With over a decade of collaborative leadership experience at TACSI, Kerry Jones and Chris Vanstone bring deep expertise in social innovation to their shared role. Their appointment follows a successful five-month tenure as acting co-CEOs.
Kerry Jones comes from a background of service innovation and delivery and policy advocacy within the disability sector. Since joining TACSI 11 years ago, she has spearheaded TACSI’s groundbreaking systems initiatives, including Our Town and Fire to Flourish, the latter recently recognised through Resilient Australia Award for Community Engagement.
Chris Vanstone has been a cornerstone of TACSI since joining 15 years ago to lead the design of the Family by Family program. As our Chief Innovation Officer for the past eight years, Chris has driven the development of TACSI’s Learning Hub and collaborated with Kerry on designing transformative systems initiatives.
TACSI Chair David Knox commended the appointments, emphasising the strength of their shared vision.
The appointment comes after the departure of long-standing CEO Carolyn Curtis in January 2024, following 11 years of leadership, and a eight-month interim period led by Melanie Rayment, TACSI’s Director of Consulting.
Looking ahead, Chris Vanstone expressed enthusiasm for shaping TACSI’s strategic direction.
“We started last week by gathering our teams across Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne to envision a bold future for TACSI,” says Chris. “Together, we aim to strengthen the field of social innovation, deepen our allyship with First Nations peoples, and diversify the ways we create value through new partnerships in learning, knowledge, ideas, and workforce development.”
Kerry Jones echoed this excitement, highlighting opportunities for collaboration.
“We are thrilled to build on our incredible partnerships with government, not-for-profits, philanthropy, universities, and learners,” she says. “Through our consulting work, long-term systems initiatives, and the Learning Hub, we’ll continue to drive impact and create new collective spaces for social innovation, such as the National Futures Initiative.”
The co-CEO model reflects TACSI’s commitment to innovation, collaboration, and systems leadership, ensuring the organisation continues to thrive as a global leader in social innovation.
