Casson steps down as Committee for Geelong CEO

COMMITTEE for Geelong chief executive officer Rebecca Casson has announced she is leaving the position to take up the top job at the Master Builders Association of Victoria.

CfG chair Dan Simmonds said the committee had achieved terrific outcomes during Ms Casson’s six years as CEO (where she was the first woman to hold the role), and CfG was proud to have had such a credentialed individual driving the organisation during this critical period in Geelong’s development.

He highlighted recent comments by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Opposition Leader
Matthew Guy that reflected the influence and profile Ms Casson brought to the role.

While speaking at a CfG lunch in September, Mr Andrews described Ms Casson as “a force” who, in her role as CEO, “is listened to, valued and you could not be better served by her as your CEO”, while Mr Guy thanked the committee “for being a very frank and to-thepoint advocate to all sides of politics”.

“I think that is a great reflection of the way Rebecca is regarded by influential figures in business and the broader community,” Ms Simmonds said.

Speaking at CfG’s annual dinner and Leaders for Geelong (LfG) graduation ceremony held at GMHBA Stadium on November 1, Ms Casson said she had been inspired by CfG’s board and staff over her tenure.

She particularly thanked Mr Simmonds for their work together.

“We haven’t always agreed, we’ve argued on various different things, but he’s always collaborated with me to fight the tide of conventional thinking, and I very much appreciate that because what that has enabled us to do is that the committee has been able to be agile and we’ve also been able to collaborate; we’ve leveraged some great outcomes from that.”