Staff and Board
Larry O’Brien
Chief Executive Officer
PowerHousing Australia
Larry is currently the Chief Executive Officer of PowerHousing Australia – the premier trade association and business cooperative for 30 of the leading not for profit community housing companies in Australia. Larry was instrumental in the creation of this business entity from inception in 2006 to its current status as an incorporated company in 2008.
Larry has extensive experience in Business Development roles in both public and private sector organisations. His experience includes several senior resourcing management roles in the welfare sector, particularly in the area of service delivery to disenfranchised children and young people. In a multi-faceted career, he has also worked diverse roles in the IT / Computer industry, particularly marketing and sales, contract negotiation and development of IT training programs, in companies as diverse as Qantas IT, BHP IT and Oracle Software. One of his major achievements in this time was the management of the sale of intellectual property of a change management software package to a US software company and the successful development of this product on a different platform.
Larry has a Post Graduate Diploma of Adult Education from Sydney College of Advanced Education (now University of Technology Sydney). He is the Australian coordinator for the International Housing Partnership (IHP), a global trade association and business cooperative of Canadian, UK, US and Australian not for profit housing practitioners. This newly formed cooperative represents not for profit companies that own and manage almost one million housing units globally. Larry is driven to innovate and his motto is “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”.
Penelope Mullins
Operations Manager
PowerHousing Australia
Penelope joined PowerHousing Australia in January, 2010 and immediately took control of PowerHousing’s finance and administration as well as streamlining communications to all Members. This enabled Larry to concentrate once more on business development. Penelope has held senior Administration positions primarily in the engineering field, and has acquired related skills in marketing, advertising, P.R. and in-house training.
Previously, she worked in Market Research as an Executive, compiling both quantitative and qualitative research, moderating focus group discussions and preparing and presenting reports to clients that included the Dept of Administrative Services, Toshiba, AMP Shopping Centre Management and Microsoft. Penelope has a B.A. from Macquarie University with double majors in Psychology and English Literature.
Greg Budworth
Chairman
PowerHousing Australia
Greg Budworth is in his 7th year as the CEO of Compass Housing Services Co Ltd, the largest regionally based community housing provider in Australia. He is currently the Chairman of PowerHousing Australia, a Director of the NSW Federation of Housing, NSW Branch Committee Member of the Australian Housing Institute and others and has served on several boards and committees for SAAP funded organisations over 20 years. Greg has a Masters Degree in Business and various tertiary qualifications in Business and Project Management.
Kathleen Gregory Boardmember
PowerHousing Australia
CEO Foundation Housing
Education/Qualification:Bachelor of Arts Urban and Regional Planning Diploma of Business Management
Kathleen has 20 years’ experience working in the not for profit sector as a worker, executive officer and Board member.Specific Area of Interest: Education/Qualification: Bachelor of Arts Urban and Regional Planning Diploma of Business Management Work Experience: Current – CEO Foundation Housing Ltd 2000-2005 – EO Eastern Metro Community Housing Assoc 1995-2000 – Resource Worker/Policy Officer Community Housing Coalition of WA 1991-1995 – Coordinator STRIVE Warren Blackwood Independent Living and Employment service for people with disability. 1986-1991 – Coordinator Warrant Blackwood Economic Development project. Not for Profit/Community Sector Experience: 20 years’ experience working in the not for profit sector as a worker, executive officer and Board member. Specific Area of Interest:
- The development and management of affordable, secure rental housing for households on low incomes.
- Providing effective tenancy management and support models that enable individuals and households with complex needs to maintain their tenancy over the long term.
- Ensuring that residents in Lodging and shared houses are able to effectively access community services and participate in employment programmes.
- Provision and management of appropriate housing for Aboriginal families living in urban areas. Length of Term on Community Housing Board: Community Housing Coalition Board 6 years Strengths:
- Strong knowledge base and skills in the development and management of social housing.
- Long term commitment in working toward the provision of long term, secure and affordable housing for all members of our community.
- Extensive skills and experience managing not for profit organizations in both the role of EO and Board member.
Matthew Woodward
Boardmember
PowerHousing Australia
For the past 28 years Matthew has worked as a social worker, manager and in policy development across the Government and non-government sectors in South Australia, largely in metropolitan Adelaide, but also spending 3 years in rural South Australia and 1 year in England with the Department of Social Services. The last 14 years have been spent working in crisis accommodation and the community housing sector with a focus on the development and delivery of services to homeless adults. However, in recent years Matthew has also been active in supporting the development of a more broadly based community housing sector seeking to take a pro-active role in addressing the lack of affordable housing supply. Matthew has also been very involved over the years in numerous sector wide bodies such as the SA Council of Social Services and the National Community Housing Forum and as a Ministerial nominee on various committees and boards including SA Sustainability Round Table, the Housing Minister’s Housing Advisory Committee and the SA Community Housing Authority Board. Currently he is a member of the Australasian Housing Institute’s International Committee and a Director of Powerhousing Australia. Academic qualifications include a Masters of Social Work, Bachelor of Social Administration, Graduate Diploma in Housing Policy & Management and a Graduate Diploma in Environmental Studies. Currently Matthew is Chief Executive of Unity Housing Company.
