Welcome to our new CEO!
As some of you may already know, I have decided to step down as CEO of Plan C. After six years in this role, I feel it is an important milestone for any organisation to show its resilience by continuing delivering meaningful work beyond its founder.
I founded Plan C in 2019, in anticipation of large-scale, compounding disasters that I knew would inevitably disrupt our communities. While I did not foresee the Black Summer or the devastating 2022 flooding events specifically, I understood that we would be facing such disruptive events and that our systems, institutions and communities were not ready for these. My goal was to raise awareness of these risks and prepare our communities, not only through meaningful, truthful conversations and social connections, but also by learning practical ways to live well despite them. This has meant building skills, deepening understanding, fostering preparedness, strengthening connections, and caring for our wellbeing and Country.
We first operated in the Byron Shire, where we hosted community events that brought people together to face the realities of our shared global and local challenges, and sought to organise neighbourhoods into community resilience support groups. These early efforts helped shape our approach: facing up to the challenges we are confronted with, and working collectively, here in our beloved Northern Rivers, to build resilience and find strength in connection. In 2020, we founded the Community Carers and Responders Network, successfully gaining funding in 2021. This initiative reflects a core belief of mine, that social connection between skilled individuals across the Northern Rivers is essential to building a community safety net. It is through these relationships that we can trust and rely on one another, not only in times of disaster and crisis, but also in times of 'peace'.
Our current efforts include strengthening the community resilience safety net through the Community Carers and Responders (CCR) program and the Northern Rivers Community Resilience Alliance. Alongside this, Plan C is working with communities that face particular risks in times of disruption. These include resilience projects with First Nations communities, Preparing with Pride workshops with the queer community, tailored workshops with people living with disability and mobility issues, and youth-centred disaster resilience programs. In parallel, we wish to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms of resilience and continue to publish and contribute to research on this topic. This diversity of our work reflects our ongoing commitment to evidence-based equity, inclusion, and ensuring that resilience truly means resilience for all.
From its early days, Plan C has grown from a small volunteer-run organisation to a not-for-profit NGO now positioned for meaningful scaling. Along the way, we have secured multi-year funding until 2028, providing us with crucial stability in an environment where funding remains an ongoing challenge. I am thus enormously grateful for the trust our donors have placed in Plan C. In particular, I wish to thank the Northern Rivers Community Foundation, Healthy North Coast, Multicultural NSW, and the NSW Reconstruction Authority, alongside many others who have believed in our mission. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to all community members—including those who chose to remain anonymous—who have generously contributed and continue to donate. Your support has been instrumental in making our work possible and helping us reach the communities that need it most. However, we're not out of the woods and continue to need your financial support through grants and donations to sustain and expand our vital work.
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One of my key learnings during my time with Plan C came in the wake of the 2022 floods that shook our region. Despite having spent decades working in war zones and disaster zones overseas, and serving on the frontlines of fires as a firefighter, I too was hammered, hurt, and ultimately burned out by the scale of these floods. This came as a humbling reminder that community resilience cannot be sustained without self-care and community care. We must recognise that this is a long-term commitment we carry, perhaps for the rest of our lives, and pace ourselves accordingly. Supporting each other along the way, finding meaning and purpose in this work, and nurturing joy and connection are not extras, but essential components of resilience.
Today, Plan C is in the hands of a competent, motivated, and heartfelt team — staff, consultants, and volunteers — who carry forward the vision with energy and care. Together, they are implementing or planning projects across all LGAs of the Northern Rivers and beyond, building on the momentum of community resilience initiatives delivered in our region and in Queensland over the past few years.
With this in mind, I am delighted to introduce Plan C's new CEO, Simon Richardson. Simon brings extensive community leadership experience, along with the energy and enthusiasm to lead Plan C into its next stage of growth and impact. He is a communicator, strategist, and community-centred leader with a deep commitment to resilience and regeneration.
As Byron Shire's longest-serving Mayor (2012–2021), he guided the region through fires, landslips, coastal erosion, and the pandemic, helping secure major funding, shape policy, and build trust across government, media, and community. His calm, collaborative leadership style is grounded in listening and bringing people together to create practical, systemic solutions. His background and vision will serve the organisation well as it continues to evolve and scale.
I would like to warmly thank the many staff, consultants, volunteers, board members, advisors and ambassadors, as well as all of you participants and supporters to our projects, who have contributed to Plan C's impact on our communities. I carry enormous gratitude for your efforts, support, and belief in our mission. I am also deeply grateful for the unwavering support of my family, whose love and encouragement have sustained me throughout this journey and made this work possible. I am also mindful of the community leaders who continue to carry the community resilience work across our region, many of whom I call friends. In these times of climate catastrophes and other global challenges, I cannot think of any work more important than nurturing community resilience and regeneration, and I wish each of you well as this vital work continues.
To ensure continuity and stability, I will remain Chair of the Board for the next three months and will continue delivering Plan C trainings and workshops. So this is not a farewell, but a "thank you so much, and see you later."
We have many opportunities ahead for you and your loved ones to learn or improve your disaster and community resilience skills while meeting new people who share similar interests so I hope to see you soon. Keep an eye on our events page for upcoming training opportunities.
Jean Renouf
