Our Team

Members of the secretariat:

Kate Armstrong – Co-Chair

Kate is the Co-Chair of @MATES4Kids and President of CLAN, co-founding the organization in 2004. Kate is a Public Health Physician and committed to equity for children and young people who are living with chronic health conditions in vulnerable circumstances. Her public health thesis focused on nephrotic syndrome in Vietnam. Kate is married to the co-founder of CLAN, Dave Hansen, and lives in Sydney, Australia.

Carmen Auste – Co-Chair

Carmen is a seasoned international consultant and development practitioner with wide ranging expertise. Carmen is the Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Warriors Foundation and Vice President of the Cancer Coalition Philippines. As past president of Childhood Cancer International, Carmen is well placed to help the @MATES4Kids coalition learn from the successes of the childhood cancer community, Carmen is passionate about ensuring childhood cancer survivors enjoy affordable access to hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone medicines also.

Cath Cole – Project Manager

Cath Cole is the Project Manager of @MATES4Kids and the Vice President of CLAN. She has enjoyed a long career in government and has developed skills in several areas including policy development, project management, development and delivery of education and training, and preparation of foundational documents such as strategic and business plans. Cath was the Secretary from the time CLAN was incorporated as an independent Association through the Department of Fair Trading for four years and since 2011 has been active in the role of Vice President supporting and promoting the work of CLAN.

Emma Santini – Project Support Officer

Emma Santini is the Project Support Officer for @MATES4Kids and the former United Nations Youth Representative for CLAN. Following her graduation from Lehigh University, she spent 9-months in Indonesia gaining fluency in Bahasa Indonesia and collaborating with CLAN’s Indonesian partners to strengthen the nation’s NCD community development. In addition to her role with @MATES4Kids, she is currently employed by the U.S. International Trade Administration. Emma is from New York, USA.

Rabia Baloch – Research Officer

Rabia is a public health professional with 7+ years of experience in working with nonprofit and academia in Pakistan. She is currently doing a research fellowship at Aga Khan University focusing on maternal nutrition and birth outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. She has a strong desire and passion to contribute to public health globally through evidence-based research. Her research focus lies in the area of NCDs in children and adolescents. She has been supporting CLANs activities for last few years in voluntary capacity. She currently resides in Canada and aims to pursue a role in healthcare leadership.

Consultancy – Public Health Matters

Anthony is a public health physician who has worked in public policy, health promotion, digital health, and Aboriginal health. His health protection experiences include pandemic emergency response and environmental health. Anthony believes that ‘health for all’ is not just a pipe dream, but achievable in our generation.