Dr Christopher S Walsh (Dr Chris)
Director. Dr Chris is a Professor of Education at James Cook University in Australia at the College of Arts, Society and Education (CASE) within the Division of Tropical Environments and Societies. He has worked across diverse contexts in Asia, North America, Europe, The Middle East and Australia. Dr Chris has been extremely successful in obtaining research income as the lead applicant, co-applicant or co-investigator. This world-leading research—funded by the European Commission, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Australian Research Council (ARC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The AIDS Research Foundation (amfAR), the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and the Spencer Foundation—totals more than $25 million (AUD). His participation on these projects has resulted in an outstanding, collaborative and on-going record of publications. He also currently edits Digital Culture & Education (DCE), a peer-reviewed and open-access international journal. Dr Chris led on the design, data collection and analysis of large teacher professional development projects in Bangladesh and India using ICTs and measuring the impact of introducing university-based CLE projects in Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar.
Helen Yandell
Director. As the Director of Springvale Monash Legal Service, Helen was involved in the day to day management of the service which assists vulnerable members of the community through the clinical legal education program with the Law Faculty of Monash University.Helen has been heavily involved in community development activities, assisting community members to understand the law and ensure their rights are protected and in conjunction with law students, assists decision makers to understand how the law impacts on disadvantaged and vulnerable community members.Prior to becoming a lawyer, Helen worked extensively as a teacher in the adult education sector. She has worked with people from a range of cultural backgrounds and with people with disabilities, advocating for their needs in education, accommodation and employment. More recently, Helen spent three months in Thailand and Vietnam, volunteering with Bridges Across Borders in South East Asia Community Legal Education Initiative. This involved developing clinical legal education programs in South East Asia.Helen is on the BABSEACLE’s International Advisory Board for strengthening Clinical Legal Education.
Wendy Morrish
President. Wendy Morrish is co-Director and co-founder of BABSEACLE, where she is responsible for the coordination of all aspects of the BABSEACLE international community/clinical legal education program.The scope of her activities include developing, implementing, managing and sustaining Community Legal Education (CLE) programs in universities and grass-root communities throughout the South East Asian region. In 2006, after working in the field of business development in the private sector of corporate Australia, where she also worked as an active Justice of the Peace for over 18 years, Ms Morrish focused her energy on the Access to Justice campaign through developing and strengthening CLE programs throughout Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Cambodia and the Philippines while continuing to provide support, guidance and mentoring for the law students at the universities. Currently she has overseen, facilitated and co-trained in numerous workshops and trainings throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, USA, UK and Europe.