By Mitchell Clarke
A new chairperson has been appointed to lead Wayss, an organisation providing crucial family violence and homelessness support to vulnerable women and children across the south east.
As the Wayss team continue to expertly navigate their way through an unprecedented demand, largely created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the board announced Cath Evans as the organisation’s new Chair.
Ms Evans has been described as a “high-profile” business leader and a personal injury lawyer with an “impressive” CV.
She has experience leading several large, publicly listed, multi-site organisations in both Australia and the United Kingdom, and has served as a director on several boards. She was also a committee representative with the Law Institute of Victoria and held an advisory role with the NDIS’ Ministerial Advisory Committee.
Ms Evans said she was honoured to join the board of Wayss.
“It’s an organisation with a long and proud history of providing vital services to the community,” she said.
“The next phase of development of Wayss will strengthen its capabilities and delivery of services to individuals and families facing adversity and hardship. I am excited to work a team who are deeply committed to delivering the organisation’s goals.”
Outgoing chair Steve Peterson said the organisation was “thrilled” to confirm the appointment, which was announced during the AGM in November.
“Across her legal career Cath has demonstrated not only that she can lead and develop highly successful businesses, but that she is also deeply passionate in her representation of those facing hardship and disadvantage. She is a great fit for Wayss and for our next phase,” Mr Peterson said.
Following on from a disastrous year, the board put in place a new strategic plan to guide the organisation through to 2023.
Mr Peterson, who joined the Board in 2015 and took over as Chair in 2017, will remain on the Board as a Director.
His mother, Janice Peterson, was one of the original founding members of Wayss and a staff member for more than 16 years before she tragically passed away in late 2013.
A new director, Sharmiah Sritharan, was also appointed as a new director during the AGM, following the retirement of Margaret Kashbach.
Ms Kashback, who led the organisation as chair for more than 20 years, was one of the organisation’s four founding members.
Her replacement, Ms Sritharan is described as an experienced solicitor with direct links to Wayss local community networks.
Mr Peterson said both women would add “enormous value” to the organisation.
“Our role as a board and as custodians is to empower and enable our staff to do their best work and grow our influence across the sector,” he said.
“Cath will be a great enabler and motivator. It was clear to us as a board that Cath and Sharmiah are familiar with the issues faced by our clients and their lived experience, and importantly their values are aligned with the values of our organisation. Both will add enormous value to our business and we look forward to supporting Cath and Sharmiah in their new roles.”
With the new leadership team and an invigorated board, the organisation has vowed to “continue to build on its existing legacy” to deliver essential housing and family violence response services and drive systemic change in the local area.
The need for an organisation like Wayss has never been more important in the community. Concerning statistics released post Melbourne’s Covid-19 lockdown have highlighted the systemic issue of family violence in the south east.
In 2019, the organisation moved to a brand-new head office in Dandenong, appointed new CEO Liz Thomas and introduced a range of service delivery innovations.
Wayss dates back to the late 1970s, when a small team dedicated their time to supporting youth affected by homelessness in the Westernport area.
Over time, the team has grown and evolved significantly to provide life-saving support to people affected by family violence across Cardinia, Casey and Greater Dandenong.
More than 150 staff currently work across ten sites and offer support to hundreds of people every month through more than 40 different services.
For more information: https://www.wayss.org.au/contact/.
