Media Release 12 November 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Playgroup NSW Appoints Emily Caska as New CEO to Drive Positive Change for Children and Families
Playgroup NSW, the leading not-for-profit organisation and peak body for playgroups in NSW, proudly announces the appointment of Emily Caska as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 18 November 2024.
With over 20 years of executive experience across the disability, child protection, and aged care sectors in Australia and abroad, Emily is poised to lead Playgroup NSW into its next chapter of growth and transformation.
“We are excited to welcome Emily to the Playgroup NSW team. Emily’s leadership will be crucial as we strengthen our advocacy efforts, broaden our reach, and amplify our impact to ensure every child and family have the very best start in life,” said Chairperson Glenn Johnston.
Having served in a variety of high impact roles, including CEO of Down Syndrome NSW, Founder of the Down Syndrome Institute, Policy Director at National Disability Services, and Deputy CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, Emily’s background reflects strategic acumen, deep sector expertise and a passion for supporting inclusive, person centred approaches. Emily also holds significant advisory positions, including Co-Chair of the NSW Child and Family Supports Alliance.
Emily’s journey is rooted in her values and brings a deeply grounded approach to leadership focused on inclusion and genuine community connection. Underpinning Emily’s passion is her lived experience as sibling to her sister Lucy, who has severe intellectual disability, as well as her own playgroup engagement with her son Otis.
Across the breadth of community, First Nations, intergenerational, disability and regional and remote offerings at Playgroup NSW, Emily’s vision is to foster connection, inclusion, and play based learning as essential foundations to improve child outcomes, enhance peer to peer and community networks, and increase parenting capacity.
Emily states, “I am thrilled to join the team at Playgroup NSW as we continue to leverage our expertise to amplify our strengths, increase our impact, and positively change the trajectory for children and families.
As mother to Otis, I’ve personally experienced the profound effect that playgroups can have. In those early, hazy days of parenting, it was easy to isolate into that little bubble alone. Through playgroups, I benefited from the unique opportunities created by the seemingly simple yet powerful concept of bringing children and parents together to build relationships around the focal point of play experiences. So too, I have seen the valued role playgroups play in modelling inclusion, early intervention and prevention best practices.
I am excited to work closely with our incredible team, partners, government, and communities—and most importantly, with our children and their families— to build capacity and meaningful connections that give every child and family the very best start to life.”
Playgroup NSW acknowledges Nadene Lee for her outstanding leadership and dedication during her tenure as CEO. Her commitment has been pivotal to the growth and success of Playgroup NSW.
For any queries, please contact [email protected] or on 0411 328 012.
About Playgroup NSW:
Playgroup NSW is a not-for-profit organisation that helps connect families and children to people and services in the community to positively impact their quality of life. For over 50 years, Playgroup NSW has delivered and linked over 50,000 families to vital services such as parent support groups and playgroups for those experiencing vulnerability and diversity, and those who value community connections. With 550 playgroups a week and over 65,000 members, Playgroup NSW is the peak body for playgroups in NSW.
To view our strategic plan, click here.
To learn more about the Playgroup NSW team, click here.
To download a copy of this media release, click here.
