Welcome to our new Executive Officer

Mirboo North & District Community Foundation appoints new Executive Officer

The Board of the Mirboo North and District Community Foundation ((MNDCF) is delighted  to announce that it has appointed a successor to Derrick Ehmke, as EO to our Community Foundation.  Ruth Rogan has joined  the team as from Monday 10 October 2016 allowing for a thorough transition before Derrick retires at the end of November. 

Ruth, who originally hails from Ireland, moved to Mirboo North with her Australian husband  and family in 2012.  She qualified as a lawyer in 1999 and spent 10 plus years working in industry, managing an in-house legal team and legal services for a multi-national group of companies  in manufacturing.  Since living in Mirboo North, Ruth has redirected her energies towards community activities and has been very involved in a number of community organisations (including founding member of the Artspace) as well the Mirboo North Primary School, where she is currently School Council President.  Ruth’s legal background as well as her connections to the Mirboo North Community leave her well placed to take on this role and fill the very big shoes that Derrick leaves behind .

Derrick Ehmke’s retirement comes after many years of working tirelessly for our community, both as a volunteer and as Executive Officer of the Community Foundation.  Derrick is a former Chair and Vice-Chair of the Mirboo North Aged Care Committee (MNCC) which ran Mirboo North’s community owned Aged Care facility for many years.  He, together with the other members of the MNCC, as well as the community itself, went through a difficult period when financial and operational difficulties forced the sale or closure of this community asset.  He must share the community’s thanks, as the MNCC found a private buyer for the facility (which continues to operate successfully and will be expanding bed numbers in 2017) and earned $5.1 million in proceeds for the community.  Derrick was then involved at another key moment for Mirboo North’s community,  as a founding member of our Community Foundation, which was created with the investment of the $5.1 million proceeds of that sale. 

Under Derrick’s operational stewardship, and with the support of its voluntary Board, the Community Foundation has met its objective of ‘enhancing the social and economic strength in our community’ (giving over $500,000 in grants and sponsorship to local community groups and events), ‘encouraging philanthropy’ and growing our legacy through good stewardship and strong effective partnerships (the Community Foundation now has investments valued at around $7.4 million).   The Board is very thankful to Derrick for his dedication and his achievements not only in his role as Executive Officer, but also in the creation of the Community Foundation itself.

What’s Next?

There is always more to do and the Community Foundation is considering its next steps together with the feedback from the community,  way of the survey carried out in June and a major  review of the Foundations stakeholder communications strategy for the future.  Ruth Rogan noted that she is delighted to be taking on the role of Executive Officer at what is an exciting time for the Mirboo North & District Community Foundation, as it considers new approaches not only to community engagement and strengthening, but also to partnership building and its role within the community.