Unity Housing Company is the largest single provider of community housing in South Australia, providing a range of affordable accommodation options from short term boarding house to long term rental and home purchase to over 1,400 people every night. With a turnover of over $9.5m p.a. the Company manages an asset base valued at over $200 million with a staff of 43 operating out of 5 offices across the Adelaide metropolitan area. The majority of tenants are dependent on Government unemployment or disability benefits and many require ongoing support services in order to sustain their tenancies. However in recent years Unity has rapidly built an ‘affordable ’ housing portfolio and, as one of a select number of State Government nominated “Preferred Growth Providers” with over $40m of developments currently on its books, the organization anticipates further significant growth in the near future.
Catherine Upcher
Boardmember
PowerHousing Australia
CEO Rural Housing Network Limited.
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Politics, qualifications in education, women’s studies and cultural heritage management. Her working life has been spent variously in the fields of education, archaeology and the community housing sector.
Catherine has worked in the community housing sector for over twenty years in Melbourne and country Victoria. Catherine joined Rural Housing Network in 1995 as a researcher and following management positions was appointed to the position of CEO in early 2001.
Rural Housing Network is the leading provider of housing and homelessness services in the Hume Region of Victoria. The organisation has over 40 staff, sees in excess of 5000 households in housing difficulty per annum, and manages over 450 transitional and long term community houses, as well as housing for other not-for profit organisations that have properties in the region.
Catherine is a passionate advocate for safe, secure and affordable housing as the fundamental building block of the social determinants of health, and a platform from which participation in society is greatly enhanced. Catherine has a focus on green issues is her organisation and working with tenants on energy saving strategies.
Ken Marchingo
Boardmember
PowerHousing Australia
CEO Haven
Ken is the CEO of Haven (prev. Loddon Mallee Housing Services) and commenced in 1994. Since then Haven has sustained significant growth over the last 17 years and the organization has grown from 2 staff to over 120 and manages over 600 properties, with another 400 under construction at present.
Haven is a vertically integrated housing and homelessness provider that has developed a unique continuum of service for homeless people. LMHS is Victoria’s first registered Affordable Housing Association. It is the only regionally based organisation of its type that now operates state wide.
Ken is the initiator and driving force behind the creation of PowerHousing Australia, a collaborative consortia of similar organisations in the development of Affordable Housing throughout Australia. Ken has been instrumental in creating and setting up a Regional Housing Council, incubating many community and indigenous programs and has been a regular appointee to State and Commonwealth/State Ministerial and advisory committees.
Ken is a former Director of the Bendigo Health Care Group Board, the largest employer in the Loddon Mallee Region and a former chair of the $200M+pa entity’s, finance committee. Ken is a Patron of the Bendigo & Central Victoria Community Foundation, a Life Governor of the Royal Children’s Hospital, and an active participant in a wide range of community activities.
He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, member of the Australian Housing Institute and was among the first to graduate from Swinburne University’s Graduate Certificate in Housing Policy and Management. Ken has a variety of Board and committee experience in both private and public entities, has worked in the social housing field for almost 30 years and prior to that was involved in finance and franchise industries.
Garry Ellender
CEO Access Housing Australia Ltd.
Board Member
Currently Garry is the CEO of Access Housing Australia Ltd. - a leading provider of social and affordable housing for West Australians. As CEO he has overseen the increasing professionalization of the company and been instrumental in the organisation acquiring over $75m in housing assets in 2010-11. Garry has extensive leadership experience in strategic and business planning, research and policy development, and program management.
Prior to working at Access Housing, Garry worked for the Department of Housing WA in a number of senior management positions and and also in the Community Housing Sector where he established the Perth Inner City Housing Association.
Jacquie Richards
CEO Regional Housing Limited
Board Member
Jackie is a highly attuned and successful business leader in the not-for-profit sector with a progressive approach and a proven aptitude to both community and corporate governance, with a commitment to achieving and exceeding organisational benchmarks.
Jackie holds a strong sense of community and her commitment to best practice through the introduction of quality systems and the fostering of a healthy organisational culture, is evident in the successful development and the organisational growht that she has spearheaded.
Jackie is a valued member of numerous Boards with a solid working knowledge of constitutional law, governance requirements, and industry regulations. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Housing Management and Policy Development, and a Graduate Certificate in Project Management and was also the proud recipient of the 2010 Australian Housing Institute "Inspirational Colleague" Award.
Scott Langford
General Manager Junction Housing
Board Member
Scott is a leading developer and manager of affordable living options for low and moderate income households. Scott has extensive experience in residential property development, the creation of affordable housing solutions, strategy development and governance. His previous roles include private sector work with project management and development companies and he also spent 3 years as Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Australia.
Scott holds an MBA along with qualifications in Property Development, building and Project Management while currently undertaking a MSc Property Development through the Robert Gordon University in the UK. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Diploma Program and is a Fellow of the Australiana Institute of Management. Scott currently sits on the Board of Directors for PowerHousing Australia along with Habitat for Humanity SA, Alzheimers Australia SA and is the Chair of Shelter SA.
This page last updated on 02-Feb-2012 12:21 PM
