Board and Governance
Will Hawes
Founder and chairman since 2012
Will Hawes is the founder and has been the driving force behind WILL2LIVE for more than a decade. In 2012 he started delivering home-made sandwiches, fresh fruit and water to homeless people in Sydney’s CBD. He continues to run WILL2LIVE as volunteer CEO and chief organiser, managing a team of volunteers and distributing 2000 meals a week to Sydney’s most needy. “I’ve dedicated my life to helping others as I’m passionate about equality and believe that everybody should have access to basic necessities,” Will says.
Louis Goulimis
Board member since 2022
Louis started as a volunteer at WILL2LIVE’s food truck and was then invited to become a member of the board. “Will asked if I wanted to be involved in a more strategic way, and that was an honour for me,” he says. Louis works in property development and construction, and is a member of the Australian Property Institute and the Urban Development Institute of Australia. He has also run a business selling electric motor scooters. With his expertise in construction he is helping guide the building of the WILL2LIVE Centre in Alexandria.
Richie Harkham
Board member since 2019
Richie is a winemaker, entrepreneur, public speaker and the founder of a charity, Hark Angel Foundation, which has built nine schools in Myanmar. He became involved with WILL2LIVE because he also believes in helping people in our own community. “If we don’t help these poor people in our own backyard then they will go hungry each night,” he says. Richie is the founder of Harkham Wines, and is a co-owner of the Australian Institute of Personal Trainers, the Australian College of Physical Education, and Energy Alliance.
Brent Maksimovich
Board member since 2023
Brent was so inspired by WILL2LIVE’s work with homeless people in Sydney that he has donated use of a property for the WILL2LIVE Centre in Alexandria. Building work at 40 Botany Road is under way. Brent is a property developer and investor and enjoys racing cars in his spare time. He is on the board of Nefesh Synagogue in Bondi, has participated in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout and volunteered with the State Emergency Service. Brent is a registered Justice of the Peace.
Nick Weininger
Board member since 2021
A business owner and company director, Nick became involved with WILL2LIVE when he helped school-age children organise food and hygiene packs for Sydney’s homeless people. For Nick, it’s about doing something positive in the community and being a giver rather than a taker. “Working with people who are homeless was a really good way to get involved,” he says. Nick is the owner of Learn & Laugh Children’s Centres and enjoys high-altitude mountaineering.
Eresha De Zoysa
Board member since 2023
Eresha De Zoysa is a corporate and commercial lawyer with almost 20 years of local and international experience. A fourth-generation spice merchant, she founded a retail spice business, Lord & Lion, which distributes 30 per cent of its profits to people in rural Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, who are either homeless or facing imminent homelessness. Eresha is an avid fundraiser and volunteer who has been actively fundraising for and working with various domestic and international charities for over 30 years.
Richard Field
Board member since 2023
Project manager Richard Field was a teenager in Ireland when he travelled to South Africa with the Niall Mellon Township Trust and helped build secure houses for homeless people in Cape Town’s shantytowns. The experience changed his life, and since arriving in Australia in 2015 he has continued to help people less fortunate than him. He raised $30,000 in a Corporate Fighter boxing event, which bought a new food truck for WILL2LIVE, and has led the volunteer workforce on building the WILL2LIVE Centre in Alexandria.
