SHINE’ing the Spotlight on… Feda Adra
I consider my greatest personal achievement to be my strong family unit, with my husband of 30 years and three adult children of whom I am incredibly proud. I am 1 of 11 children.
I am driven by an innovative mindset to enable change and improvements in the way people do business. I have created a shared vision and inspired creativity and a strong commitment to service excellence that has seen the organisation grow and flourish to now helping thousands of older Australians.
My philosophy in life is underpinned by giving back and working for the greater good.
Feda, tell us about ComLink and the Vitality Village, and the vision behind?
ComLink is a for-purpose charity that support people to age and live well. Our aim is to make lives the best that they can be. We see ageing through a positive lens and work on creating support services that enhance well-being. For ComLink to truly innovate and make a greater impact, we needed to look beyond age care. The Vitality Village is here to tackle challenges such as loneliness and mental health. We believe collaboration across diverse skills can collectively improve the health and wellbeing of people more effectively than disjointed care provision from individual organisations.
Vitality Village is a multi-storey community space that will be a dynamic model for health and wellbeing which ComLink is constructing in the Sunshine Coast Health Precinct. It is an amazing project that will be a first for Australia, and one of only a few similar models in the world.
What guided you towards working in the Not-For-Profit world?
After having three children and going back into the workforce, I landed my first job in the Sunshine Coast in the NFP area. I enjoyed helping this NFP flourish and grow to support more people and create social impact. I love purpose, so for me, personal success is being able to live a purposeful life. Rather than being a passive viewer of life. I thrive on collaboration, connecting people and projects to achieve the greater good.
What traits and qualities do you admire in a leader?
I consider an outstanding leader to be someone with vision, conviction, and determination; who is brave, authentic and socially minded; with the knowledge, ability and capacity to gather, lead and inspire great people to achieve great things.
How has COVID-19 affected your industry and what sort of steps are you introducing as we return back to a new state of ‘normal’?
COVID-19 has impacted my customers. Our clients are frail-aged people and they rely on us for all their essential goods and services. More importantly, we are there only source of transport and social support. We adapted our service delivery very quickly. Our staff have been absolutely amazing!! We developed new support services ensured the well-being and safety of all. Our organisation and team have always been solution-focused and they absolutely thrive when faced with challenges.
How do you juggle being a busy career woman, a wife and a mum as you would have a very busy schedule?
I am very grateful that I have employment in a role and company that I love. I have an extremely supportive husband. He has always been an equal contributor in our family. I also get out in my vegetable garden every weekend immersing myself in nature to quieten my mind.
And what’s next on the agenda for Feda Adra?
I am currently surrounded by some of the most amazing people that are very creative, innovative and have an element of weirdo in them. This brings opportunities to do some more good in the world. Lots of new amazing things coming my way very soon!
Favourite movie and why?
The Fountain – I am attracted to deeper more philosophical narratives.
What’s one thing that you do for yourself every day?
Walk in my garden and be surrounded by nature. To be grounded.
What mantra do you live by?
I made up my own mantra – Trust, listen, learn and act.
To find out more about Feda and ComLink head to:
Website
https://www.comlink.org.au/
