This is my last report as President after six years on the Board:
two years as CQ Branch President, two years as Vice President and two as
President.
As many of you would be aware, the Board comprises eight
volunteers who meet four times per year to receive reports and plans from the
CEO plus updates from key members of the IPWEAQ and QWD teams, and
presentations from various team members on developing initiatives. We have been
fortunate as a Board that the Institute has been in great hands only requiring
the quarterly endorsement of those reports and plans.
I was fortunate enough to join the Board in 2015 when the then new
CEO, Leigh Cunningham joined the Institute early September 2015. The
appointment of the CEO is an important role of the Board as this is the person
who makes the thousands of daily decisions which accumulated deliver the
Institute to a place of strength and growth, or not.
The Institute under Leigh’s leadership has become an organisation
which has exceeded expectations and as a Board member since the start of
Leigh’s term, I had a bird’s eye view of how extensive this achievement has
been. Most members would be unaware of the dire financial situation as it was
back in 2015 which Leigh rectified then established a sound foundation for
future growth. The Institute has also exceeded the expectations of our founding
Presidents, several of whom have visited us at the new premises in Eagle Farm.
The new facilities in
Eagle Farm will certainly go down as one of Leigh’s defining legacies and like
most visitors, when the Board arrived at the new premises for the first time,
we were blown away by what Leigh had created. Every element of the new
facilities was chosen by Leigh from the floorboards to each piece of furniture
to each of the 44 pieces of Aboriginal art, which will be featured in an art exhibition
in November.
Further evidence of the
growing stature of the organisation was witnessed at this year’s Board
elections with 14 nominations received for seven positions (with the President
traditionally unopposed, with the Vice President stepping into that role). I
was fortunate during my three terms on the Board to have been elected unopposed
as in the past, volunteers would step forward to fill any vacancies. It is
great to see more members coming forward wanting to be involved in what is now
a thriving organisation.
As Chair of the current
Board, my role was similarly made easy with a governance framework and
supporting policies which enabled effective oversight. Seren McKenzie, the
immediate Past President set the benchmark for the conduct of meetings with a
disciplined Board, focussed deliberations and with all meetings finishing on
time, which I did my best to emulate.
I leave the Board with an Institute that has seen growth in
membership of between 10-12% each year for the past six years, six years of net
profits, a staff of almost 30 up from 10 when Leigh arrived, revenue now in
excess of $4.5 million, and an extraordinary facility in Eagle Farm. I wish I could lay claim to all of this since it just happens to coincide with my time
on the Board, however I was merely an observer with a front row seat. So it is
with pleasure that my final task is to announce that we have renewed the
contract of our CEO for another three years so my successors can also enjoy the
view from the Chair.
I appreciate the opportunity that presented to
become an IPWEAQ President. And thank you to my fellow Board members and to our
staff.
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