Meet our new Deputy Chair – Diane White

Welcome to our new Deputy Chair Diane White.

“Homelessness is not some intractable ‘wicked problem’ — it can be solved with the right attention and investment.”

1. How did you get involved with Launch and its Board?

“I am currently a Director within Ernst and Young’s Strategy and Transactions practice. In my day-to-day work, I support government and non-government organisations in the areas of system strategy, infrastructure and service design and commissioning, in particular for health and human services. When joining the Launch Board, I was keen to use this experience and these skills to support a purpose-led organisation.

“Both in my current work and previous roles, a central theme has always been the importance of enabling safe and stable housing for people, so working in the homelessness sector was always of interest to me.

“I knew of Launch previously, and when an opportunity came up to join the Board in early-2020 I jumped at the opportunity. I ended up joining the board in mid-2020 at the height of COVID-19, and so I really saw the organisation at its best in its commitment to provide support to its clients during this time.”

2. What are you looking forward to the most about your new Chair role at Launch?

“Launch is well known for being future-focussed, brave and bold, and I am looking forward to supporting that culture in a new way now that I have moved into the Deputy Chair role.”

“It’s such an important and pivotal time to be working in homelessness, with both State and Federal Government investing in housing and the increasing community support around tackling homelessness.

“Through COVID-19, income insecurity become an acute reality for many people, including people who had not been faced with this kind of insecurity before. It served to remind all of us how easy it is to fall into a state of precarity and prompted new levels of empathy and understanding around homelessness. For us as an organisation, this provides the opportunity to engage a broader audience in a conversation about homelessness and the importance of secure housing in insulating people from this kind of insecurity and instability. In this way, it’s an exciting time to be taking up the Deputy Chair role.

“On a practical level, it’s also an opportunity to engage with more of Launch’s staff and partners, something that has been more challenging in the last couple of years since joining the Board.”

3. What Launch Housing project or program are you most excited about at the moment?

“There are so many projects that spring to mind, but one of the top ones would have to be Viv’s Place. We know that a lack of housing is a significant barrier for women and children seeking to leave unsafe and violent relationships, but it can’t just be short-term; we need solutions for people to stay safe in the long-term so that they do not need to return to those relationships. Viv’s Place is a model that truly responds to how difficult and long the journey out of a violent relationship can be – it’s a game changer.

“It’s also been amazing to see the establishment of the Homelessness to a Home (H2H) program, as it is such a life-changer. I joined Launch’s Board at the height of COVID-19 and saw Launch establishing the H2H program–it’s had a real impact and saved people’s lives.”

4. Why are you passionate about ending homelessness in Melbourne?

“At its most simple, everyone deserves to live a happy and healthy life, but without stable housing this is incredibly difficult. I reflect on my own home and the stability it provides me; a foundation for being able to do everything else that is important in my life. This foundation is something that is so easy to take for granted but so fundamental to being able to just live your life.

“Homelessness is not some intractable ‘wicked problem’—it can be solved with the right attention and investment.”

5. What can we expect to see from the Board in the coming 12 months?

“We’re looking to increase on the opportunities presented off the back of COVID-19 and the current policy and government investment context, while being cognisant of how demanding the last few years have been for services like ours and the need to focus on staff and sustainability. We’ve delivered some amazing solutions, but we need to embed and scale them to have more impact, and also bring the community with us at the same time.

“We’re focussing on delivering the new refreshed Strategy and supporting the Executive Team in the work that they are leading across the organisation.

“Over the past couple of years, we’ve made such tangible progress towards ending homelessness in Melbourne and we want to keep harnessing that momentum to keep delivering housing solutions that no one else does.”