Emma’s career includes notable roles such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Minda Inc., CEO at Community Support Inc., Advisor at The CEO Centre and Interim CEO for the MS Society of SA/NT. Her extensive experience has given her a profound understanding of the sector’s complexities and challenges, and we are excited to see HenderCare thrive under her leadership.
From starting her career as a receptionist to a performing Fringe artist, let’s learn more about who Emma is from the woman herself!
Welcome, Emma; tell us about yourself.
Emma: Firstly, I’m delighted to be taking on the role of CEO of HenderCare. It’s a wonderful organisation and I’m very proud to be a part of the dedicated team who deliver essential services to our clients in a very challenging industry.
About me, I’m Irish, and I moved to Adelaide in 2011 with my husband Sean and my two daughters, Shannon and Grace. Sean and I have just become empty nesters this month so we’re enjoying the peace and quiet but also realising there’s no-one else to blame for any mess!
Tell us about your career and how you got here.
Emma: We started our family when we were quite young, so I went from university to being a stay-at-home Mum, a Receptionist and then a HR administrator before deciding to go back and study accounting. The girls were very young then, so I started my study with the Open University, doing my learning on the bus to and from work as there is no other time when children are small! I qualified whilst working as an auditor for the government and subsequently became the Head of Finance for the Irish arm of a large European parking management company.
My career in community services began in Adelaide when I joined Minda as their CFO. I loved the humanity of the sector and knowing that I was putting my skills to use for the good of real people who would benefit from the work I was doing. On joining Community Support as CEO, I was elected to the NDS State committee and was able to advocate for people with disabilities to government stakeholders, which is a real highlight for me. Since then, I have provided advisory support to organisations across the community services, including supporting the MS Society as their Interim CEO during their CEO transition. And most recently I joined HenderCare a year ago and have loved every minute of it. I love the challenges and knowing that we are making things better every day.
We hear you have a musical career – tell us more!
Emma: I perform in multiple musical groups including a ceili band, an orchestra, Gospo Collective, Celtic Sounds and Kelly’s Wayke, either singing or playing the accordion or tin whistle, or all three! I fell in love with Fringe and have performed in shows, (including my own shows) for the last seven years. It’s a lot of fun!
We thank Emma for sharing her story with us and look forward to her continued success as our new CEO.