The Committee is comprised of a group of dedicated volunteers with a horticultural background.
Each individual plays an important role in the functioning of Encouraging Women in Horticulture, and they work together to achieve the organisation’s purpose.
Our Committee roles consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Ordinary Committee Members.
Our constitution allows up to 10 Ordinary Committee Members on the committee each term. If you are interested in supporting, inspiring, and encouraging women in horticulture, please enquire about committee positions by contacting us (must be over 18).
Vacant
President
The position of President is currently vacant. If you are interested please contact the committee for details.
Carol Jordon
Ordinary Committee Member
Elected 18 November 2020
Carol Jordon has worked for an extended period of time as CEO of a small not-for-profit organisation and prior to that worked for many years in roles in university administration both at faculty and central level.
She brings to the committee her experience and skills in governance, budgeting and strategic planning.
She has an interest in gardening and horticulture and is keen to learn more via her involvement in EWHA.
Luda Unitt
Ordinary Committee Member
Elected 20 August 2025
After two decades building a successful career in accounting and banking in Australia and the UK, Luda decided to swap spreadsheets for soil and pursue a lifelong passion for plants and design. Now completing a Diploma of Landscape Design, she’s embracing a bold new chapter that combines creativity, sustainability, and community impact. With a special interest in designing allergy-friendly gardens, Luda is driven to create outdoor spaces that not only look beautiful but also improve the quality of life for those living with allergic disease.
Blending her financial acumen with a fresh design perspective, Luda is excited to bring her skills and enthusiasm to the committee. She’s eager to collaborate with like-minded members, learn from experienced peers, and help shape engaging initiatives that inspire others to design greener, healthier, and more inclusive spaces for everyone.
Rosemary Ulph
Vice President
Elected 16 July 2013
Rosemary has come to the Committee with a strong clerical and horticultural background. Horticulture was a second career for her, after spending 20 years in the finance industry.
After completing a Graduate Diploma in Applied Science (Horticulture) at Burnley in 2001, she spent 10 years working in retail garden nurseries.
For 12 years, she ran her own Garden Design business ‘Your Garden Oasis‘, and worked part-time as a Gardener looking after 6 gardens.
Lubana Squire
Ordinary Committee Member
Elected 12 October 2022
Gardening and a love of plants has been a slow discovery for me that started in my 30s and is now a full-blown passion. I’m intrigued by the unique beauty and complexity of all things botany – and the countless benefits plants bring to our lives and the environment. For me, gardens offer the perfect opportunity to experiment and enrich.
I said farewell to the corporate world in 2010, returned to study to complete a Graduate Diploma in Horticulture at Holmesglen and established my business ‘plan & plant’ in 2012. Now a qualified horticulturalist, I love creating and caring for beautiful, functional gardens that suit our climate and stand the test of time.
I wear many hats both in and out of work. On any given day I could be creating concepts in the morning and shovelling soil in the afternoon. With four wonderful children and a cheeky Vizsla who takes up way too much of my time, my evenings and weekends are all about friends and family.
Caitlin Gray
Ordinary Committee Member
Elected 20 August 2025
Similarly to others, Caitlin (officially) joined the wonderful world of horticulture after a career change in 2019. She studied Cert IV in Horticulture at Melbourne Polytechnic and went on to intern at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, eventually obtaining a full time role at Cranbourne in the Australian Garden. She says ‘officially’ because she believes her love of the natural world and particularly the beauty of south-east flora started from a very young age, camping and exploring with her dad. She often categorises her life into 3 groups – Plants, Cooking and Soccer, thankfully and often intertwined.
Naomie Sunner
Treasurer
Elected 20 August 2025
Naomie’s horticultural journey started at a young age when she would hide from her grandfather after popping bright red fuschia buds, and growing big blousy hot pink petunias with her mother.
After a brief foray away from plants during her teenage years, at 21 she rediscovered her passion at Westgate Park where for 13 years she co-led a project planting locally indigenous plant species. Her great love is native seed propagation, developed when she was working for SKINC (now Bili nursery), but honed while working as propagation coordinator at VINC and while completing her Masters of Environment at Melbourne Uni.
While her love for conservation horticulture remains strong, in 2022 she branched out into the wider horticultural world and began teaching horticulture at Melbourne Polytechnic. There she instructs and works with students to grow, plant and care for a wide variety of plants, but not as yet, any petunias.
Liesha Northover
Ordinary Committee Member
Elected 21 August 2024
Liesha accidentally fell into horticulture when she moved from an inner-city Victorian terrace to a larger block on the periphery of Melbourne. Taking 3 hours to mow a lawn she never used to have was quite a shock to the system. ‘What have I done?’ often accompanied a lawn-mowing session.
She endured a further shock when she hired a landscaper to work on a small section of her block at great expense. It was then that she decided to return to study and learn how to do it herself.
Liesha completed the Certificate III in Horticulture at Swinburne University in 2021. After completing the Cert. III she felt lost, so immediately enrolled in the Diploma of Horticulture, starting at Swinburne in 2022, and completing at Holmesglen Institute in 2024. She is now studying the Diploma of Landscape Design at Holmesglen Institute, and works part time on a farm.
Vacant
Secretary
The position of Secretary is currently vacant. If you are interested please contact the committee for details.
Zy Gulam
Ordinary Committee Member
Elected 20 August 2025
Zy Gulam is the recipient of the 2015 EWHA Scholarship. Zy focused on plant sciences and spontaneous wall vegetation during her post graduate studies at the University of Melbourne, completing a Master of Science in Urban Horticulture. Zy’s career took a different path to Emergency Management for marine search and rescue and marine pollution.
‘If I could spend every day taking pictures of flowers and identifying them for their botanical and common names that would be bliss. The love of plants, flowers, trees, greenspaces and the wellbeing it brings to all creatures is just as important for our lives and our environment.’
I really liked the idea of the Encouraging Women in Horticulture Association (EWHA) as there wasn’t a lot geared towards supporting women. I enjoyed several events that EWHA had organised and was surprised by the amount of interesting places to visit.
After attending the AGM in 2019 I decided to help out as a general committee member and have organised my first event. I’m also collaborating on awards, website content, and attending events in an official capacity.
I really encourage others to join up to be a general committee member and get involved so that we can grow and strengthen our EWHA.
