Ros Rogers OAM - Founder

As the founder and ‘brain-child’ behind KOGO, Ros has always been involved in caring for the community through her voluntary work with various organisations.

Ros qualified as a pharmacist in 1974 and after the birth of her 3 children, she decided to become a full time Mum.  

Ros learnt to knit as an eight-year-old and has loved it ever since. In 2004, prompted by a very cold winter, Ros decided to combine her passion for knitting with her love of helping people. She started KOGO in order to distribute warm winter hand knits to people in need.

Ros was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia, General Division) in the 2017 Australia Day Awards for service to youth and to charitable organisations and Founder and Coordinator of KOGO.

Vicki Davis

Vicki joined KOGO in 2012 as a volunteer, in charge of distribution.

She graduated from William Angliss in 1987, with a Diploma of Catering and Hotel operations, and had a successful catering business for five years. For 17 years, Vicki ran Vicki’s Bickies, specialising in gingerbread manufacturing and cake decorating where she mainly employed Sudanese refugees. Vicki was recognised for inclusivity with a Multi-Cultural award for excellence in 2009.

Vicki began a career in volunteering in 2012 in a variety of not-for-profits. KOGO, PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia), and CPS (Children’s Protection Society) were her main areas of interest and cemented her care for society’s most vulnerable.

Being a passionate knitter and a lover of all things colourful and crafty, KOGO was an ideal match. Vicki’s organisational skills and counselling training, from her eight years at PANDA, have helped prepare her to take on the role of new CEO of KOGO in 2021.

Vicki is married and has two adult sons.

Brett Lethborg

Brett has over 20 years’ experience as a Chartered Accountant specialising in business advisory and taxation matters.  Brett is a Principal at Daniel Allison & Associates, a South Melbourne based boutique accounting and legal practice where he advises many of Melbourne’s prominent families on their business and philanthropic interests.

His financial acumen has helped KOGO remain a sustainable not-for-profit organisation and build a structure to ensure they are able to continue to run long into the future.

Brett is also kept busy chasing his 2 young boys around and training for marathons!

Vivien Lewenberg

Vivien is a founding Partner of Lawsmith Legal and Student of Nursing at Australian Catholic University.

Qualified with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics (Accounting) from Monash University and a Master of Law from the University of Cambridge, Vivien has nearly 30 years experience practising Commercial Law and Litigation at a number of Melbourne firms.

She now divides her time between family life, working as a lawyer and pursuing her next career dream of becoming a nurse.

Genia Janover

Genia Janover, who served as principal of Bialik College for 20 years, and prior to that as Vice-Principal of Leibler-Yavneh College, has enjoyed a stellar career in Jewish education over more than four decades.

After retiring from Bialik College towards the end of 2008, Genia was appointed to the boards of several leading schools, at the same time serving as an educational consultant, and as a senior staff member of Independent Schools of Victoria. State-of-the art facilities and cutting-edge educational programs marked her principalship at Bialik College, while enrolments grew exponentially, from about 380 students to almost 1100 students. Genia has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, among them the Commonwealth award for Excellence in a Principal and the Max Fisher Prize – an international accolade – for her contribution to Jewish education. She has been named as one of Australia's top ten educators and listed among the country's 100 most influential women.

Born in Australia, Genia is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She is married to Myer. They have twin sons and four grandsons.