Kym Chomley (l) and Feda Adra (r), the powerhouse combination taking 121 Care to new heights.
At 121 Care we are really proud of our innovative approach to leadership with this week’s announcement that our Chief Executive Officer role will be co-shared between two of the region’s most experienced and forward-thinking women in the not-for-profit space.
Our 185 staff and amazing clients will benefit from the wealth of experience of our existing CEO Kym Chomley, as well as that of award-winning executive Feda Adra, who will share the role with Kym as of this month.
We are confident that these two vastly experienced and capable women will forge a strong relationship to provide 121 Care with a robust and sustainable future.
Feda, who was previously the CEO of Be (formerly ComLink), has a wealth of knowledge and experience in aged and community care that will be of tremendous value when combined with Kym’s extensive experience in disability.
Together, Kym and Feda share six decades of senior management experience that are complimentary and broaden the skillset that one CEO would traditionally bring to the role. Kym’s strengths in accounting, finance, IT, administration and organisational development are complimented by Feda’s strengths in people and culture, resource development, innovation and marketing.
CEO job sharing is an extremely rare form of leadership arrangement, done only a handful of times across the world – think Netflix, Oracle and Salesforce, to name a few. While often done at lower levels of organisations, job sharing is rarely seen at an executive level, which is what makes this unique and even more exceptional in the not-for-profit sector.
With Feda on board, we will now have twice the capacity and capability, with a broader range of skills and experience that will be of immense value to the business, our staff and our valued clients.
In her role as CEO of Be, Feda was the founder of Vitality Village – a health and wellbeing hub which is the first of its kind in Australia. 121 Care will be moving in to this new hub later this month and we’re looking forward to working in collaboration with the other villagers at Vitality.
If COVID-19 showed us anything, it was the importance of being collaborative, adaptive, flexible, and creative in a continuously changing environment.
“This pandemic has taught us that we need to future-proof our business to withstand disruptions in an already crowded space, to continue as before would be foolhardy,” Kym said.
“CEOs have their work cut out for them. They need to focus on strategies to balance the immediate needs of the customers, employees and the communities they serve, with the need to be sustainable.
“By including a second CEO in our structure, we are preparing for the future, and I couldn’t think of a better person to share the role with than Feda. Our skills are very complimentary, we share similar values and have a mutual respect for one another.”
Feda agrees.
“Not all businesses would consider a role share like we have, but it is worth considering when you look at the benefits it brings. But for it to work, the parties in the chair must have aligned values, good communication and respect for one another,” Feda said.
“I would like to acknowledge the committee for placing their trust in us and for their progressive approach in determining the best outcome for the organisation.”
Our annual turnover has grown from $2 million in 2013, when we were only delivering in-home supports for people with spinal injuries on the Sunshine Coast.
This year, our business is projected to turnover $12.5 million through the delivery of a wider range of services across southeast Queensland that include in-home supports services, supported accommodation, supported independent living and support coordination services for people with physical, intellectual and psychosocial disabilities.
We know the future looks bright for 121 Care and we’re excited about the benefits the powerful combination of Kym and Feda will bring to our organisation.
- Click here to read more about Kym Chomley.
- Click here to read more about Feda Adra.