Welcome from the CEO
I am delighted to be with you all as the Interim CEO at HeartKids.
As a former nurse and midwife, I am passionate about supporting young children and families get the best start in life. From my work as a Director at Karitane, I now have the opportunity to contribute to supporting individuals and families impacted by congenital heart disease (CHD) at HeartKids.
Over the past 30 years I have had extensive executive experience across government, for-profit and for-purpose sectors, working namely in health, community, and human service areas. Since 2013, I have been providing Interim CEO/Executive support to organisations in the areas of aged care, the community sector, children’s services, disability services and ophthalmology providing support in the areas of strategy, leadership, governance, quality, and risk management. I am really looking forward to working with a great team to help increase services and support to the HeartKids community.
On a personal note, I am a mother of 3 adult daughters, one of which was diagnosed with a neural tube defect at the age of 4 ½ yrs old, so I feel I bring a level of empathy and understanding to the role.
I’ve heard wonderful things in my first two weeks about the passionate, caring people that make HeartKids what it is. As an organisation, HeartKids have provided an increased level of support in the past 12 months including 1,700 check-in calls to individuals, support to over 870 families in hospital and provided direct financial assistance to over 218 families.
This year a further 3,000 babies are expected to be born with CHD. I hope during my time with HeartKids I can provide the strong leadership that this organisation needs to support these families as they navigate those difficult early months and years of their CHD journey.
The past couple of years at HeartKids has been a challenge but the organisation has been very innovative in creating new campaigns and event opportunities which encourage both physical and online participation.
As we move into 2023, I have no doubt that it will bring us all exciting new challenges and opportunities. With your help and support we will continue to grow and flourish, engage new sponsors, build new corporate partnerships, and develop new service programs.
As an organisation that works with and for its community, HeartKids has grown so much over recent years. We thrive on the energy and engagement that we have with you and your families and I would personally like to reaffirm the ongoing commitment of HeartKids to provide and grow the support we offer to you and your families.
I’m looking forward to working with you as we continue the journey to improve the lives of those living with CHD and their families.
Many thanks
Lesley
lesley.jordan@heartkids.org.au