Council

I retired from paid work in 2019 and now manage to keep myself busy with my various interests and hobbies. I joined Retire Active SA in 2021 through the Bushwalking group, to meet likeminded people in pursuit of exercise, social interaction and to see parts of SA that can only be accessed by foot.
In my other life I worked for the SA government in the Water Resources area, responsible for a team of around 30 or so staff. The role encompassed a variety of responsibilities including strategic and business planning, leading change, developing a workplace culture that valued diversity and inclusion and risk and governance. I believe the knowledge and skills that I picked up along the way leading the team through a period of significant change will be transferable to the Retire Active SA Council.
Keeping people active in body and mind not only provides social and health benefits for the individual, it also has spin off benefits for the community. The benefits of a healthy and social community are well documented, and it is my belief that Retire Active SA through its numerous and varied groups is doing its bit to help the community achieve these benefits. Retire Active SA is a well run, proactive organisation that values diversity and inclusion and I hope that in my time on council I can assist in the delivery of a well governed council that continues to provide the membership with the confidence and empowerment to help create a current and responsive organisation.

I joined Retire Active SA in April 2022 to meet new people, as well as keeping my mind and body active. So far, I have enjoyed playing with the competition golf group on Mondays, and plan to join other groups in the future.

I retired in mid-2021, having worked for 40 years in various areas of IT. The latter stages of my career I was involved in Project Management and have managed and controlled budgets for multi-million-dollar programs of work for several organisations. I also worked in the last few years in the management of cyber security for a SA Government Department. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Computing and truly love working with numbers.

Personally, I love spending time with my family, 2 daughters and 2 grandchildren. I enjoy drinking red wine, and I take any opportunity to visit wineries, attend dinners or other events where I can enjoy a glass or two.

Lesley joined ARPA in November 2013 so she could join the Caravan Group which she thoroughly enjoyed. She is Secretary for the Computer and Technology group and is on the Committee of the 4WD group.

Lesley joined the Council in 2019 which she finds extremely interesting and a great challenge. She is energised by the Association and is excited by the huge potential it has to attract new members and enrich people’s lives.

Kim retired in 2018 after a career assisting returned soldiers with their functional daily living needs and their health needs. As a result I am passionate about ensuring all retired people keep active while ensuring the social needs and mental needs are met. Retire Active SA has an amazing number of recreational groups located all over Adelaide for the retired and I wasted no time joining the cycling group when I retired. This group has allowed me to see Adelaide from a totally different perspective and many new friends. It wasn’t long before I became a member of the tennis group as well.

I am keen to ensure the membership of Retire Active SA grows and its activities continue as the recreational and social benefits are significant. Therefore I am keen to make a contribution to the Retire Active SA Council to ensure it expands so that more people can enjoy an active and fulfilling retirement.

Vittala is a retired Defence Research Scientist and has been a member of RASA since 2017. He is an active member of two RASA groups namely, Tennis North and Edible Gardens group, through which he draws a lot of enjoyment and benefits. Occasionally he also participates in the cycling group. Vittala is also a Yoga teacher.
Vittala strongly believes in the role RASA plays in keeping older Australians active and happy, which can only be beneficial to the wider society. The range of activities RASA supports is enormous and it is impressive. Vittala strongly believes in community support and that is why he is in the RASA Council, to do his bit to support.

Retire Active SA employs an Office Administrator to assist with administrative and operational requirements.
Cintia has a degree in Business Administration from UNIP (Brazil), and most recently a Graduate Diploma in Public Health from Torrens University in Adelaide. She has worked for several global companies such as ZF Group, Leggett & Platt, and Vossloh Cogifer, including 5 years of work experience in England, before moving to Australia. Following 5 years of residence, Cintia is now an Australian citizen.
Her understanding of health and well-being, and her business administration and marketing experience provide an ideal fit for Retire Active SA.

“I am passionate about this organization as the main focus of it is to enhance the physical, social and mental well-being of its members, and this aligns with my values’’.

I joined the original ARPA organisation in 2007, and became a regular member of the Tennis East group for some years until shoulder injuries required me to stop playing. I then transitioned to the Cycling group where I continue to be active and for a period of seven years was the group coordinator. One of my innovations during this time was to introduce the concept of multi-day cycling excursions within Australia and overseas (Vietnam twice, Spain riding the Camino de Santiago and to southern India). More recently I have also joined the Bushwalking group and am currently serving on the management committee as Treasurer. This has allowed me to gain a good appreciation of the breadth of activities within the current organisation.

My professional training was in Agricultural Science and I worked in scientific and management roles within the South Australian Department of Agriculture for twenty-five years before taking up positions in vineyard development and viticultural management initially with Southcorp Wines and later with Normans Wines.

My technical background and graduate studies in both Computing and in Business Management have allowed me to become comfortable with accounting and finance practices. I am hoping that this will assist me in contributing to the ongoing management of RASA and ensuring that appropriate research and analysis is undertaken to face the challenges we currently have associated with falling membership and revenue.

I joined ARPA in 2014. I was looking for Bushwalking Groups and found that ARPA gave the best options with regards to variety of walk levels, as well as walking camps in all states of Australia and overseas. Since that time, I have enjoyed a huge number and variety of walking trips and I have formed friendships that extend beyond walking. Through ARPA I also played Bridge and 500 card games and joined Train the Brain for a while. I also served on the ARPA Bushwalkers Committee for 6 years.

In my working life I was a teacher, working with children with autism spectrum disorder of all ages, as well as with their families. I retired in 2013.