Our Staff
The Sydney Alliance is made up of our partner organisations, and we rely on the extensive voluntary and paid leadership that exists in those organisations. Here are the staff we employ to help train and support the practice of community organising.
Kristyn Crossfield, Executive Officer
NSW Community Alliance
kcrossfield@sydneyalliance.org.au
With more than 30 years’ experience in leadership and organisational development, Kristyn brings expertise in strategic planning, facilitation, and leadership development. She is known for helping leaders navigate complexity, challenge assumptions, and align people and purpose to deliver impact. A skilled facilitator, she creates space for constructive dialogue and actionable outcomes. Alongside her professional work, Kristyn contributes her leadership to community organisations, schools, and not-for-profits, reflecting her deep commitment to creating impact for the common good.
Diana Olmos, Acting Lead Organiser
Diana has a strong track record in community organising, bringing together diverse institutions and leaders to build collective power. Diana has trained more than 300 community leaders in the practice of community organising, equipping them to lead campaigns, strengthen their organisations, and act together for the common good.
She has led campaigns across housing and renting, as well as climate and energy, supporting communities to organise for systemic change. Diana first came to Sydney as an international student and became deeply engaged in organising with temporary migrants and international students during the COVID-19 pandemic. She supported communities disproportionately affected by the crisis, coordinating collective responses across community organisations, education providers, and institutions.
She is committed to developing diverse leadership and creating pathways for people who have historically been underrepresented in public life to exercise power. Diana is particularly passionate about recognising and nurturing different forms of leadership and supporting leaders to bring their own stories, strengths, and communities into public life.
Chantelle Ogilvie-Ellis, Lead Organiser
On maternity leave from 24/7/2026
chantelle@sydneyalliance.org.au
Chantelle joined our staff team in 2014, as Community Organiser for the People Seeking Asylum Campaign, supporting a powerful, diverse team that helped to secure transport concessions, fee-free TAFE and access to early childhood education and care for people seeking asylum living in Sydney. In 2021, she has stepped into a role leading training and reflection. Prior to the Alliance, she worked for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney as Justice and Peace Promoter, where she organised Catholic parishes to live out Catholic Social Teaching. She has three children, is proudly Filipino-Australian and lives in Western Sydney.
Abdalnasser Abumustafa, Community Organiser
aabumustafa@sydneyalliance.org.au
Abdalnasser is the organiser for Sydney’s Muslim communities. He has a Masters Degree of Islamic Studies and in Islamic Manuscripts. Abdal also has a Diploma of Community Services Work and Bachelor of Social Work. He has many years of organising experience with communities in Iraq, Palestine and now in Australia. Abdal graduated from the Sydney Alliance Assistant Organisers program. After only six months working with the Alliance, he connected the Grand Mufti and other senior Muslim leaders to the Housing Campaign. Abdal is a father of eight children and lives in Western Sydney.
Jessica Harrison, Community Organiser
jharrison@sydneyalliance.org.au
As the Organiser for Sydney's Jewish communities, she brings Jewish people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds together to work for the common good. She was raised in the Jewish Progressive Movement in Sydney where she served as Federal Chairperson of the youth movement 'Netzer Australia' and is a member of North Shore Temple Emmanuel. She combines her passions of building power in our communities and the creative arts in her double Bachelor of Arts and Fine Arts that she is currently studying. Jess is a proud member of her Union and was formerly an organiser with Voices for Power.
Nusrat Islam, Community Organiser
Nusrat completed a Masters of Social Work (Qualifying) from Western Sydney University in 2020. She has a MBA in Human Resource Management. In Bangladesh, she was involved with the international development sector to promote voluntarism to establish human rights by providing human resources development, community support, employment support, capacity building, campaign, networking and motivation. In Australia she has worked as a child protection caseworker, and also in the areas of ethnic community services and disability advocacy, women’s empowerment and gender equality. Nusrat has one daughter and practices a Muslim faith.
Raul Sugunananthan, Community Organiser
Raul is a second generation Australian with Sri Lankan-Tamil and Chilean heritage. He developed his passion for community organising as an intern with the Sydney Alliance in 2019. There he helped turnout out over 350 members of the Uniting Church to attend the Climate Strike. He has continued to organise his community on various issues and has held several leadership roles within the Uniting Church from his local Leichhardt congregation to the National Assembly where he most recently worked as a Policy and Advocacy Officer. Raul also has experience working with diverse cultural communities, faith groups, and unions. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Laws from Sydney University.
Harry Twohig, Community Organiser
Harry grew up near Middlesbrough in North‑East England - an honest, working‑class town, shaped by industrial heritage and a strong sense of community, but a place that has experienced structural inequality and power being exercised over it. Growing up there taught Harry that inequality is not inevitable, and that local people already hold deep knowledge about what needs to change. His commitment to participation, storytelling and community organising comes directly from this lived experience. Harry began his career in public libraries - civic spaces where people encounter knowledge, support and one another on equal terms – and is interested in how institutions can shift from extractive models of engagement towards approaches that recognise lived experience, collective power and community heritage.
David Nissen, Accounts Officer
NSW Community Alliance
David has been involved in the not for profit industry for over 20 years. He enjoys working with people and organisations that help to make a difference to the plight of others. David spends his “quiet” time working on home building projects and gardening and spending time with his three adult children and families.
David undertakes the Finance function for the Alliance and works 2 days per week.
Raf Rayos, Administration & Operations Manager
NSW Community Alliance
Raf entered the Alliance internship program in 2020 and went on to work within partner organisations across the network.
He now oversees administration and the internal systems that ensure organisers and leaders have the structure and coordination they need to focus on building relationships and taking action.