In January this year, I commenced as CEO for ACHPER. My career background and experience is different to previous incumbents in the role (previously known as the National Executive Director).
I am not from an education, teaching or health background. For some members and stakeholders this may be surprising for an organisation like ACHPER.
My background is as a professional association executive with experience in a number of different sectors including accounting, training & development, construction and forestry. Previously, I have been employed by a large private school in South Australia as a Director of Development and was CEO for AIM SA, which at the time, was the largest private provider of VET management training in the state. In addition, AIM SA was an accredited higher education provider offering a nested MBA qualification. These roles exposed me to the education sector, but with fundamentally different job functions.
As the new ACHPER CEO, my role is to work with stakeholders to ensure that not only is the organisation delivering on its vision and mission, but that it is also continually exploring new ways to enhance its activities and influence. To achieve these objectives, it usually requires a new appointee to review the current operational status of an organisation, and where required, make recommendations for improvement. This usually means some 'change' may be required. As a professional association executive, I know that the word 'change' can be daunting for some stakeholders. Therefore, I usually substitute that word with 'continuous improvement' (CI).
