Mission Australia Appoints New CEO

One of Australia’s largest Christian community service organisations, Mission Australia has appointed a new CEO, with long time chief executive Toby Hall handing over the baton to the first woman CEO in the organisation’s 150 year history.

Hall is leaving the organisation to take on a new role as Group CEO of St Vincent’s Health Australia, having served as CEO of Mission Australia since 2006. Mission Australia has appointed Catherine Yeomans, the organisation’s current Chief Operating Officer, as his replacement.

“During his time as CEO, Toby has made an immense contribution to our organisation and to its efforts to transform the lives of Australians in need,”  Mission Australia Chairman Ewen Crouch said.

“Yeomans has been a member of Mission Australia’s executive leadership team since 2011 and is currently the Chief Operating Officer.”

Ewen Crouch said Yeomans will bring a wealth of management and leadership experience to the role, developed during her years at Mission Australia and also in previous executive roles with Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis and Butterworths.

“Catherine’s strong leadership skills and experience, coupled with her deep faith and commitment to making a difference in people’s lives make her an ideal person to lead the organisation into the future,” Crouch said.

“Mission Australia has worked hard to drive improvements in the way we deliver services, and recently introduced an integrated service model that is more centred on our clients in order to deliver effective support how and where it is needed. Catherine has played a key role in these developments and will be well placed to continue to build on this important work.”

Crouch said the appointment followed a thorough external search process and the fact the best candidate was found internally reflected the high calibre of Mission Australia’s current executive team.

Yeomans will be Mission Australia’s first female CEO in the organisation’s more than 150 year history.

“I am humbled and excited by the opportunity to lead our organisation during a critical time for the community sector,” Yeomans said.

“Prevailing economic conditions combined with the desire of governments to reduce spending have resulted in greater pressure on community organisations like ours to provide more efficient services to a growing number of people seeking assistance.

“The actions taken by organisations like ours and decisions made by government over the next 12 months will determine the shape of our society for the future – and whether we achieve our vision for a fairer Australia.”

Yeomans has over 15 years senior executive experience across varied strategic and operational roles in the Not for Profit, professional services and corporate sectors. She is on the boards of MA Early Learning Services Ltd and Many Rivers Microfinance Ltd (both part of the Mission Australia Group) and is also a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Mission Australia has over 3,800 employees. The organisation provides more than 570 services across Australia, assisting more than 300,000 Australians in need each year.

Yeomans will take up her appointment on March 21.