United Blind Leaders Update – Incorporation and Guide Dogs NSW/ACT CEO Recruitment
Dear United Blind Leaders supporter,
We’re writing with an important update on United Blind Leaders’ incorporation, and to share a statement regarding the CEO transition at Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.
United Blind Leaders is now incorporated!
On 30 October, we held a Special General Meeting of founding members to formalise the incorporation of United Blind Leaders as a company limited by guarantee.
At that meeting:
Members accepted our new constitution; and
We tabled and discussed a report on our activities since UBL was founded.
You can read that activities report on our website via the About Us section.
We are also pleased to confirm the inaugural board of United Blind Leaders. As the number of nominees matched the available positions, no election was required. Your board is:
John Simpson – Chair
Pam MacNeill – Deputy Chair
Emma Bennison – Secretary/Treasurer
Julee-anne Bell – Minutes Secretary
Graeme Innes – Director
Jane Britt – Director
We are grateful to these leaders for stepping forward to guide UBL through its next phase of development and impact. We will soon be inviting you to join UBL as a member, so stay tuned.
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT CEO Transition
United Blind Leaders notes the decision by Dale Cleaver to leave his role as CEO of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. We thank Dale for his commitment to the role over more than eight years of service, and wish him well in his future endeavours.
Dale has consistently recognised the importance of input from people with lived experience of blindness and has sought to work co-operatively to appoint people with such experience to his senior leadership team. Notably, under his leadership, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT participated in the CEO Internship Program through the Disability Leadership Institute – the first blindness organisation to do so.
We note that Guide Dogs NSW-ACT have advertised for a new CEO. We are pleased that - from the start - blind people have been encouraged to apply. However, we are keen to be re-assured that there will be a strong focus on encouraging such people to participate in the recruitment process, and greater efforts to empower blind people to build and improve the skills and experience needed for these roles.
Representatives of UBL are arranging to meet with the Board Chair Jacquie Jones, and others involved in the recruitment, in the next couple of weeks.
You can find the advertisement at the link below:
Chief Executive Officer - Guide Dogs NSW/ACT - Job in Sydney - Beaumont People
We encourage experienced blind leaders to consider applying and invite you to contact us via the contact form on our website, www.unitedblind leaders.org if you need assistance to craft a compelling application.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support for United Blind Leaders. Together, we are building a future in which blind people lead in our own organisations and across the wider community.
In solidarity,
The United Blind Leaders’ Board