Ginie Udy has been the CEO of SDN since September 2002. Under Ginie’s stewardship the number of children we care for and educate has quadrupled from 1500 to 6000 children a year, the number of child and family support services has vastly expanded and SDN’s annual revenue has tripled. In her time SDN has also received national awards for the advancement of women and child protection.

Ginie has 29 years’ experience in children’s services, with 21 years in leadership roles. She started her career as an early childhood teacher at Murrawina, an Aboriginal centre in Redfern. She then went on to set up the first Early Intervention Service for children with disabilities in Lithgow. Her interest in the contexts in which children are raised led her to investigate factors that contribute to healthy family functioning for a master’s honours thesis.

Ginie has lectured at Macquarie University and the University of Canberra and held senior leadership roles with the Uniting Church Children’s Services, Early Childhood Australia and the YWCA of Canberra. Ginie is regularly called on to brief government. She is a strong advocate for socially cohesive communities that respect and include all children and families.