Executive Leadership Team
Our Leadership team is headed by Chief Executive Officer Leisa Hart, who has over 15 years of leadership experience in the corporate and NGO sectors.
Leisa Hart
Chief Executive Officer
Prior to joining DSA in February 2019, Leisa was the Chief Executive Officer of YMCA NSW where she led a team of 2,400 people responsible for the wellbeing of more than four million Australians annually. Previous roles include Director of Operations at Max Employment and Chief Operating Officer for Mission Australia as well as senior roles in the IT Services field. Leisa places a great deal of importance in values alignment with her professional works intent.
Craig Fisher
Chief Financial Officer
Craig is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and has over 30 years’ experience in the financial management of organisations in the public, private and not for profit sectors. Prior to joining DSA in March 2019, Craig was CFO of YMCA NSW and has held various senior financial management positions at Super Retail Group Limited in the Rebel Sport division.
Steve Saidi
Chief Information Officer
Steve joined DSA in March 2019 as Chief Information Officer, taking on a large and important transformation program for its technology environment. Steve has over 15 years’ experience in senior IT management roles including CIO for the Salvation Army and Head of Transformation for St Vincent de Paul. His passion is creating cultural change through the efficient and innovative use of technology. Steve has a bachelor degree in Economics and Finance, and qualifications in project management.
Carolynne Lepp
Chief Risk Officer
Carolynne has been involved in risk and change management for the past twenty years, across corporate, public and not for profit sectors. Carolynne has extensive experience in establishing enterprise risk and compliance programs, including business continuity and crisis management. Her qualifications are in Business and Change Management and she is a member of the Risk Management Institute of Australia and the Institute of Risk Management UK. Carolynne’s passion is creating safe environments for people to thrive in.
David Charles
Executive General Manager
Employment Pathways
David has extensive leadership experience in commercial manufacturing, including roles at Birch & Waite Foods, GrainCorp and Greens. He has extensive experience leading large and diverse teams, developing commercial strategies and implementing operational improvements which will support the growth of DSA’s customer offering, and increase and diversify the opportunities for supported employees. David joined DSA in November 2019.
Diana Robertson
Executive General Manager
Community & Home Living
Diana joined DSA in August 2020 with more than 17 years’ experience in the health sector both in Australia and the UK. With a track record of transforming businesses through efficient, effective and scalable service delivery, Diana has a strong focus on people, developing values based operations and delivering clinical excellence.
Heather Macrae
Executive Leader
Brand & Engagement
Heather joined DSA in April 2005 after a 17 year career in the public sector. Heather has worked in a variety of roles across DSA, is firmly committed to our mission and has a strong interest in stakeholder communications. With tertiary qualifications in Psychology and Management, Heather has oversight of the Communications, Marketing & Fundraising teams.
Sarah Sammut
Executive Leader
Business Improvement & Change
Sarah joined the DSA team in March 2020 bringing more than 10 years’ senior management experience and expertise in strategy and leadership development and operational business transformation. Sarah is a strong people leader with experience achieving strategic organisational and operational alignment in both NFPs and corporates.
Operational Leaders
Silvana Baute Cardoso
General Manager, Community and Home Living
Audra Tuckwood
General Manager, Employment Solutions and Training
Michael Wells
General Manager, Acquisitions and Transitions
Make a donation
“I encourage you to consider making a gift to Disability Services Australia. Your support has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of people with a disability. Thank you.”
Leisa Hart – Chief Executive Officer
