June 2022
Hello everyone - I'm back!
Over the past three months I had the opportunity to take time away from my regular role and participate in the Social Impact Leadership Australia program for CEOs of 'for purpose' organisations. I'm very grateful to have had this time to reflect, refresh, and reconnect; both personally and professionally. Gaining a deeper understanding of the system that impacts the people we support was one of my goals, so as well as working with the One Door Mental Health Board on our growth strategy for the next three years, I spent some time developing new relationships to strengthen and widen the supports we provide. I was also able to give back by working with a start-up called Community Circles Australia. I found that there was a lot of synergy between our way of working - Recovery 2gether - and the concept of Community Circles. I'm excited to see how we may be able to work together in future! Another highlight of the SILA program was spending time with other passionate CEOs at a 3 day offsite in Dubbo. It was humbling to meet with local people and discuss the needs and issues facing the community in this region, particularly First Nations people. Visiting local organisations such as Dreamtime Tuka, Native Secrets, and LeaderLife provided a reminder about the importance of authentic connection and I encourage you to check out their good work.
I would like to thank the whole One Door team for supporting my time away and especially Vivien Tait, who was Acting CEO in my absence, and to our Practice Lead, Kinga Barron, for stepping up into Vivien's role of COO during this time. I came back to the sad news that Vivien was moving on from One Door Mental Health upon my return. Over the past 7 years, Vivien brought her passion, intelligence, and humility to variety of roles and was key in leading major transformational activities such as Recovery 2gether. Vivien has been a wonderful person to work with and I wish her all the best for the future. I know that whatever the future holds for her, she will always have a powerful impact on those around her.
During the final week of May, we celebrated Schizophrenia Awareness Week with our annual One Door Symposium. This year we were excited to hold two events in person - one at Liverpool Catholic Club and one at the Parliament of NSW - as well as live-streaming the sessions via Zoom and Facebook. As always, our speakers were a range of leading practitioners and researchers, as well as experts through lived experience. Every year, we use the event to connect with you - to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and make a positive difference for people living with schizophrenia. We know that with the right supports, people with schizophrenia can and do recover. Connecting with HOPE to friends, family, carers, and the community is an important part of mental health recovery.
You can contact me with ideas, information, questions at ceo@onedoor.org.au.
Until next month!
Kathi