Board Appointments and Acknowledgements

On behalf of the Equestrian Victoria (EV) Board we would like to thank everyone who attended our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 24 November and congratulate the staff on coordinating our first ever virtual AGM. The meeting ran efficiently and effectively, and it was encouraging to see the turn out from the membership.

We welcome and congratulate EV's two new Board members, Christie Freeman and Lynette Lee. On behalf of the Board, we look forward to the knowledge and passion they will bring to the Board table and to working together as we continue to deliver great outcomes for our members.

We would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to our outgoing Chair, Carl Parkin and Board Member Reece Adnams, for the outstanding commitment they have made to the Board, organisation and sport overall, in recent years.

Carl has led the group with professionalism, honesty and dedication and has been integral in driving the development of our strategy, steering the organisation through the sudden impacts from the COVID-19 crisis and building significant investment alliances for the entire sport.

Reece has generously shared his extensive expertise in the areas of strategy, governance, marketing and finance and his contributions to the Board have been invaluable.

On behalf of the entire equestrian community here in Victoria, we thank you, Carl and Reece, and wish you both the very best for the future.

The AGM provided an excellent opportunity to share the recent review of, and updates to, the EV Strategic Plan that came about as a result of externally facilitated stakeholder engagement with the Board and Sports Discipline Committees (SDC's). Conducted in September, the engagement which included a survey and on-line forum, provided an opportunity for Board Members and SDC's to learn from and listen to each other, and to share some of the major challenges and opportunities faced by the various disciplines across the sport. The information captured in this engagement then helped to inform a mid-plan update to the EV Strategic Plan.

A summary of the key themes from the survey and forum was shared at the AGM by CEO Matthew Brown and can be found, along with the updated Strategic Plan on the Equestrian Victoria website. We encourage you to take a look at the documents and we look forward to holding these engagement sessions more frequently in 2021 and beyond.

VIEW EV STRATEGIC PLAN

Thank you for your continued support of our efforts to provide more and better opportunities and experiences so that our community can live their equestrian dream.

Michelle Heaney
Acting Chair