Helen Szoke
Australian non-profit executive
Helen Veronica Szoke (born 9 November 1954) is the former chief executive of Oxfam Australia, and a commentator and advocate on issues of human rights, poverty, inequality, gender and race discrimination. Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles across the health sector, human rights and public policy, and international development sector.
Early life and study
Szoke's early years were lived in South Australia, attending Tea Tree Gully Primary School, and Modbury High and Willunga High Schools. After Szoke's family moved to Tasmania, she then studied at Smithton High, Wynyard High and Burnie High Schools in Tasmania.
Szoke studied at the University of Tasmania, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (politics and psychology). Following a move to Victoria, Szoke undertook studied a Masters of Arts Preliminary at Deakin University, as well as a graduate diploma in public policy (1992) and then PhD public policy (2004) both at the University of Melbourne. Her PhD thesis was entitled "Social regulation, reproductive technology and the public interest: policy and process in pioneering jurisdictions."
Career history
Early career
Following her matriculation in Tasmania, Szoke worked for a Commonwealth Bank branch as an Information Officer, and as a waitress at Wrest Point Casino, whilst studying for her undergraduate degree. After relocating to Melbourne, Szoke worked as a community education officer, and then with the Victorian Teachers' Union.
Health
Szoke then worked for a health consumer organisation, the Health Issues Centre, ultimately becoming executive director. After leaving the Health Issues Centre, Szoke undertook a period of private consulting while her children were young in the areas of organisational and strategic planning, and consumer health research.
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This entry incorporates text from “Helen Szoke” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.