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Our Board

Our Board

Playgroup NSW is run by our members for our members.

The Playgroup NSW Board is made up of Directors who are elected from and by our membership under our constitution.

The responsibilities of the Board include setting and reviewing our strategic direction, monitoring organisational performance, establishing policy, the appointment of the CEO and enhancing the organisation’s public image.

The Board bring extensive expertise in governance, business operations, accounting, law, project management, marketing, not-for-profit management and human resources. They have experienced the benefits of playgroup first-hand and are passionate about supporting the delivery of playgroup to families in NSW.

Role of the Board

The role of the Board is to maintain a high level of corporate governance across the organisation. The Board is responsible for:

Overall governance of Playgroup NSW
Determining the association’s policies
Approving the association’s annual budget
Receiving, considering and acting upon advice from the organisation
Entering into agreements with government or authorities
Investing the association’s funds in trustee investments

Members are elected at the Association’s Annual General Meeting.

To find out more about the roles and responsibilities of the Board, read the Playgroup NSW Charter and the Playgroup NSW Constitution

Playgroup NSW Board

	Bettina McMahon President Bettina is a mother of two young girls. She has a Master’s degree in Public Policy and one in Business. Bettina is Head of Risk and Assurance with the National eHealth Transition Authority. Her daughters attend playgroup with their grandmother and Bettina is particularly interested in advocating for better recognition of the role grandparents play in raising our children, through acknowledgement of this work in our community and through better support and funding for grandparents who are also child carers.
	Tracey Watts Treasurer Tracey joined the board of Playgroup in 2016 and is also a current member of the Audit, Compliance and Finance Committee. She has attended playgroup with her son for the last two years and has also volunteered as the day leader during this time. Being a single mum with a very active little boy, she relies on her local playgroup not only for her child’s benefit, but also for the support and friendship she has 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 20 years' experience in tax, accounting, management and business advice including 12 years running her own firm.
	Jessica Hill Board Member Jessica has previously served on the Playgroup NSW Board (2013-15) and is excited about the opportunity to once again work with such an engaged Board and organisation who are dedicated to ensuring Playgroup NSW continues to be a valuable and relevant resource for families within the community. Having supported a variety of commercial businesses, and more recently, within the Not for Profit sector, Jessica has over 15 years’ experience and qualifications within Human Resources Management. Jessica hopes to bring to the Board experience with strategic planning, governance, compliance, HR and change management. As a parent, Jessica has personally valued the inclusive environment playgroup offers for children and parents/carers alike. Jessica has benefited from the parents and carers network who have been great to bounce ideas and discuss the challenges parents/carers face.
	Karen Lu Board Member Karen has more than 10 years of experience as an IT professional. Extensive industry experience in application design, SOA service design, data modelling, solution architecture and delivery. Karen became a member of the playgroup when her son Alexander was born in December 2016. The journey with Playgroup started with the January Sutherland mother’s group seeking a playgroup to entertain the babies. They visited multiple play centers e.g. Oyster Bay, Menai and Gymea Bay and ended up joining the Gymea bay playgroup. Karen has learnt a lot about the playgroup program since and would like to further devote herself to support the community and bring joy to families
	Annette Ruhotas Morgan Board Member Annette is a qualified Engineer and Secondary Teacher with 15 years of experience in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors in Australia, the UK and the South Pacific. She has held positions in business leadership, social sustainability, community development, project management and construction delivery. When Annette had her daughter Georgia in 2012, she started up a new playgroup session with Oatley West Playgroup in southern Sydney. Annette has been the overall Coordinator of the playgroup since 2013 and currently attends with her newborn son, Nicholas Annette is also the Coordinator of the Management Committee of St George Zone of Playgroups. The Zone is a voluntary not-for-profit organisation operating under the umbrella of Playgroup NSW that promotes the benefits of over 40 local playgroup sessions to families within the St George area of NSW.
	Karen Jones-Gudmunson Board Member Karen is a chartered accountant with qualifications in project management, financial planning, strategy and communication. She values the way playgroups foster children’s social and physical development. She has seen her own two sons flourish by attending regular playgroups. As a parent, she has found the information and updates Playgroup NSW provides invaluable.
	Karen Lui Board Member Karen has two children and believes strongly in the value of playgroup to bring families together, the way it can foster the social development of children and provide support within the community. She joined the Playgroup NSW Board in 2017 and is a current member of the Audit, Compliance and Finance Committee. Karen is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Taxation Institute of Australia, with over 20 years’ experience in tax and accounting.
	David Sutton-Foxton Board Member David is a Senior Consultant with the Noetic Group, a professional services company providing consulting services to government, the not-for-profit sector and resources sectors. He specialises in capability development, public transport security, evaluations and reviews, exercise development, risk management and risk communications, emergency management and lessons learnt. David is the father of three children, including two who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He is deeply passionate about providing opportunities for families with special needs children to engage with their peers through playgroups.
	Jessica Miller Board Member Jessica is the head of Legal and Government Relations (Au/NZ) for the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) and sits on the Australian Leadership Team and on the Board as a company director for the four legal entities in the P&G group. In this capacity, she is working directly with the Australian CEO and senior P&G executives in the provision of legal advice and risk management for the business. Jessica has completed tertiary education in a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours), a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), and a Master of Laws. Jessica started her career at Blake Dawson (now Ashurst), working predominantly on corporate transactions and advisory work. In 2011, she took on the role of in-house legal counsel for Medtronic. In this role, Jessica acted as the company secretary and privacy officer, and supported the General Counsel. In the not-for-profit sector, Jessica was appointed as an independent (skills-based) non-executive director to the Board of the Australian Diabetes Educators Association (ADEA) in March 2017 for a 3-year term. This is an unpaid position which she occupies concurrently with her role at P&G.