Souths Cares is pleased to announce current board member James Patterson (pictured above left) has been appointed to Chairperson, replacing Kristina Keneally.
Ms Keneally has been appointed to the Senate in the Federal Government following two years as Chairperson of Souths Cares.
James was full of praise for his predecessor.
“Kristina did a wonderful job over the past two years as Chairperson and the five years prior as a member of the board,” said James.
“The charity has benefited immensely from her hard work and dedication to helping our community”.
James brings a wealth of commercial and community experience to the role. Currently, the Chief Executive of Cushman & Wakefield Australia New Zealand one of the world’s largest commercial property companies, James was previously Senior Managing Director of CBRE Asia Pacific.
James has been a non-executive board member of Souths Cares for the past five years and is a passionate and life-long Rabbitohs supporter.
James also has a strong personal commitment to promoting Indigenous education, health and closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Hailing from Dubbo in regional NSW James believes the inequality he witnessed as a child between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities influenced his passion for inclusion, which has seen him involved in a range of charitable causes and mentoring initiatives.
James and his family are deeply involved with The Scots College Indigenous mentoring program, with which he mentors a young student from the remote Northern Territory community of Gapuwiyak.
He also mentors a number of elite sports people, supporting them with career guidance and pathways after retiring as professional athletes.
James has been instrumental in building partnerships between Cushman & Wakefield and Vivid Sydney, RUCKUS (a disability led contemporary performance ensemble) and launching Cushman & Wakefield’s Reconciliation Action Plan.
One of the first items on the agenda for James as the Souths Cares Chairperson was to visit the annual ‘Nanga Mai Marri - Dream Big’ leadership camp with fellow board member and Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly.
“It was a great honour and a moving experience to be part of the Souths Cares leadership camp. I had the opportunity to participate in a Sunrise Ceremony facilitated by Uncle Max as well as spend some time with our future Aboriginal leaders” James explained.
James is relishing the opportunity to support the Souths Cares charity in his new role.
“Souths Cares has achieved some great results since being established in 2006 in the key areas of education, employment and health promotion,” said James.
“I’m excited about the opportunities to grow the charity and increase our positive impact across Sydney, NSW and Australia.”
More information about Souths Cares please click here.
