Our People
A team committed to families
Our team is committed to the vision and mission of Family Spirit and do everything they can to support the many children, young people and families in need.
To make sure there is support at every stage, we invest in ongoing training for all Family Spirit staff. Embracing innovation and growing our skills, we deliver consistent care and meaningful support when you need it most.
Our leadership
Sheree James
Chief Executive Officer
Sheree James is the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Officer at Family Spirit.
With 30 years’ experience within the Community Services Sector, Sheree is qualified and registered as a Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner, Counsellor, Psychotherapist and Educator. She holds a Bachelor Arts (Psy), Grad Dip Applied Science, Grad Dip Family Therapy, Master Medical Science, and Grad Cert Behaviour Support.
Prior to her role at Family Spirit, Sheree has previously provided leadership to several multidisciplinary therapeutic teams and has had extensive experience in Clinical Governance and Quality Assurance. With a passion and interest for Child Protection, Out-of-Home Care and Adoptions, she is also an experienced assessor and trainer within the sector having taught at TAFE NSW, ACAP and Bidura College.
Brooke Norman
Executive Manager – Pre & Post Care Services
Brooke is the Executive Manager for Pre and Post Care Services at Family Spirit and is responsible for actively leading the Intensive Family Preservation, After-Care, Adoption, Recruitment, Training and Assessment teams at Family Spirit.
Brooke holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences and has been helping young children and families working with both CatholicCare Sydney and Family Spirit for more than twelve years.
Patricia Maher
Executive Manager – Permanency Support Program
Patricia is the Executive Manager for Permanency Support Program. Patricia leads a multidisciplinary team to promote permanency for children and young people in care.
Patricia has completed studies in Counselling and Community Welfare, and has broad experience and knowledge in supporting families with Out-Of-Home Care, Intensive Family Support, Drug and Alcohol, and Domestic and Family Violence.
Joseph Clarke
Cultural Practice & Inclusion Lead
Joseph is the Cultural Practice & Inclusion Lead, responsible for ensuring Family Spirit’s strong focus on cultural safety and improving outcomes for Aboriginal children and families.
Joseph is a proud Gomeroi/Gamilaraay/Murrawarri man with a Bachelor of Indigenous Public Health & Social, Emotional Wellbeing, along with an Advanced Diploma of Counselling. He has extensive experience working with and developing services and programs in areas including Alcohol and Other Drugs outreach, Domestic and Family Violence, and community resilience, healing, and trauma recovery.
The Family Spirit Board
Family Spirit’s Board and Leadership Team provide overarching governance to enable us to deliver on our mission.
Jonathan Raja
Chairman
Jonathan Raja is the Director of Services at Marist180. He has over 25 years of experience across health and community services sectors in both the United States and Australia. Jonathan holds a Masters in Clinical Social Work and has experience working with young people in both acute psychiatric and foster care settings, managing emergency service response teams, and developing and managing mental health practitioner and hospital service delivery networks. He has contributed to the successful implementation of several innovative health improvement services targeting the appropriate use of medication, and provided leadership to strategic projects evaluating the efficiency of Commonwealth Government programs and to support NSW Government reform.
David Stefanoff
David Stefanoff is the Finance Director at CatholicCare Sydney. With a background in banking and structured investing in both public and private markets, David transferred his learnings to the social services sector in 2017. Since then, David has been responsible for delivering several projects at CatholicCare Sydney, including leading the development of the agency’s evolving social housing strategy. David is a lay member of the St Vincent’s Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee.
Peter Hanson
Peter Hanson is the Head of Finance and Company Secretary for Marist180. He has held senior financial and governance positions in a government owned enterprise in New Zealand an ASX listed entity, private companies and not for profits in Australia. Peter is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (FCA) and a member of the Governance Institute (ACIS). He served on the Council of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants for 6 years representing Australian resident members until the merger of the New Zealand and Australian bodies. He has served on the Board of a not for profit and is active in the lay leadership of his church.
