Renée Leigh Carter is the CEO of Adopt Change and a passionate advocate for the well-being of children and young people, with a focus on children with an experience in the Australian child protection system.
Renee leads a team of Adopt Change Changemakers across a range of work nationally and operates the government-funded My Forever Family NSW program to recruit, support, train and advocate for carers (foster, kinship, guardian and adoptive) of children in care.
National activities include the annual #THRIVE National Permanency Conference; campaigns including ‘A Home for Every Child’ to find more homes and support; MyPacks first night backpacks for kids entering care; Empower Change for providing education support to children in care; along with engagement with community, government, child welfare sector; and is regularly sought to speak with media about child welfare, trauma informed care, permanency and adoption.
Renee is a member of the National Foster & Kinship Care Collective, with CEO colleagues from Australian jurisdiction carer representative bodies.
Renée has held roles on advisory committees including as a member of the Institute Advisory Group for the independent research centre – Institute of Open Adoption Studies (The University of Sydney); various government and cross-sector advisory groups and taskforces; and was previously Vice Chair of NSW Committee on Adoption and Permanent Care (COAPC).
She is a member of Australian Institute of Company Directors, with a background in communications and executive management, along with board level experience in corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Her experience includes three years as Chair of charity Child Abuse Prevention Service (CAPS), an organisation focused on early intervention, education and support of families and communities; and Managing Director of corporate, investor and creative communications specialists Designate Group.
Renée is committed to influencing child welfare policy and practice for social impact – to bring about timely and effective outcomes for children so they can have better childhood experiences and a brighter future.