Careers

Work With Us

People are at the heart of what we do

Our team is made up of qualified and skilled people who are passionate about early childhood development, supporting families and building communities. Our leadership, management, operational and program teams are highly experienced and driven by the values of respect, integrity and openness.

At Playgroup NSW our people are at the heart of what we do. We pride ourselves on our inclusive and engaged organisational culture. We value work-life balance, are family-friendly, flexible and inclusive, which makes us an employer of choice.

Our experienced and dedicated team is comprised of staff based at the Playgroup NSW headquarters, as well as support and development staff working in the Greater Sydney and regional areas.

Supporting current and prospective Playgroup NSW members to help them establish and manage community or supported playgroups is the major focus for the majority of our team. This includes providing information and guidance to playgroups, facilitating our supported playgroup sessions and promoting early childhood development with families and professionals.

Our focus and leadership is built around quality service delivery and sees our staffing resources focused firmly on playgroup development, excellence in service delivery, member support and engagement, and continuing our business and digital transformation.

Playgroup NSW also relies on the generosity and passion of our wonderful volunteers. Our community playgroups are run by volunteer committees who dedicate their time to ensure their local playgroup thrives.

Leadership Team

Nadene Lee – Chief Executive Officer

Nadene holds over 15 years’ experience in senior executive roles in Australia and overseas, with commercial and not for profit national and international organisations. In addition to her role as CEO for Playgroup NSW, until recently, Nadene was Chair of an international body for one of the world’s largest addiction science-based treatment programs.

Nadene maintains a long-term commitment to leading organisations that create positive change and equitable outcomes at scale. Through Non-Executive Director roles, Nadene has also applied influence and expertise to benefit a range of targeted programs and services for individuals and communities globally.

Nadene has a values-based, outcomes focused leadership style, with a future focus that aligns vision and strategy with innovation an impact. Nadene holds a Master in Business Administration, Bachelor International Business and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

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Steve Moore, Chief Operating Officer

Steve Moore specialises in general management across multi-site operations with large multi-disciplinary teams. Steve has successfully led large scale strategic and operational transformations with a focus on maintaining the highest possible customer service standards and quality of stakeholder relationships.

As the elected President of the Greater Narellan Business Chamber, Steve works with a diverse Board of Directors to advocate for the needs of over 200 local member businesses in the Southwest of Sydney. Steve's emphasis in the workplace is on establishing and maintaining a supportive and productive culture, to enable individual, team and organisational growth and success. This aligns well with our strategic priority to attract, support, develop and engage our teams and volunteers; and that our people create and enable our success.

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Kellie Murray, Chief First Nations Officer

Kellie Murray is a Wiradjuri woman from Wagga Wagga and a mother to three boys. She has been in Wagga since she was born, and loves working in the community. Kellie has always been in Aboriginal community services and education roles and it is a great passion of hers. At Playgroup NSW we run Aboriginal Supported Playgroups in the Wagga community. We provide not only early education but a full holistic approach to social and emotional wellbeing for our families. We work with a range of services who come out to our playgroups and provide not only outreach services but build connections with our families. We also work with our local schools to provide support and connections for our families with children who are getting ready to transition into kindergarten. 

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Jennifer Kemp, Chief Social Impact Officer 

Jenny has extensive experience spanning disability and child and family services, where she has worked in senior roles over the past three decades. Jenny has always been an advocate for children, specifically those with a disability, evidenced in her 21 year tenure with Lifestart, an organisation focused on inclusion for children and young people living with disability.

With valued experience across many of our portfolios and programs and with experience in evaluation and learning frameworks and social impact measurement, Jenny brings a wealth of knowledge to the team. Jenny's experience aligns well with our strategic priority to ensure every child and family has a place in their community to connect, learn and belong.

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Tammy Collins, Chief Communications Officer

Tammy is a seasoned marketer with 19 years experience in the Australian media industry. With a penchant for insight led marketing and content, Tammy has held executive roles with eBay, Nine Entertainment, Fairfax Media and Australian Radio Network. A cross platform specialist, Tammy is well versed in radio, digital and print media. Tammy enjoys helping brands define and tell their story. Tammy has joined Playgroup NSW as the Digital Strategist to assist the business in their digital transformation journey and to lead the marketing function in 2020.

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Our Board

Ben Ramsey - Chair

Ben is a dad to three boys and became an active member of Oatley West Playgroup when taking parental leave with his second son in 2017. It was here he experienced first-hand the benefits of structured play and the support that Playgroup brings. Ben is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and was on the CIMA Membership Assessor panel for over 10 years. He has more than 20 years’ experience in corporate finance, strategic planning and governance, gained through various finance leadership roles in the UK and Australia.

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Michelle Mori - Board Member

Michelle is an accounting and finance professional who has over 20 years of tax consulting experience as well as a strong background in accounting, governance and finance matters.  Over her career with large accounting firms Michelle has worked with a diverse group of both profit and not for profit entities.  She has held various leadership roles and values building and being part of collaborative teams.  Michelle is a member of the Chartered Accountants ANZ.  She has been a member of Playgroup NSW since 2021 and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee since 2022.

 

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Sara Bold - Board Member and Board and Leadership Effectiveness (BALE) Committee Member 

Sara is an early childhood education professional and a graduate of Macquarie University’s Institute of Early Childhood.  She has a deep interest in global pedagogies that translate into meaningful, respectful, child-centred learning and teaching.  She believes that families flourish in communities of support and children flourish in environments where play, creativity and security abound. Sara is a member of the managing committee at Bondi and Vaucluse playgroups. Attending a playgroup with her own child increased her appreciation for safe, fun settings for play and the meaningful connections with others that arise from this.

Tracey Watts - Board Member

Tracey joined the board of Playgroup in 2016 and is the Chair of the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee. She attended playgroup on the northern beaches with her son until he went to school and also volunteered as the day leader during this time. Being a single mum with a very active boy, she relied on her local playgroup not only for her child’s benefit, but also for the support and friendship she received from the other parents/grandparents/carers. She believes strongly in the value of playgroup in bringing families together. Tracey is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants ANZ with over 30 years' experience in tax, accounting, management and business advice including 19 years running her own firm.

Emma Crause - Board Member

Emma joined the board of Playgroup in 2022. Emma is the Snr VP of Tax at Brookfield Asset Management.

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Playgroup NSW leads play-based programs and services for NSW families with children birth to school age, offering development, shared experiences, and family support, that results in active citizens and inclusive communities.