SEE Change is a grass-roots sustainability organisation based in Canberra. We are focused on making beneficial changes to our Society, Environment and Economy (SEE) in order to live more sustainably.

Formed in 2008, SEE Change is unique in that it delivers sustainability information, activities and programs through its volunteer-led SEE Change groups.

The work of our volunteer groups is supported by part-time staff in our office in the Downer Community Centre. As well as supporting volunteers - staff co-ordinate extra projects and activities based on their passions. Volunteers are paid members of SEE Change - $10 for unwaged and $25 for waged per year. 

Projects and Services

SEE Change offer a wide range of projects, activities and services. Here’s a snapshot of some of our regular events.

• sustainable house tours

• The Canberra Electric Bike Library

• Roving Regenerators

• The Community Toolbox Canberra

• Biannual Parliament of Youth on Sustainability

• Active Volunteer run groups across the community

We also offer a range of volunteering and university intern positions at the SEE Change office.

Paula Mance

Executive Director

Paula joined SEE-Change as the Executive Officer in February 2023.  Previously she worked in the Australian Government and ACT/NSW Community sectors in various research, policy and executive roles. 

Her first and ongoing passion has always been the environment having completed a Bachelor of Science (Botany) and Laws (Environmental) in the 1990s.  She completed a Masters of Arts (Demography) in 2004 and is currently studying towards a Diploma of Sustainable Living at UTas.

Her busy life includes looking after a permaculture garden, caring for injured wildlife, and the menagerie of animals that live on Themeda Farm, a beautiful sanctuary on the banks of the Murrumbidgee where she lives in a passive solar, off-grid house with her partner and children.

Neil Williams

Board Chair

Neil is a retired public servant, where he held various senior executive roles advising on science and innovation, industry policy, infrastructure, drought policy and the Indigenous business sector. Since retiring in 2020 Neil has sought to utilise his skills to give back to the Canberra community. As well as being Chair of the SEE Change Board, Neil is a volunteer community driver, the President of the Canberra Organic Growers Society and is a member of the Finance and Governance Committee for the Commonwealth National Parks Conservation Trust. Neil’s passions include cooking the organic vegetables his wife grows and bushwalking, including completing the Overland Track in Tasmania in 2022.

Charlie Stephenson

Board Member

Charlie works in ACT Government leading the development of a strategic infrastructure program for Environment, Heritage and Water Division. He has extensive leadership experience through his previous career in Defence, with expertise in strategic planning, program management, operations and strategic communications. As well as his Board role with SEE Change, Charlie supports a number of other volunteer roles including board member for People With Disabilities WA, grant writer for an environmental charity in Sydney (The Bower) and working in his local community park in Bragg St, Hackett. Following his new-found passion for the environment, Charlie is also a post grad student at Charles Sturt University studying Environmental Management. In his spare time, Charlie loves a spot of yoga, bushwalking with his family, or mountain biking in Majura Pines. He is also a passionate carer of his native garden.  

Mackenzie Martin

Project Officer

Mackenzie is the project officer managing the SEE Change electric bike library. She is currently studying astrophysics at ANU, with a focus on planetary and environmental science. Growing up around bikes, Mackenzie is keenly aware of the importance of accessible emissions-free travel. In their spare time, they enjoy reading, camping, and spending time with their cat, Calvin.

Peter Le Cornu

Secretary

Peter is a retired teacher and a former CEO of a national charity. He is convenor of the See-Change WasteLess group and coordinates the electric bike bulk buy. He is keen on growing vegetables, walking and using his electric bike.

Deepak Poria

Board Member

Deepak is a technology leader, who has built automation systems in the government, healthcare, wealth management and retail banking domains to achieve rapid organic and acquisition growth. A career spanning over 21 years identifying the business needs, defining the strategy and approach, and developing a user driver product strategy and roadmap in the Software as a Services (SaaS) environment. He has been working towards going carbon neutral with the upgrades of his home to renewable energy and was one of the early adopters during the EV wave. He along with his two boys created a project called "Project TakeBK - Take back our planet one step at a time" where the objective is to educate as many people as possible about recycling and sustainability to drive change at the community level.

Karen Norman

Project Officer

Kaz has had a lifelong interest in the environment from growing up on a rural farm and learning permaculture and sustainable food systems. She has studied ecology as well as worked in the community sector for many years. She loves arts and crafts that are environmentally friendly or are creative ways to reduce waste. She also purchased a Tiny House to live in just outside of Canberra that is fully off grid. 

Mark Spain

Treasurer

Mark works in designing and hosting leadership development programs for business, government and the community. His purpose is to cultivate the conditions for life to thrive. He's also involved in action learning projects hospicing the death of the old economy and midwifing the birth of the new economy.

Amy Carrad

Board Member

Amy's paid work is as a researcher in ARCHE | Australian Research Centre for Health Equity, in the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) at ANU. Amy is particularly passionate about food systems, incorporating this into her research as well as her extracurricular activities and advocacy. Amy is currently secretary of Young Farmers Connect and a member of their strategic working group, a member of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and was involved in their Peoples’ Food Plan working group, a member of the the Right to Food Coalition, and is known in her office as the "Waste Warrior".

Mia Chahoud

PRoject Officer

Mia is currently studying Environment and Sustainability at ANU, majoring in sustainability studies. She loves bushwalks, the beach, learning about new ways of living sustainably, and uni when it involves fieldwork. Her dream is to own a solar passive house with a big veggie garden and chickens.