Three new directors have been appointed to the Board of Coast Shelter, bringing new skills and experience.
They are: Candace Bretecher, an experienced finance, audit and risk executive with top tier banking and consulting firms; Georgina Moore, a First Nations woman working on the frontline in local health, AOD and wellbeing services; and Carolyn Cousins, who holds a Masters in Social Work, is a published author and has frontline experience in child protection, domestic violence services and clinical supervision.
Alexander Maitland and Jennifer Eddy have been reappointed to the Board, where they will continue to serve alongside Kian Safaei, Rob Kitchen, Claire Braund and Howard Bell.
Rob Kitchen, who was unanimously elected Chair at the first board meeting said he looked forward to the year ahead.
“Our three new directors have been appointed, following a rigorous selection process, where we sought specific skills and experience to complement those of existing Board members,” he said.
“We are in a strong position to meet our strategic objectives and some stretch goals for 2023.”
Kitchen has served on the Board of Coast Shelter for the past year and is passionate about the sustainability and impact of its services and ensuring everyone on the Coast has a safe place to call home.
He also serves on the Board of the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music and is a technical director for global engineering services firm, GHD.
He has experience in Community Housing and a wide reaching and influential network across the Coast.
Coast Shelter CEO Michael Starr congratulated Kitchen on his election and said he looked forward to working closely with him throughout 2023.
He also thanked Kian Safaei for her time as Chair and made particular mention of Margaret Portass, who stepped off the Board at the AGM, for her tireless efforts supporting him as CEO during the difficult COVID years.
“It is worth remembering that our Board Members volunteer their time and expertise to Coast Shelter and the wider community, which is a powerful example of the healthy spirit and culture of offering people a hand up that we have right here on the Coast,” Starr said.
For more information about Coast Shelter, go to www.coastshelter.org.au.
Source: Media release, Dec 9, 2022, Coast Shelter