The Shepherd Centre Announces CEO Transition

The Shepherd Centre has announced that Dr Jim Hungerford will hand over the baton of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) after 12 years at the helm. After engaging in a rigorous, externally-run selection process, the Board and management have appointed Dr Aleisha Davis to the role of CEO, effective from 20th January 2023.
Since his appointment as CEO in 2011, Dr Hungerford has provided stability to the organisation and has fostered significant sector-wide relationships. He was instrumental in a number of significant achievements, including the adoption of a dedicated referral pathway into the NDIS for children with hearing loss, and tripling the number of children supported by the organisation, making it the leading specialist service provider across NSW, ACT & Tasmania. Dr Hungerford also oversaw the merger with youth mentoring organisation Hear for You and in 2021 McKinsey ranked The Shepherd Centre in the top 5% of all organisations world-wide.
“On behalf of the Board, I would like to acknowledge the tremendous contribution over the past 12 years of Dr Jim Hungerford as outgoing CEO of The Shepherd Centre. I would like to thank Jim for his enormous contribution to the organisation, and his advocacy for the sector more broadly. We are delighted to announce today that we have appointed Dr Aleisha Davis as the new CEO. We have every confidence that we have appointed the right leader to take the organisation into this next chapter. We wish Jim all the best as he embarks on this next stage of his life and we look forward to supporting Dr Davis as the new CEO, to bring our life-changing service to more children who need us,” says Susan Turner-Kapsanis, Board Chair.
Dr Hungerford will enjoy some hard-earned downtime while he embarks on new endeavours.
“I’ve been privileged to lead what I regard as the best charity in Australia, with an amazing group of people who are passionate about transforming children’s lives. We are leaders in the sector across every part of our business, whether that be our engagement with donors and supporters; the quality of our management and systems; our early education work; and across the breadth of our clinical and professional activities,” says Dr Hungerford.
Dr Aleisha Davis comes into her new role as CEO after almost 20 years with The Shepherd Centre. Most recently, Dr Davis served as Chief Clinical Officer and was instrumental in the launch of HearHub, a global digital platform for hearing loss professionals, in 2021. She is a highly regarded industry leader, having been awarded the NSW Not-For-Profit Manager of the Year in 2014 and NSW Business Chamber Leader Award in 2016.
“I’ve been part of this amazing organisation for nearly 20 years and have seen first-hand the profound difference it has made to thousands of children’s’ lives. I’ve led the clinical team for the last 12 years and I’m so proud that our reach now stretches to over 850 children and their families, across four states and eight locations. I look forward to continuing this work in my role as CEO and shaping the future of this life-changing organisation”, says Dr Davis.
A transition period is currently underway until Dr Davis’ tenure commences on 20th January next year.