Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras gets new chairs in the boardroom
Image: Mardi Gras board is going through a reshuffle.
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has announced a major reshuffle of its board and executive team.
The two former Co-Chairs, Adrian Phoon and Kate Wickett, have stepped down and two new Co-Chairs have been elected: Jesse Matheson and Melanie Schwerdt.
According to an email sent to the member base, Phoon has surrendered his place on the board for family-related matters. A new board member will be determined after a call for expressions of interest.
Wickett had intended on stepping down as Co-Chair after accepting the position of Interim CEO of Sydney WorldPride. She will remain as one of the eight members of the board.
Matheson has been involved with SGLMG for 10 years, and been a member of or chaired various committees within the organisation. He brings excellent communication and business skills to the role of Co-Chair.
Schwerdt has high level business qualifications and related skills in law, project management, accountancy, admin and policy.
With the addition of recently appointed CEO, Albert Kruger, and remaining board members, Christopher Brooke, Giovanni Campolo-Arcidiaco, Louis Hudson, and Charlie Murphy, the SGLMG boardroom will have a fresh new feel.
In the same email, Mardi Gras also responded to public and member feedback regarding the 2020 festival, parade and party. An extract from that email reads:
“This year’s festival posed several significant challenges to the way we work and how we deliver our events. We recognise Sydney’s event landscape is changing and so Mardi Gras must also change and respond to this changing landscape as well. The Board and the operations team are working together to address issues raised following the festival season and will have further information shortly. We want you to know we are listening to you and considering all the feedback we have received, and we will use this feedback to inform you of our planning for 2021 and beyond.”
If Kate Wicket has anything to do with World Pride Australia, we are doomed. Especially seeing she held a board position on Mardi Gras, this years event was a disaster, the MG board NEVER listens.