Management & Governance
Our Fusion teams are made up of unpaid and paid staff, team members and volunteers who all work side by side to see communities transformed across the nation.
They are Fusion’s strength. Faithfulness, willingness, generosity and commitment characterize Fusion’s people. In challenging environments and situations, our team members will keep on caring for those they minister to, offering practical support, encouragement and opportunity.
The administration of the organisation is managed by the Executive Team under the direction of the Executive Team Leader.
Fusion Australia Ltd is governed by a Board of Trustees, consisting of Trustees elected by the team members at the Fusion Annual Conference, and some externally appointed Trustees.
The administration of the organisation is managed by the Executive Team under the direction of the Executive Team Leader.
Organisational Structure
Patrick Witcombe – CEO
Patrick is a not-for profit operations professional with extensive experience managing strategy, governance and risk cycles across boards and executive teams. Appointed as the Executive Operations Manager for Fusion Australia at the beginning of 2022, he leads cross-organisation strategic projects to strengthen operational performance and compliance. Patrick was appointed as CEO in September 2024, after acting in the position for five months. He also serves as Vice Chair and Company Secretary for ‘xp.’ a Christian youth media for-purpose organisation and formerly served as Executive Manager at CBM Australia.
Lashitha Devadason
Lashitha is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience, including more than a decade in Big 4 accounting firms providing internal and external audit services as well as enterprise risk management for public sector clients in both Melbourne and Sydney. Over the past 10 years, she has transitioned to the not-for-profit sector, focusing on business assurance and advisory. Additionally, Lashitha has been a sessional academic at the University of Melbourne for several years, teaching audit and financial reporting to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Lashitha joined the Fusion Board in July 2024.
Thomas Griffiths
A Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, Thomas Griffiths has over fifteen years’ experience within the Private Equity and Institutional Funds Management sectors. He has also worked within a variety of other business environments including Aged Care, Social Housing, and Renewable Energy. Partnering with Boards and Leadership teams across organisations ranging from start-ups through to multinationals has led to him working with teams not only across Australia but in Asia and Europe.
Thomas enjoys creating collaborative high-performance business environments and has a proven track record in delivering financial results and ensuring the right culture and processes are in place to support success. He joined the Fusion Board at the end of 2023.
Steve Hamilton
Steve Hamilton has served with Fusion in a variety of roles since 1980; these have included as a youth worker, Fusion Team Leader in Bendigo and Burnie, Personal Assistant to the National Director and in media and radio production and presentation. He is currently part of the team managing the assets and maintenance of Poatina Village. Steve has previously been the co-leader of the Uluru Base Camp team for Fusion’s national Pilgrimage to Uluru, Support Staff Worker at Capstone College and the Chairman of the Poatina Body Corporate.
Steve has an Electrical Trades Certificate and a Diploma in Youth and Community Work (Christian), and previously served on the Fusion Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2019.
Beverley Rankin
Beverley (Bev) Rankin first engaged with Fusion in 1980, becoming a full-time Staff Worker in 1983. After serving in Tasmania, Melbourne and Brisbane, Bev and husband, Malcolm, moved to Orange to establish a new Fusion centre in 1989.
Since then, Bev has been committed to schools outreach work through Special Religious Education (SRE), community festivals outreach, Pilgrimages to Uluru and within NSW, and community development work. Throughout this time, she has maintained a deep commitment to developing and delivering Fusion’s training nationally and internationally.
Since transitioning the local Fusion Central West work to local churches, Bev has developed church-based community outreach programs, while continuing to support the local Fusion school chaplains and well-being officers.
Currently focussed on Fusion Families work, Safe Organisation training and Professional Standards, Bev continues to support local schools work and training of SRE teachers in regional NSW.
Paul Ryan – Board Chair
Paul Ryan brings nearly 30 years’ experience in for purpose and faith-based organisations at practitioner, senior executive and non-executive director level. Paul has a background in education, theology, ministry, and psychology. His career path has been diverse with roles as a catholic priest, mental health researcher, family violence practitioner, and senior executive in education and for purpose organisations. He currently sits on the Board of Ballarat Community Health and the Board of Ballarat and Grampians Community Legal Service and is a Committee Member of White Ribbon Ballarat.
Paul is excited by Fusion’s commitment to mission and the difference it seeks to make in the communities it serves. Paul joined the Fusion Board of Trustees in September 2022.
Sarah Fraser
With over 11 years of experience in public and primary healthcare, Sarah has a strong background in complex health care delivery, clinical governance leadership, healthcare research and risk management. She currently leads the strategic direction and implementation of quality and risk governance structures, clinical governance, and innovation development as an Executive Manager, Innovation & Excellence at Sonder. Sarah holds a PhD in Public Health from Flinders University, where she conducted research on quality and safety in healthcare systems, and a Master’s in Nursing, specialising in Child Health and Development. She is also pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration at the University of South Australia to enhance her skills in executive management, strategic leadership, budget management, and complex project management.
Sarah’s mission is to improve healthcare outcomes and drive excellence using data, innovation, and collaboration. Her resilience and determination, honed through marathon running, fuels her commitment to the long-term goal of driving excellence and positive change in healthcare. She joined the Fusion Board of Directors in July 2024.
Dorothy Knox
Dorothy (Dot) Knox began volunteering with Fusion Melbourne in the 1970s, while studying at Monash University. She joined Fusion as a staff member in 1981, completing Fusion’s Associate Diploma of Youth and Community Work. Since then, Dot has worked with Fusion in Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales in youth accommodation programs, training, networking, management and leadership.
Dot retired in 2020, after 12 years in the role as Manager of Youth Services with Fusion Western Sydney. Her working life has been amongst disadvantaged communities, beginning in disability services, followed by teaching with the Victorian Education Department, before she joined Fusion as a youthworker.
Dot’s first qualification was a Degree in Sociology and she maintains an awareness and interest in the broader contexts of family, community and society and their impact on the lives of individuals. She is interested in change processes at both an individual and organisational level.
Rohan Prowse
After first encountering Fusion in 1987, Rohan Prowse engaged with the events of January 1988 in Sydney; the Prayer Gathering to open New Parliament House in Canberra; and the first Easter March in Sydney in 1990. While working as an actuary throughout the following decade, Rohan was involved in the Awakening and AD2000 movements as a participant and then Regional Coordinator in South-Western Sydney.
From there, Rohan undertook a Certificate IV and then Diploma in Youth and Community Work (Christian) with Fusion, which led him into working fulltime as a self-supported mission worker. Initially based in Poatina Village, Tasmania, in 2007 he took up the challenge of establishing a Fusion work in Asia.
In 2013, Rohan returned to Poatina, from where he managed significant projects and events, including as Manager of the Poatina Chalet.
Moving to Geraldton WA in 2018, Rohan spear-headed an extensive community research project there and is now focused on developing community programs and initiatives to break the cycle of fatherlessness, and in the process help Geraldton become known across the world as the best place to raise a family.
Annelise Schroder
Annelise Schroder has been part of the Fusion team in the Blue Mountains for nearly a decade and has served as Co-Team Leader there with her husband, Josh since 2017. Responsible for strategy, fundraising, communications, compliance, volunteer management, networking, and partnerships, Annelise also continues to be committed to front-line youth and community work.
With a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Social Science, Annelise also works with Generate as School Chaplain at Blaxland High School and for NSW and ACT Baptist Churches as their Event Coordinator and Content Creator.
Annelise is passionate about working creatively with community and committed to ensuring the sustainability and safety of Fusion’s work into the future.
