Check out our staff spotlight! Here at the Hunter JO, we are lucky to have an amazing team with an enormous range of experience who are passionate about delivering outcomes for our region. Over the next few newsletters, we will be introducing you to our wonderful staff who make all of the things we achieve possible.

First up is the Director of the Hunter JO Policy & Programs Team, Steve Wilson, who recently celebrated 16 years working with the organisation! Steve has 25 years’ experience working in the local government sector, at both a local level (Manly and Port Stephens Councils) and at the regional scale at the JO and its former entity Hunter Councils.

A large portion of Steve’s career has focused on environmental sustainability, natural resource management, and climate change risk and adaptation, delivered through the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy (HCCREMS)., This focus has now broadened to reflect the broader strategic directions now set by Member Councils, through the Hunter JO Board for our region.

Key highlights during his time with the organisation include:

• Working with such a wide range of people across the local government and public sector both within the region and across NSW who are so passionate about what they do every day to improve outcomes for local communities
• Having the opportunity to work on an incredibly wide range of local and regional issues and programs over the years, and to continually learn new insights and skills from these experiences
• Collaborating with councils, universities, and agencies across all levels of government to support the region’s efforts to collectively be at the forefront of understanding and managing climate risk
• Helping steer delivery of the new direction set by the Hunter JO Board since formal establishment as a joint organisation in 2018 and the additional funding to create a core team from 1 July 2020.

Reflecting on the past 16 years, Steve has seen a lot of changes in the wider state and local government environment, while working in an organisation that has fundamentally stayed the same (i.e., local government collaboration) in terms of its role (despite three name changes and an expanding portfolio of areas on which councils collaborate!). This includes our Member Councils becoming even more strongly aligned in their focus and collaborative efforts over time from, from the Hunter JO Board right through to all of the staff working every day with the Hunter JO team on the delivery of regional projects and initiatives. It is this this support and collective contribution that has helped the organisation continue to grow to what it has become today.

Aside from the incredible amount of triangle egg sandwiches he has consumed at  so many regional workshops, forums and events over the years (more  than any sane person ever should!), Steve is most proud to be working in such a talented, enthusiastic and dedicated team at the Hunter JO who are all committed to improving outcomes for local communities across our region.

Keep an eye out for our next newsletter to see who is featured next, or head to our team page today!