Chief Executive Officer

The Organisation

Timor-Leste has one of the world’s highest rates of rheumatic heart disease. In September 2010, newspapers reported on a desperate plea by Dr Noel Bayley and Dr Dan Murphy for help to urgently get teenage Timor-Leste patients Ursula and Flavia to Australia for life-saving heart surgery. Due to the overwhelming philanthropic response from the publication, the East Timor Hearts Fund was born.

A decade on, the East Timor Hearts Fund is a volunteer-powered medical NGO offering life-saving heart surgery in Australia for young Timorese; heart disease research and prevention programs; and heart healthcare capacity building projects. As Australia’s only medical NGO dedicated to providing life-saving heart surgery for young people from Timor-Leste, the organisation assists patients with a variety of serious heart conditions. The organisation supports the local health system by sending Australian surgical teams to Timor Leste to provide acute care as well as to aid in the delivery of preventative health programs, health education and advocacy initiatives.

Since September 2010, East Timor Hearts Fund has performed 80 surgeries and cardiac screening for thousands of patients. They run a program to prevent rheumatic heart disease (RHD) with penicillin for more than 300 patients and have distributed personal protective equipment to assist with COVID-19.

The brief

With a vision to Reduce death and disability from rheumatic heart disease in Timor-Leste through excellence in research, prevention, treatment and capacity building and a mission to Collaborate with people, government and health institutions in Timor-Leste to support development of local capacity and improve access to cardiac care and heart disease prevention, the 2021-2024 Strategic Plan builds on a decade of achievements, with a clear focus on future goals. 

The Board of East Timor Hearts Fund has requested the submission of a confidential proposal for the provision of executive search and selection services to assist them in the appointment of an outstanding Chief Executive Officer, to build on the legacy created under the stewardship of David Marlow.  

The incoming CEO will echo the organisation’s values of Respect, Compassion, Integrity, Optimism and Collaboration in implementing the key objectives documented in the 2021-2024 Strategic Plan.

Goal 1: Help grow the capacity of Timor-Leste to deliver quality heart health care.

Goal 2: Save more lives through access to surgery.

Goal 3: Partner with leading local organisations to prevent and reduce the burden of heart disease in Timor-Leste.Goal 4: Strengthen our organisation and grow our community of supporters.

Goal 4: Strengthen our organisation and grow our community of supporters.

The process

Brooker Consulting was delighted to partner with the highly skilled volunteer Board of the Fund to attract and engage an inspirational and authentic Chief Executive Officer.

The campaign launched with a comprehensive combination of targeted external digital advertising and executive search and generated a pleasing level of interest in the position.  There was a strong mission-based factor to this assignment which attracted a range of high calibre candidates from the international aid sector.

The outcome

A rigorous panel interview process ensued, followed by extensive reference checking and further presentations to the Board before Jane Papasergio was announced as the Fund’s new CEO.   

Jane has spent the last 15 years working in leadership roles in the international development sector across the Indo Pacific region. Her background is in leading international development programs and country offices – specifically supporting the delivery of high-quality programs, working in teams to deliver sustainable outcomes, implementing strategy, engaging with stakeholders and driving growth initiatives. 

Jane was looking forward to the opportunity to expand life-saving surgeries, increase clinical care, implement sustainable prevention programs, help improve public health systems in Timor-Leste and lead the organisation into the future.