Executive Leadership Team

Terry Symonds is proud to serve as Yooralla’s Chief Executive Officer, and is strongly committed to partnering with people with disabilities, their families and supporters.

Before joining Yooralla, Terry held Senior Executive roles in the Victorian public sector, primarily in funding and management of hospitals, mental health and aged care. Terry’s previous experience includes senior roles at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Queensland Health. Having started his professional career as a disability support worker, he has a deep appreciation of the importance of the support Yooralla employees provide to clients.

Terry holds postgraduate qualifications in Health Management and Mental Health from the University of Queensland and has completed Executive Development in Non-Profit Management at Harvard Business School. Terry is a Victorian State Committee member for National Disability Services and serves as a Director on the Boards of Eastern Health and the Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network.

Melissa joined Yooralla in August 2015. Melissa has worked in the Disability Sector for over 23 years, holding senior management roles for the last 11 and has worked in all areas of Disability Services including Residential Services, Community Services, Positive Behaviour Support and Supported Employment.

Melissa also worked as a Quality Manager and Auditor prior to joining Yooralla. Melissa is passionate about service innovation: looking at ways to provide new and exciting service offerings which enable individuals to live the life they choose and achieve their goals.

Matt started his professional life as a chemical engineer before moving into consulting for Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) and global deployments and travel to over 50 countries including some of the most obscure locations in the world.

Matt joined Yooralla in 2013 as a volunteer with a dream of bringing his corporate experience to a sector that was faced with a huge transformational challenge with the move to the NDIA.

As a person living with Muscular Dystrophy Matt loves his recumbent trike, as it’s meant he can ride independently for the first time in over 25 years and his goal is to complete the Great Victorian Bike Ride. He sports a leading edge NDIA funded Assistive Technology that has enabled him to walk & ride anytime of the day or night. Matt’s very active in the field of social & community inclusion, in his spare time having written the five-year Disability Action Plan and Accessible Camping for a major international music festival, is Chair of the Victorian branch of Break the Boundary – which provides adaptive MTB experiences and is working with Lake Mountain Alpine Resort and Marysville to become a destination of choice for inclusive, adaptive sports & recreation opportunities.

Matt became the inaugural CXO in October 2021 and sees listening as his number one priority. He’s driven by the motto: By Us, For Us – we design our future services and delivery together and is already seeing how he can finance a helicopter so he can get to all our locations more frequently.

Craig joined Yooralla as the Chief Information Officer in August 2021. Craig brings with him over 20 years of Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Digital Transformation experience within both the private and Not for Profit Sector. Prior to joining Yooralla Craig was the Chief Information Officer at The Salvation Army. Craig is a graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) having served at both sea and ashore.

Craig’s qualifications include a Master of Business Administration and Master of Theology as well as a Fellow at the Australian Institute of Company Director. Craig also serves as a Non-Executive Director on the board of The Lost Dogs’ Home. Motivated by working for a purpose driven organisation, Craig continually seeks ways to enhance positive outcomes through the use of technology.

Bachelor of Business, Double Major in Marketing and Business Management, Master of Health Services Management

Brooke joined Yooralla in 2021 and brings over 20 years’ experience and leadership in the health and disability, specialising in strategy and planning, quality, complex project management and risk management.

Prior to joining Yooralla, Brooke worked in the Victorian Department of Health, initially to oversee the reform of the hospital incident management under the auspices of the Victorian Agency for Health Information, before assuming the role of manager of Research and Innovation in Digital Health.

For over a decade, she was based at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where she held substantive roles included managing service and capital planning for the $1 billion Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre and being the Risk and Patient Safety Manager.

While undertaking a Master of Health Services Management, Brooke uncovered a passion for quality and safety. Brooke’s thesis titled “Patient Safety and Accountability: from no blame to a just culture” looked at the role of culture in quality and safety.

Brooke has established relationships across the health sector, academia, industry, community and government, and has a track record delivering complex, multi-sectoral, innovative and politically sensitive projects.

BA, MBA, MFIA, Dip Gov, FICDA

In 2024 Vicki joined Yooralla as part of the Executive Internship Program, bringing her own personal experience of Marfan Syndrome to the Co-Chief Development Officer role. She’s been the University of Sydney’s Co-Chair of the Disability At Work Network (DAWN) since 2021 and is passionate about staff experience and inclusive workplace culture. Vicki is highly skilled at bringing people together around a common cause and pushing for innovations in employment, education and media. She is well-regarded in the Disability community for her politely unrelenting and creative advocacy.

Despite experiencing exclusion in education, Vicki is always learning. She has a Bachelor of Communications, Majoring in Creative Writing and a First Class Honours for measuring the temporal length of phonemes and their impact on rhythm in poetry. She is also a Graduate of CYDA’s Young Leaders program and is currently studying a Juris Doctorate part time.

Vicki loves fungi, soil science and reads books about plants for fun.

Jenny joined Yooralla in April 2024 with a background in management consulting and finance. She spent 15 years working in all areas of finance across the Victorian public service, in Education, Emergency Management, Health, and Human Services, finishing her time as a public servant in the Chief Finance Officer role at the Department of Health. She is an independent member of audit committees for the Productivity Commission and the Victorian Department of Government Services.

Jenny combines an enduring love of spreadsheets and numbers with a focus on people, relationships, communication and team building. A passionate problem solver, Jenny is excited about the opportunity to work with the committed people at Yooralla, providing the best possible assistance to the teams who support people with disability to live the life they choose.

Di joined Yooralla in March 2024 with an extensive background in leading people functions across a range of sectors including for-profit and for-purpose organisations. At various times she has led operations and risk teams and is able to bring practical insights drawing upon her many executive leadership roles.

Di is focused on creating great workplace environment where individuals can thrive and come together with all their differences and varied knowledge and experience to achieve great outcomes. She is deeply committed to Yooralla’s purpose of enabling people with disabilities to live their best life and is proud to work with a team that shares that commitment.