Our people

3Bridges Community Incorporated is governed by its membership. The composition of the board and management team reflects the skills, qualifications, knowledge and experience needed to achieve our vision.

Experience driving engagement

The management team have been recruited with specific skills and qualifications. These include undergraduate and/ or post graduate qualifications in management, public administration, accounting, social work and project management. The management team follow key performance indicators and have day to day responsibility for service delivery, financial management and continuous improvement.

The Board has established a management team structure with Directors leading four functional areas.

Board members

Catriona Barry

Chairperson

A senior executive and non-executive director with a record of achievement as a results oriented, energetic and passionate professional. Demonstrated success in managing multidisciplinary, geographically dispersed teams across Australia.

Peter Merrett

Deputy Chair, Governance & Risk Committee

Prior to retiring, Peter worked for over 30 years in the Health and Community Services sectors. He has worked for the Commonwealth and State Governments, and in regional areas. He has experience in child care, aged care, rehabilitation, disability services and aboriginal health.

Peggy Huang

Governance & Risk Committee

Peggy currently works in health, education and leadership development; building the people and financial management skills of current and aspiring managers and leaders across NSW.

Rajesh Govindan

Finance & Audit Committee

Rajesh joined the board in 2016. He is a graduate of AICD and is currently Head of Finance - Australia and New Zealand of AMP Capital.

Brendon Chapman

Finance & Audit Committee

Brendon joined the board in 2016. He has a Masters of Taxation and holds the position of Senior Director Compliance at the Australian Taxation Office.

Therese Markou

HR & Change Technology Committee

Therese has a Master of Business Administration coupled with 25 years’ of practical experience working and volunteering in all levels of charitable organisations including Senior Executive and Non-Executive Director roles.

Erica Nelson

HR & Change Technology Committee

Erica is a registered psychologist with over 15 years experience in consulting and internal positions focused on human resources, organisational development, change management and strategy, with a strong commitment to innovation and social impact.

Paul Hawkins

Director

Paul joined the 3Bridges board in 2015. He is also the Chief Innovation Officer of Crazy Might Work, an innovative strategy firm that works with corporations and mid-size firms to co-create inspirational and disruptive strategies.

Prof. Steevie Chan

Director

Professor Chan is Associate Dean (Sydney) of the School of Medicine at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He has a deep interest and commitment to health care quality and patient safety, and contributes to health outcomes research and education.

Management team

Rosemary Bishop

Chief Executive Officer

Rosemary was selected as the CEO in 2014, following the merger of the community centres in Menai, Penshurst and Arncliffe. She was previously CEO at Mamre House in Western Sydney

Amal Madani

Director Reframing Ageing

Amal is the Director of Reframing Ageing for 3Bridges Community where she has worked since 2005. Amal leads a number of front line community programs designed to support older frail people and those living with dementia and their family carers.

Amal is passionate about changing society’s perception and attitude to ageing. In her current senior leadership role, she brings a wealth of contemporary community experience. She had established and led numerous related programs over the last 14 years including programs that support family carers, programs designed to keep people at home longer, early intervention programs and programs designed to explore and build our understanding around evidence based practice.

She is the project director of an innovative Dutch-based Meeting Centre Support Program for people living with mild to moderate dementia and their family carers.

Her qualifications include:

Post Graduate Diploma in Gerontology
Diploma in Management
Diploma in Community Welfare
Bachelor of French Literature

Caroline Tumeth

Director Community Capacity

Caroline Tumeth was born and raised in New Zealand, then migrated to Australia in 1995. Initially she spent two years travelling around Australia working in hospitality and agricultural industry. She completed her Bachelor of Applied Science at University of Western Sydney.

Whilst studying, she worked in Residential Ageing where she secured he first role in the Non-For-Profit sector in 2003. During this time she worked as a complex case manager with vulnerable aged persons living in social housing within City of Sydney, primarily in Redfern and Woolloomooloo areas. In her experience, she “…saw the best and the worst of people’s many challenges: surviving on their pension and living in less than acceptable housing conditions.”
Nonetheless, this privilege position in the field led to her 17 year career within community services; working across mental health, family & children, disability, squalor and hoarding, young people and Aboriginal communities.

Currently, Caroline Tumeth holds the position of Director of Community Capacity, building leading industry teams within Youth Services, Arrowsmith, Early Years Support Service, Volunteering, Inclusive Volunteering and Targeted Early Intervention (TEI). Having completed a Diploma in Leadership and Management, her focus is to build 3Bridges Community: Brain Health and Wellbeing; Growth of Youth Services; Earlier Intervention Programs; and ensuring the longevity of our Volunteering program to provide inclusivity, creativity and meaningful opportunities for our members.

Hussam Atab

Director, People and Social Enterprises

Hussam Atab joined 3Bridges in June 2019 as the Director of People and Social Enterprise at 3Bridges. His key responsibilities include the people and social enterprise strategy and running the Human Resources, NDIS, Children Services and the RTO functions.

He has a Bachelor, 2 Master degrees, and a Post Graduate Degree coupled with 20 years’ experience in Human Resources, Management, and Business Development. He lived in 7 different countries and worked across 5 industries namely: Not For Profit, Education, Technology, Bio-Tech and Retail. Before joining 3 Bridges, Hussam worked for Pearson, Telstra, Dell and Motorola. Hussam is passionate about social justice, technology, and economic development.

James Hamilton

Director Business Strategy, Systems and Development

James Hamilton joined 3Bridges in July 2019, and holds the position of Director Business Strategy, Systems and Development. His key responsibilities include people, financial and system management. He was a board member of the Pole Depot from 2012, and of 3Bridges until 2016.

He has over 20 years national and international experience in a broad range of industries including telecoms, information technology, management consulting and utilities. He has worked for organisations that have differed in size from small ‘start-ups’ to large multinationals. These include AT Kearney, Amerada Hess and Axxon Telecom where he was based in London, and Electronic Data Systems and Sydney Water where he was based in Sydney. A Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA), he also holds a Bachelor of Commerce, and a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology. A previous tutor in financial and management accounting at Western Sydney University and mentor at CPA Australia, he is passionate about communicating the benefits of further education to those that otherwise might not consider it an option. He also likes fast cars and all things automotive.

Sharlene McKenzie

Manager Aboriginal Services

Sharlene McKenzie is a Wiradjuri woman who grew up on the South Coast of NSW. Her work in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities began at a young age. Sharlene was a Board member of her Local Aboriginal Land Council and participated in the piloting of many programs such as the Circle Sentencing Program.

Sharlene moved to Sydney some ten years ago. She completed a Diploma of Community and Social Development at UWS and began working in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of South East Sydney.

\Sharlene has been involved in many aspects of helping community members across the social welfare and social justice sectors. She is an advisor to the Ministerial Carers Strategy and passionately advocates for the important role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers play in supporting family and community. Sharlene also works with Aboriginal and Torres Islander people with Acquired Brain Injuries to transition for a correctional setting to community. She is a member of the Justice Health Human Research Ethics Committee. Her advocacy within the Health sector has seen her appointed as Chairperson of the Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network Community Council and was a finalist in the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year 2019. Sharlene has a team of twelve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff that work across NDIS, Targeted Early Intervention and the cultural and social connection space.

Sharlene also has a deep passion for supporting people with complex mental health issues and is a member of the Suicide Prevention Lived Experience Network. Sharlene is a strong woman who aims to form sustainable, culturally appropriate working partnerships with other sector members, to walk alongside her to help to address this issues of marginalised community members.