Board of Directors

The Federation’s Board of Directors has two broad roles.  The first is to provide leadership, on behalf of members, in the Federation’s work to represent the interests of the sector and to pursue its development.  The second is to be responsible for corporate governance matters for all aspects of the Federation’s activities.

Directors are elected from candidates nominated by full members of the Federation. They are elected for a two year term, with have elected each alternate year.  The current Board members were elected at the NSW Federation of Housing Associations AGM's of November 2007 and 2008. 

See Board Meeting Minutes

Bobbie Townsend President

BA Community Management, Grad. Cert. Housing Management &Policy, MAHI.

Bobbie has worked in community housing for over 23 years. She has been a member of the Federation Board on a number of different ocassions, most recently as Vice-President, until the November 2009 election at which time she was elected President.

Bobbie has experienced many changes in community housing with the majority during the past 12 years.  The strength of the community housing sector is its ability to be flexible and adapt to change. This will be critical in the next few years as the housing sector will be involved in a range of new partnerships, establishing new structures and increasing the supply of new housing. The role the Federation will play in leading and supporting members will  be fundamental.

Karen Andrew Treasurer

Karen Andrew is the Executive Officer of Central Tablelands Housing Association (CTHA).  She previously served on the Federation Board both as an ordinary member from 2002-2004 and Vice President 2004-2006.

Karen commenced work formally in community housing in 1986 progressing from tenant to voluntary tenant participation worker with the local Community Tenancy Scheme to Housing Manager and eventually Executive Office.  Having worked in the industry for so many years she has represented the sector on many focus groups including regulation, stock transfer, accreditation and the common access strategy to name a few.

As the sector is in a period of such rapid change with new partnerships, amalgamations and the emergence of new business products we have no choice but to acknowledge the end of community housing as we have know it in the past. Karen is interested in once again serving on the Federation Board to ensure that the interests of all housing providers;  large, small, regional, growth and non growth are equally represented. She believes her experience as EO in a multi office Regional Housing Association in a supposed non growth area, but an area with significant challenges that we have needed to manage will benefit the Federation Board.

Nick Sabel Secretary

Nick is the Executive Officer of Wentworth Area Community Housing, a large multi-site housing association in greater western Sydney. He has held this position for over 8 years, during which he has seen the association through 2 rounds of accreditation and registration. WACH carries out much of its work through partnerships, and is currently working in this way with approximately 28 other organisations. Nick was co-opted to fill a casual vacancy in June 2003, and then elected to (State Council, now Board) in November 2003.  Nick stood as President of NSWFHA from November 2005 until November 2009, at which time he was elected Secretary.

Nazha Saad Director

Nazha is currently the Cheif Executive Officer of St George Community Housing, and has had a diverse career working in private, budget dependent and commercial organisations in planning, implementing and evaluating organisation-wide and whole-of-government reforms. With over eleven (11) years of experience as a Senior Executive, she has developed expertise in strategy development, relationship management and building of organisational capability.

Earlier in her career she trained and worked as an occupational Therapist before moving into corporate management and business development. She has an MBA from the AGSM UNSW and won the Premier’s Department scholarship for change management in 1995.

Although Nazha is new to the Community Housing sector; she has had experience in community health, asset and property management from her roles at the Department of Public Works and Services and from the Department of Ageing Disability and Home Care. Nazha was elected to the board in November 2007.

Toni Comber Director

Toni Comber is a Housing Manager for Homes North Community Housing Co in Gunnedah.  She has been working for them for over 2 years, but in her current role as Manager for 6 months.
Toni is the Vice President of Red Chief Local Aboriginal Lands Council, and has been on the board for 12 months.
Toni believes her current role as both a Community Housing Manager and Vice President of the Lands Council makes her an ideal candidate for involvement on the Board of the NSW Federation of Housing Associations.
Toni feels her participation in specific work projects that have been undertaken in Gunnedah over the last 12 months, including the Housing NSW Stock Transfer Program to Community Housing Organisations, can assist and be valuable for future directions and guidance for the Federation.

Nicola Lemon Director

I currently work as the CEO of Hume Community Housing Association. Prior to this I spent 10 years working in the UK for Housing Associations of varied sizes, ranging from 4,500 to 36,000 properties. I have experience in both front line service delivery and driving and managing organisation’s continuous improvement. I have worked along side Organisation’s directorate to develop and implement various strategies. I am driven by the pursuit of resident participation and holistic community development. I strongly believe in embracing diversity and promoting community cohesion. For this reason I have always chosen to work in challenging and deprived inner city communities. Leading teams to pro-actively tackle anti social behaviour and successfully implement regeneration projects, including large-scale estate renewal programs.
Overall I am passionate about social justice and believe that Community Housing organisations have the ability to assist individuals and communities reach their potential.

John Nicolades Director

John Nicolades stood for the position of director as he believes that a strong industry peak is critical for the development of a diverse and sustainable community housing sector; to provide leadership on the challenges and opportunities provided by State and federal government housing initiatives and effectively advocate for the sector with our key stakeholder.

John has worked in the housing and community services sector for the 20 years and has extensive experience in policy and service delivery. Currently he is Executive Officer with SWISH. Prior to joining SWISH in 2005, John undertook consultancy work on affordable housing for the NSW Department of Planning and NSW local governments and completed a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance with the Financial Services Institute of Australia.

John was inaugural Director of Affordable Housing Service in the NSW Dept of Planning in 1999 and then Director of the Centre for Affordable Housing in the Department of Housing. He also held management and policy positions in the non government sector including Community Services Manager with the Uniting Church Board for Social Responsibility, housing policy coordinator with Australian Council of Social Service and Housing Policy Officer with Shelter NSW . John has also beeen a member a number of federal and state government committees on housing policy.

Greg Budworth Director

Masters in Business, Diplomas in Business Management and Project Management, MAHI.

Greg was appointed CEO of Compass Housing Services based in Newcastle in 2004 and has a diverse background as CEO and Senior Manager of Human Services organisations, Christian Minister and Police Detective.  Greg is and has been a voluntary director of several funded accommodation and support services and is also a NSW Committee Member for the AHI and a Director of PowerHousing Australia.

Greg is particularly passionate about the sector being prepared for the opportunities that are continuously being presented or forecast and the sector being positioned and capable of utilizing those opportunities for the public good, the maturing of the housing third sector and its making quantum impact in the areas of housing supply, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Greg sees the importance of the Federation continuously honing itself to maintain is best strategic fit and its value-add aspirations in the rapidly changing sector.

Bobby Murphy Director

Bobby is on the Board of Management of Homes Out West community housing project, operating from Deniliquin and across the Murray corridor within the Riverina. Bobby was appointed to the steering committee of the Property Transfer Project Murray which oversaw an expansion of Homes Out West program and a smooth transfer of properties.

Bobby has extensive experience in the community service industry having held the position of Community Development Officer at the Deniliquin Neighbourhood Centre for seven years, and managed the Regional Council For Social Development Inc. (now Intereach NSW) a regional community service program operating across the Riverina. Bobby holds a tertiary qualification in Nursing Management.

Minutes of Board meetings:

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