I started as CEO in late May of this year, and over the first weeks and months, I have spent a significant amount of time listening to you, our members, as well as our staff, partners, and all of our important stakeholders.
I have found a highly engaged and committed community, united in doing everything possible to improve the support and care for people with CF, their families, and carers. It has been an honour to meet with many of you and I look forward to continuing the dialogue going forward.
As part of my role, I have also been looking at what works well, and whether there are any gaps or changes needed to ensure we continue to deliver the necessary outcomes that our community requires, and that we have the capacity, capability and resources needed to deliver a positive and meaningful impact.
One area that has required some changes is the way our staff team is structured, and I wanted to provide an update on the key changes.
Post amalgamation of our two organisations (CFVIC and CFNSW) in 2017, there has been an enormous amount of work done bringing the two separate organisations together, including services, systems, processes, etc. However, some gaps remained, particularly in how we build consistency of service delivery and equality of resourcing across the two states.
As such, we have made some changes to ensure that we have one Head of Department that is responsible for certain areas of the organisation for both states which will bring about more synergies in how we work together across the organisation and more capacity to allow us to deliver more for our community.
As such, I have the pleasure of introducing two new staff members:
Stephanie Quattromani, Head of Programs & Services:
Stephanie will join us on the 14 November and will be responsible for developing and growing the programs and support services we deliver to all our members across both NSW and VIC. With qualifications in genetic counselling and clinical experience as an Associate Genetic Counsellor, Steph has worked with a number of CF families across NSW hospitals, and together with her experience of developing services in healthcare settings, she is well positioned to lead the development of our services across the organisation. Based in Sydney, Stephanie will manage the Program and Services Team in NSW and VIC.
Clare Finucane, Head of Fundraising & Marketing:
Clare has recently joined us as the new lead for all our fundraising and marketing activities we deliver across NSW and VIC. An experienced fundraiser and marketeer, Clare is a highly credible and sought-after expert in the space of fundraising and brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience. For two decades, Clare has led fundraising and marketing functions at a number of organisations, including Ronald McDonald House, Ovarian Cancer Australia and more recently at the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Based in Melbourne, Clare will lead all fundraising and marketing staff across the two states.
There will be opportunities for members to connect with both Steph and Clare over the coming weeks, and they can be reached via our offices if anyone wants to connect sooner.
Sadly, as part of the changes, we have had to make one role redundant in NSW.
Allison Reid has been a key part of the team over the last three years as State Manager for NSW and for much of that period, led the team through a very challenging period during the pandemic. Whilst every attempt was made to incorporate the role into the new structure, sadly, this was not possible as we moved to create more opportunities for leadership roles that covered both states, rather than one.
We are disappointed we haven’t been able to keep Allison, but we are extremely grateful and thankful of the legacy she will leave behind and the impact she has made to many families and community members in New South Wales. Allison’s last day will be on Friday; 18 November and we look forward to celebrating her time with us before she leaves.
As part of my commitment to provide regular opportunities for updates and conversations with our members, I will be holding a virtual CEO Forum on Tuesday, 15 November from 18.00 – 19.00. As announced in my last email, these sessions will take part every three months and will be an opportunity for me to provide updates on all things CFCC, as well as answer any questions you may have. If you would like to attend the next session, please send an email to admin@cfcc.org.au and we will send you a Zoom link prior to the day.