Message from Gavin Blakey, Chair of the EWB-Australia Board
Pete Baynard-Smith has made the personal decision to step down from the role of CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia, at the end of . Pete has played an important role in working with our partners to achieve their goals in humanitarian engineering, and implement the vision of EWB. We sincerely thank Pete for all his contributions over the past months. Following an internal recruitment process, the Board of EWB-Australia have identified an interim CEO and we are pleased to announce that Heidi Michael, International Programs Director, will take up the role of Acting CEO from January st, .
Heidi holds a Bachelor&#;s degree in Environmental Engineering and a Master of Water and Waste Engineering in Development, and first became involved with EWB as a research student in . In she served as an EWB Field Professional in Timor Leste for a year, and has experience in engineering consultancies in Melbourne and of working with a US Government funded program in Timor Leste. She was appointed to coordinate EWB&#;s International Program in , managing and overseeing our DFAT funded programs in WASH, Energy, Appropriate Housing and Professional Skills Development across the Asia Pacific region. Heidi&#;s dedication, combined with her extensive experience of EWB programs and operations make her an excellent choice for the role of Acting CEO.
The Board and Leadership of EWB-Australia will work together to ensure a smooth transition, and will shortly commence the CEO recruitment process. In the meantime all programs will continue as planned.
"I feel privileged to have this opportunity to lead and support the EWB team, members and partners during this interim period.
Together we will ensure that EWB-Australia continues to deliver our humanitarian engineering programs to a high standard, and to nurture our ongoing partnerships with community, and the education and engineering sectors."
Heidi Michael.