Mark Sewell is ending a remarkable career of 40 years managing human services, including 20 years and 11 months as CEO of Not for Profit provider Warrigal.
The CEO announced yesterday that he will retire in October to allow him more time with his large family, and will start a leadership transition process over the next two months.
Mark, who joined Warrigal in 2001, has grown the community-owned organisation from 300 employees to 1,750 staff and over 300 volunteers. The group now operates 25 services at 14 locations in the Illawarra, Southern Highlands, Queanbeyan and Canberra regions of NSW.
“I feel confident the timing is right, both for myself and the organisation. The future of Warrigal looks good, with an exciting new strategic plan called Towards 2030 and many improvement initiatives planned to continue to expand our services and help support even more older people,” he said.
“Our continuity of governance and leadership will remain the same with our eight inspiring voluntary directors, and five impressive executive leaders, leading the customer culture called The Warrigal Way.”
Warrigal’s seven-year plan focuses on retirement living
In February, Warrigal bought Illawarra Retirement Trust’s The Links Seaside village, and its accompanying aged care home. In April, it announced it would redevelop its aged care home at Warilla, 17km south of Wollongong, into a new vertical retirement village, with another site to be established at nearby Lake Illawarra.
“The growth Mark has overseen, as Warrigal has pressed forward to ensure we grew bigger and better even during difficult times, means we are now of a size and quality that means we can withstand nearly any of the challenges human services will face in the future,” said Wyn Janssen, Chairman of Warrigal.