Loddon Camaspe Multicultural Services is delighted to announce the appointment of Ms Jennifer Lay as Chair and Ms Rosita Vincent as Interim Executive Officer.
Jennifer joined the board in July 2019 and will be taking over from Abhishek Awasthi, who has expertly chaired the board for the last 3 years. Kate McInnes has been an exceptional leader as Executive Officer since 2017 but is moving to Melbourne to focus on her own international consultancy work. We have currently suspended the recruitment of a new Executive Officer given the stability required throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Rosita has been at Multicultural since 2016 and has been appointed as Interim EO.
“I sincerely thank both Kate and Abhishek for their incredible contributions to our community. And, whilst this is a challenging time for our communities, I’m delighted to be working alongside such capable and experienced leaders and Jennifer and Rosita”- said Tim Hoogwerf, Acting Chair.
Jennifer grew up in Dandenong with her family who fled war-torn East Timor in the 1980’s, and is now a practicing plaintiff lawyer in Bendigo and a law academic at La Trobe University. Jennifer brings a wealth of governance and leadership experience to the role.
Rosita is a migrant from Mexico who moved to outback Australia with her family in the 1970’s. Rosita is a much loved member of the wider Bendigo community and founder the Old Church on the Hill community space. She has over 20 years’ experience in community development and cross cultural work and is a recognised expert in third spaces, community building, multicultural affairs and settlement. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Community Planning and a Bachelor of Arts.
As the ethnic communities council and peak body for multicultural communities in the Loddon Campaspe region, Jennifer and Rosita look forward to supporting existing and new partners to better connect with migrant and refugees across the region.