovering the stories that each young person has and he relishes the opportunity to uncover more of their stories – particularly those that are enriching and liberating for their lives.
Tim has undertaken extensive training in psychology and youth work and is proud to have amassed a large HECS debt in the process, which he is paying off with unbridled enthusiasm. He is passionate about helping young people navigate the oftentimes complex web of realities they face on a daily basis and draws most of his inspiration in life from those he is fortunate enough to work with.
Sam Roberts
Lead Facilitator
Sam Roberts is a social worker, workshop facilitator and creative artist. His work focuses on identifying strengths and enabling self-determination.
Sam brings over 15 years of experience working with resilient young people to his role as a facilitator with Learning Consent. Sam's practice model draws on Trauma-Informed Care, Recovery-Oriented Psychological Support, Feminist theory, Play Therapy and Dignity Therapy.
Sam works for NSW Health providing meaningful and practical support to young people and families experiencing severe trauma and disadvantage. He also supervises and tutors Social Work students at the University of Wollongong, and on placement in the field.
Sam is also a singer-songwriter, guitarist and drummer, with a Grad Cert in Music.
Steph Lentz
Education Consultant: Director of High School Programs
Steph Lentz is a writer, an experienced secondary school teacher and a former advertising strategist. She has worked in public and independent schools in NSW, as well as in the Northern Territory. In 2023, Steph made her debut as a published author when her memoir, In/Out, was published by HarperCollins. She has a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and a Master of Teaching.
At Learning Consent, Steph assists with curriculum design and contributes pedagogical expertise to the presentation of training workshops for teachers preparing to deliver comprehensive relationships and sex education.
Fraser Armstrong
Education Consultant: High School Programs
Fraser is a queer high school English and Business Studies teacher and podcaster with prior experience working in youth media. He primarily works within public schools in Sydney's inner city and is passionate about assisting students to develop their critical thinking and communication skills. Fraser completed his Master of Teaching at the University of Sydney and has a Bachelor of Commerce. Fraser's strength lies in his ability to create safe learning environments and facilitate open, honest discussion.
Mel Nagy
Education Consultant: ELC and Primary School Programs
Mel Nagy is a primary school teacher with a Diploma in Positive Psychology and Well-being. With over a decade of experience nurturing young minds, and the added perspective of being a parent, Mel is driven to extend her impact beyond traditional education.
Passionate about the critical role of social and emotional learning and mental health in child development, Mel strives to integrate essential life skills into school communities, empowering both students and teachers to thrive.
Maddy Stratten
Social media content creation & community engagement
Maddy coordinates Learning Consent’s social media presence. She has a passion for communicating sexual and reproductive health, consent and relationships content in an accessible way in the digital space. Maddy has a background in international public health, health promotion and social marketing. She lives on the coast on Dharawal Country, Maddy loves taking her 30kg Groodle dog Dora to the beach and spending the weekends drinking cups of tea with her sisters. You can check out the other accounts Maddy is currently managing here: the Caddyshack Project, the International Student Health Hub and Social Work Media podcasts.
Anna Cheney
Theatre Director
Anna is a seasoned Facilitator and Coach with a rich tapestry of experience over 25 years. Her journey has been shaped by a colourful exploration of human behaviour as a Registered Nurse, as a thriving actor, director and intimacy coordinator on stage and screen productions and as a consultant in leadership development. This unique journey brings a human-centred and holistic perspective to her practice.
Over the past decade, Anna has been dedicated to unlocking human potential, through designing and delivering experiences, specifically for women in numerous industries across Australia that educate, inspire and unite.
Anna is highly motivated to elevate the knowledge, understanding, practice and culture of consent in Australia and beyond. Her focus in the productions with Learning Consent, (live performances, filmed or interactive theatre) is to create a psychologically safe environment where topics can be explored at the individual’s pace to create space for lasting change.
Trent Foo
Actor
Trent James Chi Thor Foo (符志陀) is an Australian-Chinese actor represented by Gina Stoj Management. Born in Perth, he trained at The Actors' Hub graduating in 2022. He has toured theatre nationally with The Blind Eye Trilogy (One Punch Wonder, The Innocent Pawn, and Is There Anybody Out There?), featured in various TVCs for national and international brands, and starred in the award-winning dystopian/romance short film Paper Cranes.
Amoni Liddell
Design Lead: web designer
Amoni is a web designer, creating websites and digital experiences for a wide range of brands in varied industries including local government, tourism, financial services and not for profits. With a background in fine art photography, she uses graphic design with current trends in technology to deliver accessible, aesthetic and unique web-based experiences for Learning Consent.
Jemma Gallagher
Intern: Writer and speaker
Jemma is 21 and currently in her fourth year studying Occupational Therapy. She is passionate about young people’s access to comprehensive sex and consent education and regularly contributes engaging pieces for the Learning Consent blog.
From the Blog.
