Simone is the co-founder of SecondBite, one of Australia’s largest food rescue organisations. Secondbite works with food growers, manufacturers and retailers to rescue surplus and unsold edible food that would otherwise be wasted in landfill, and distribute it to local charities and non-profits around Australia. Simone’s passion for social and ecological justice has motivated her work and led to the extraordinary success of this impactful organisation.

Simone attended Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak from Year 5 in 1973 graduating in 1980. Her memories of the people and relationships that she developed at School have remained with her and many of her future decisions and actions. Simone began her career as a Nurse working in the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Children's Hospital in Victoria. In the course of her work at the hospital for 15 years she came across many families who on top of dealing with medical issues, also found it difficult to access fresh food. Seeing this, Simone developed a deeper understanding of the link between healthy food and good physical and mental health. Her time working in the ICU also persuaded her that communities can and must care for their members. Simone has spoken of her belief that partnerships between individuals, organisations and communities are the key to our society’s success. 

Simone and her husband Ian started SecondBite in2005, as a means of rescuing surplus, unsold and wasted food in order to redistribute it to charitable groups around Australia. The organisation began in Victoria collecting 600kg of food in the first 12 months and quickly grew into a national organisation. In 2023 they distributed more than 25 million kg of food, the equivalent of 50 million meals, to over 1100 charities around the country. 

As Co-Founder and current Board Deputy Chair of SecondBite, Simone has been instrumental in keeping the organisation committed to working collaboratively with community groups and advocating for further information and action on the issue of food insecurity.

Simone’s work with Second Bite has been widely recognised; in 2016 she was appointed to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women and in 2017 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia. In 2018 she and her husband Ian were joint recipients of the Melbournian of the Year awards. Simone has been acknowledged by both La Trobe and Monash Universities for her community work and by the Woman’s Leadership Initiative for mentoring future leaders. In 2023 she and Ian were promoted to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Legends Hall of Fame as Sustainability Champions.