Women lead the pack at Melbourne not-for-profit

How women are calling the shots at Melbourne’s Lost Dogs’ Home

Lost Dogs’ Home executives, from left, Pandora Reddy with Molly, Liz Walker with Ned, Isabella Galanti with Winston and Jill Gustave-Marston with Cassie. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

No one realised at first, but one day it dawned on the room that for the first time in its 110-year history, the executive team at The Lost Dogs’ Home, in Melbourne, were all women.

The surprise was why it had taken so long, given that women make up so much of the not-for-profit workforce — as high as 87 per cent by some estimates. Yet men still get about 70 per cent of the executive jobs in these same organisations. At the Melbourne facility, the new executive team of four women directors has emerged after a period of turmoil and a churn of staff and senior managers.

The home has long been part of the city’s fabric, operating out of headquarters on Gracie Street in North Melbourne since it was established in 1910. 

Back then women made up half the founding committee. Belle Bruce Reid was one of the first two honorary veterinary surgeons, dedicating her service from 1913 to 1923.  A medal in her name is still awarded to female veterinary science graduates at the University of Melbourne. 

In 1935, Ann Flashman was appointed the first permanent veterinary surgeon at the home after it opened its first animal hospital. But it was not until this year that women came to hold the majority of senior positions at the organisation; the chief executive is a male — Grant Robb.

Internal power struggles and management differences meant that the home went through several years of turmoil with a big loss of staff. It churned through nine CEOs, suffered a mass board resignation and the exodus of its entire management team.

Director of operations Liz Walker says the more recent recruitment of women was not intentional, but a natural outcome of a hiring spree that started in August 2019.

 “When I came on board I was the only female in senior management,” Walker says. “Grant Robb just went with who’s out there. We just happened to be all women.” 

But she says having an all-female senior management team has been beneficial: “Once we put our mind to something, that’s kind of it. We band together and we’re supportive of each other.

“When one of us needs something to get the job done the others drop what they’re doing. You get in there, you get dirty, and get it done.” 

Having strong women leaders, such as director of philanthropy and external relations Jill Gustave-Marston, and director of people and culture Isabella Galati at the helm, helped the home get through COVID, Walker says. The fourth member of the team is Pandora Reddy, who recently joined as director of finance. During , the refuge scrambled to change processes and ensure the collection of stray animals while coping with a sudden demand for pets during lockdown.

Says Walker: “We are a kick-arse group of girls and we’re focused and determined. We fuel each other with that.” 

Gustave-Marston says the all-female team allowed the organisation to tackle operational and reputational challenges that have hit it hard in the past. 

“The fact we were all brand new to the organisation, joining within months of each other, meant we could genuinely look at things in a totally different way,” she says. “I really think this has meant we have been able to see the cracks and gaps — and sometimes chasms — very quickly.”