Nextgen4council

Nextgen4Council Candidates

Claire Braund

Claire is a social entrepreneur and innovator whose successful business, Women on Boards, operates across Australia, Asia and the UK from the heart of the Gosford CBD. An informed and entertaining presenter and media spokesperson, a renowned networker and skilled at building relationships for common benefit are some of the hallmarks of her business success.

A former journalist and public relations manager, Claire is experienced in governance, business development, communications and advocacy. She is well-known nationally for her role in founding Women on Boards and in 2011 became a Churchill Fellow for her work on gender equity.
Claire is a graduate of the Benevolent Society’s Sydney Social Leadership Program (2005) and has a strong commitment to equity and justice. She constantly seeks new and innovative solutions for old problems and ways the public and private sectors can partner to deliver outcomes for social benefit.

Claire is a lover of the visual and performing arts and the impact they have in the development of children and advancement of society. She serves on the Board of Management for the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music and co-founded the Gosford Waterfront Alliance, which sought to retain the Gosford Waterfront as a cultural and recreational precinct by relocating the ATO and State Finance Office into the Gosford CBD.

Through her business Claire supports local charities and groups such as Lifeline and the Women's Refuge. She has two children (Years 2 and 7) and lives in Springfield after 14 years in Saratoga.


Dr Diane Bull
Dr Diane Bull is a PhD qualified clinical and medical psychologist who has held positions at the University of Newcastle for the past 40 years and is currently a senior conjoint lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine. She has an international reputation in the areas of Health Psychology, Psychoneuroimmunology, Clinical Psychology and Experimental Methodology and was a nominee for Australian of the Year in 2004 for her work in science, research and education.

Diane has served on a range of boards, including Central Coast Grammar School and The Deans and Senate Committees at the University of Newcastle. She is very active in Rotary and the Soroptimists, a global volunteer movement working together to transform the lives of women and girls. She has contributed to a myriad of charitable events, including as the Founder of Central Coast Comicon, which has raised approximately $50,000.00 for youth programs and homelessness. Her community and charity work has a focus on the education and health of the young adults on the Coast.

Diane has a formidable academic reputation; she has published over fifty articles for publication in peer reviewed international journals, presented papers at seventeen international conferences, written several chapters in three books, co-authored two textbooks and reviews papers for four journals. She is internationally recognised for her work with PTSD and identifying those variables that will alleviate the adverse health effects of high risk worker cohorts such as police, fire fighters, ambulance officers and military personnel.

Diane is widowed, has two grown children and had lived on the Coast for more than forty years in East Gosford and Avoca. Her late husband, her son and daughter in law have careers in the National Park and Wildlife Service, with a lifelong commitment to environmental issues.


Danielle Habib
Danielle Habib has worked closely with diverse communities in a community development capacity with a domestic and family violence focus. Her grass roots approach has enabled her an insight into the lives of families at their most vulnerable and developed her expertise in primary prevention strategies in community.

Danielle currently lectures at Hunter TAFE and in the role of Violence Prevention Officer with Uniting. She works with high school students to challenge the social constructs of gendered norms and workshop strategies in which youth can take an active bystander role in the community to confront and prevent violence. Her past work includes domestic violence and culturally and linguistically diverse specialist for government and non-government agencies, teaching child protection, violence prevention and cultural diversity. Has worked in Egypt with families escaping torture and war from South Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan and also lived in South Sudan supporting women and children.

Danielle has served on advisory boards to Council, Regional Advisory Committees, the Women’s Health Centre and the White Ribbon Foundation. In 2017 Danielle was recognised on the NSW Government's Local Women of the Year Honour Roll for her advocacy and work. She has three girls aged 2.4 and 9.

We are contributors and supporters of the recently developed Community Plan Central Coast.