The role of the Pathways ECI Board is to provide leadership, safeguard the organisation's interests, ensure accountability and ensure long-term viability.
Meet the Board
Sylvana Mahmic
Sylvana's interest in disability began 20 years ago, when her first child was diagnosed with a disability. Seeking to understand what lay ahead for her son, she completed post graduate study in special education, which led her to working in this field. Building on her interest in raising awareness of early childhood intervention, she has developed several initiatives which target the wider community, in particular the culturally and linguistically diverse community.
Sylvana is an advocate for the need for early childhood intervention and is the President of Early Childhood Intervention Association NSW and a member of the Disability Council NSW. In 2008, Sylvana’s interest in individualised support began, as she explored the post school options for her son, Abdul-Karim. Since then, she has been learning about self-directed funding and how to make this work for her son and family and is now undertaking post graduate research in this area.
Jennifer Brock
Jennifer has been a Board Member of Pathways ECI for over 11 years. Jennifer’s specific duty as a board member has involved visiting community groups in order to raise the profile of Pathways ECI. She has visited GPs, paediatricians, Early Childhood Clinics and a variety of local community organisations. During these visits, she has been an ambassador for Pathways, in addition to being a strong advocate for early childhood intervention, particularly for increases to early childhood intervention services in the Sutherland area.
Rimma Dinkin
Rimma has been involved with Pathways since 2003, when her son Joshua started receiving services. She joined the Board in 2006 and was ‘thrilled to have the chance to give something back to an organisation that gave our family so much’. She has been on the Board since then, in the position of Secretary since May 2006 and Chairperson since April 2007.
Jan Patulny
Jan joined Pathways Early Childhood Intervention Inc. (then known as Grosvenor early Education Centre) as a part-time Integration Teacher in 1988. She then became a full-time Centre-based teacher, working with both pre-school and school-aged children, who were residents of the Grosvenor Centre. In 1992, as Director of Grosvenor Early Education Centre, she was instrumental in forming the Board of Directors. She retired from Pathways Early Childhood Intervention in 1999 and has been a Board Member ever since, holding the position of Public Officer.
Donna Rawlins
Donna Rawlings is a renowned Australian children’s illustrator and author. In 2003, she received the honour of the Lady Cutler Award from The New South Wales branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, in recognition of her contribution to the field of children’s literature. Donna lives on acreage in the Lower Blue Mountains outside Sydney. She has been a Friend of Pathways Early Childhood Intervention since 1998 when she commenced volunteer design work on a pro bono basis. Donna’s many contributions include all of the Centre’s design work, including brochures, letterhead, video sleeves, end-of-year party invitations and our set of multilingual posters promoting early intervention. Donna became a member of the Board as a Community Representative in 2001.
Amanda Crawford
Amanda was inspired to join the Pathways Board after her son was diagnosed with Autism. Finding the staff and families at Pathways so supportive and welcoming, she was motivated to ‘give back’ to the organisation so that more families could have the same positive experience of early intervention that she and her family did. Amanda loves hanging out with her son and thinks that he’s the bee’s knees. She carries a book everywhere, and is very bad at chess.
Hi - my name is Amanda Crawford and I have recently joined the Pathways ECI Board as a parent member. My darling son Harry was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in early 2009 and Pathways ECI was one of the first places we found - and what a life-saver. From the first Saturday playgroup we attended we’ve felt welcomed and included, from the staff to all the other parents and kids we’ve met. Between doctors appointments and waiting rooms it’s nice to go somewhere that’s fun and fully resourced, and Pathways is just that.
Melinda Stevenson
Melinda is a Business Systems Analyst with Stockland and has experience in the property sector, financial services industry, telecommunications sector and in the freight forwarding industry. Melinda is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA), is a CPA Program examination marker and a Fellow at the Institute of Public Accountants. Melinda commenced volunteering at Pathways ECI through Stockland, via United Way in 2008. Later that year, she was nominated as Treasurer of the Board.
Margot Starkey
Margot has extensive experience in the early childhood and early childhood intervention fields. She was instrumental in establishing the Strathfield Sessional Pre-School for Communicare and later she established their Early Intervention Support Unit. Her experience then led her to the role of Intervention Consultant for their Pre-Schools, Long Daycare Services and Family Daycare Services from 2000 to 2008. She was an active member of local early childhood intervention networks in the Inner West of Sydney. Margot has been a Board member since 2007.
Yvonne Nicholls
Yvonnee is mother of three children aged eight, almost seven, and a two year old. Her eldest has Atypical Austism and began receiving services at Pathways at the age of 18 months. Soon after, she joined the Board in an attempt to try and give something back to the people that became her ‘second family’. ‘When we look back at the years behind us, my husband and I do not know how we would have managed without the help and guidance of all our friends at Pathways. And when we look towards the future, we do so knowing we have learned so many skills along the way, that will help us to help Luc be the best that he can be.’ In Yvonne’s blog, ‘Take my hand...’ , she shares the highs and lows of being a parent of a child with additional needs.
Nick Walter
Growing up in Melbourne, I provided volunteer support and attended many events to help raise awareness and funds for Bayley House (www.bayleyhouse.org.au), an organisation that helps teenagers and adults who have Down Syndrome. My family is still very involved in fundraising for this organisation. From this experience, I am aware of the important role that organisations like Pathways ECI play in the community.
With a financial background and accounting qualifications, I have spent the last 15 years working in Australian investment markets and have been in Sydney for 6 years working with Macquarie Bank. In my role I work with many NFP organisations (large and small), helping them with corporate governance, policies and managing their investment reserves. I have some great contacts across the not for profit sector here in Sydney and I hope to tap into those contacts to bring some strong ideas to Pathways ECI.
I am delighted to be joining the Board of such a successful organisation, and I hope to make a strong contribution to the growth plans over the next few years. I look forward to meeting you all soon.
