Mr Manda is an experienced executive with an extensive career in local and state government along with his early career as an auditor.
Having held the Director of Corporate Service and the Deputy Chief Executive Officer roles at CDRC, Mr Manda has been acting in the CEO position for the last 10 months.
President of Central Desert Regional Council Mr Adrian Dixon said the announcement signalled a significant milestone for CDRC following an extensive and thorough recruitment process that has solicited interest from across the country.
“Leslie is an accomplished executive with proven leadership skills and experience in community and stakeholder engagement along with bedrock strategic and finance and risk skills,” President Dixon said.
“Our jurisdiction is one of the largest in the Territory, covering 282,000 square kilometres; Leslie understands the region, our culture and history, and the unique challenges that face our community.
“Along with ensuring the day-to-day council operations are delivered efficiently and effectively, Leslie is genuinely passionate about making a difference in the lives of the people in community we are here to serve and is thoroughly committed to enhancing our peoples’ quality of life.”
President Dixon said Council looked forward to continue working with Mr Manda in a partnership of confidence and transparency to ensure the Council continues to deliver strong leadership, as well as key Council and corporate outcomes.
Reflecting on his appointment, Mr Manda said, “I would like to thank the President and Council for the trust that they have in my leadership and I will endeavour to continue to work towards fulfilling Council’s vision for its residents, staff and Central Australia as a whole.”
“We have lived through an unprecedented recent period with change an ever-present reality. Looking forward, my focus will be on the relationships with our broad range of community and government stakeholders and on enhancing existing and developing new services to further improve Central Desert’s value to our community,” Mr Manda said.
“This is an exciting and challenging opportunity and I consider it an incredible privilege to be the CEO and to work with our team and elected members.”
Mr Manda will start his new role on 1 September, 2022.
Photo above: President Adrian Dixon congratulating the new CEO, Leslie Manda.
