Mary Jo McVeigh
CEO

Qualifications: Master of Social Work, PhD candidate Sydney University Experience, 30 years in child protection and trauma

Special Responsibilities: Group work program development, Policy and procedural development, Oversee all programs, Co-ordinate service delivery, Recruit and supervise staff and volunteers, Liaise with community partners, develop research branch of CaraCare, Engage in fund raising activities, represent CaraCare at public forums, Organise and attend Board meetings, attend development meetings with co-founder, liaise with and attend meetings with CaraCare legal and financial experts.

Michael Harvey
Director

Qualifications: UNSW B. Commerce (Finance)

Experience: Director of Harvey Norman Holdings since 1993

Special Responsibilities: Chairman of the Board

Laura Luchi
Director

Qualifications: BA. MA(Psych)

Experience: Laura Luchi is a registered Psychologist who has been working with children, families and professionals impacted by trauma and abuse since 1995 in the government, NGO and private sectors. Laura’s career began as a therapist working with women and children affected by family violence in a small community organisation in Sydney. Her passion and interest in the field of violence and trauma grew and extended across the child protection spectrum with particular interest on sexual abuse and its trauma related problems for children. Whilst working in the fields of child sexual abuse and domestic violence, Laura discovered her passion for teaching and writing. In the twenty years since, she has written and delivered dozens of training packages across a range of trauma and supervision related topics for child protection, police, education, counselling and out of home care organisations. Laura has worked in a range of organisations including NSW Health, Community Based NGO’s and NSW Family & Community Services. For the past seven years, she has been in practice at Cara House, Centre for Growth and Healing in Sydney, working alongside an outstanding group of trauma practitioners. Today, Laura’s work centres around the dynamic and fascinating world of complex and developmental trauma in children and finds its expression in her work with professionals, carers and children alike. Laura now practices on the Central Coast as Anima Consulting.

Special Responsibilities: n/a

Emmanuel Kassiotis
Director

Qualifications: Degree in Social Work (2000) and a Master of Arts in Theology (2008)

Experience: Has been employed at Cara House since February 2015. Prior to that, was a volunteer in the group work programs offered by Cara House since October 2013. Have previously worked in the field of child protection both in Australia and in Scotland. In addition to working at Cara House, Emmanuel is employed by the Department of Justice as a counsellor for the Families and Friends of Missing Persons Unit and has been in this role for over 6 years. Emmanuel has also spent over nine years working in the disability sector. He has worked for both the state government, and non-government organisations in this area. For seven years he was employed by the Public Guardian as a substitute decision maker for people who lacked capacity to make lifestyle decisions.

Special Responsibilities: Emmanuel is on the organising committee for the CaraCare Ball. He is also on the organising committee for the end of year children's party. Part of his role as a board member is to also raise awareness of the charity in the community and as such he has thus far predominantly contact state and federal politicians and coordinated a meeting with the National Children's Commissioner and Mary Jo.

Tzu-Yao Andy Chou
Finance Director & Secretary

Qualifications: UQ Degree in Commerce (Accounting and Finance) and a Chartered Accountant (2008)

Experience: 14 years as a public practice accountant in the private client’s area.

Special Responsibilities: Responsible for the finance function of CaraCare.

CaraCare is a grass root charity that aims to minimise organisational bureaucracy without comprising the integrity of service delivery. Therefore, it operates as a “wrap around’ organisational structure which positions children and young people central to its operations and wraps the adult structures around providing quality service delivery. The figure below summarises the CaraCare organisation map.