Maria Katsonis is a Public Policy Fellow at the University of Melbourne where she teaches public policy and management at a post graduate level.

She was previously a senior executive in the Victorian Public Service including Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Victorian Public Service Commission. Maria has a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a Fellow of Leadership Victoria.

In 2008, Maria experienced a severe episode of clinical depression that required hospitalisation. She now manages life with a chronic mental illness, leading an active and purposeful life. Maria regularly presents on her experience of mental illness to increase community understanding and help shed the stigma of mental illness.

Maria is the author of The Good Greek Girl, a memoir which recounts her experience of mental illness and recovery. She has also written about mental health for The Age and Guardian newspapers.

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