About / Board and Advisory Committee
Our Board of Directors
Ms Susana Bluwol
– Director, Operations Committee Chair, and Advisory Committee Chair
Susana Bluwol is a Foundation Director of Bipolar Australia and currently serves as Chair of the Operations and Advisory Committees.
Ms Bluwol is an educator, speaker, and peer leader who has presented at national and international conferences and appeared on SBS radio and television. She founded Bipolar Australia in 2014, and continues to use her lived experience of bipolar disorder to guide the organisation’s work. As an immigrant from Argentina, Ms Bluwol has a special interest in incorporating insights from the multifamily therapeutic community model, which was originally developed in Buenos Aires during the 1960s, into Australian best practice for bipolar.
Mr Bernard Mitchell
– Director
Bernard “Bernie” Mitchell was elected as a Director of Bipolar Australia in 2016, and currently serves as a member of the Advisory Committee.
Mr Mitchell is an author, speaker, and life coach whose autobiography “Bipolar: A Path to Acceptance” has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon.com.au. He has owned and operated successful businesses in the real estate and coaching industries. Mr Mitchell supports Bipolar Australia’s work by combining his professional expertise of business ownership with his personal lived experience of successfully managing mental health challenges.
Osvaldo (Michael) Bluwol
– Founding Member of Bipolar Australia
Osvaldo Bluwol is a Founding Member of Bipolar Australia, its initial financial supporter, and the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer.
Born in Argentina, Osvaldo migrated to Australia in 1983 as an Architect and worked in that field for a short time. He also held qualifications from the Ibero-American Conservatorium of Music and in 1987 obtained accreditation by the Australian Music Examinations Board and started working as a Piano, Theory and Musicianship Teacher as well as a performer and arranger. His third career change was in 1998 when he graduated from Macquarie University School of Law and set up his own practice as a Licensed Property Conveyancer. He is also the Principal of Rhodes IT, an e-commerce firm. Osvaldo is experienced in law and finance and has over the past 30 years been involved in real property and stock investments. He established Bipolar Australia’s regulatory framework and since its inception in 2014, continues to provide his broad-based knowledge fulfilling the organisation’s secretarial, financial and legal requirements.