Our people

Bachelor of Commerce, Grad Certificate in Management of Not for Profit Organisations, Fellow of CPA Australia

Alecia Rathbone is the General Manager of Summer Foundation’s social enterprise the Housing Hub, that connects people with disability to appropriate housing.

She is responsible for the development and growth of products and services of the social enterprise including the Housing Hub website, where people with disability can search for suitable housing by housing type or location, and the Tenancy Matching Service, which supports people with disability to apply for new property developments across Australia.

Alecia, who joined the Summer Foundation in 2018, has worked for 12 years in the ‘for-purpose’ and social enterprise space, and also has a strong commercial background.

She is currently a non-executive director of the Board of Directors of InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence, Deputy Chair of the CPA Australia Public Sector and Not for Profit Committee and Finance Committee member for Philanthropy Australia and Parkinson’s Victoria.

Diploma of Community Welfare Work, Bachelor of Business and Arts (in progress), Cert IV in Disability Community Services

Melody Carbarns is the Housing Hub Services Manager at the Summer Foundation. Her focus is on supporting project coordinators to connect with people with disability who are seeking specialist disability accommodation (SDA).

Melody works on the establishment and implementation of projects that see people with disability connecting with SDA providers, ultimately finding sustainable housing solutions.

Melody started with the Summer Foundation in 2016 and has more than 19 years’ experience in the disability support sector. Throughout her career she has worked as a support worker, residential aged care worker, service manager, care coordinator and team leader.

Masters of Business Administration

Joanne Mear is the Summer Foundation’s Business Manager – Housing Hub. In this role she ensures the operational and financial imperatives of the housing matching service run smoothly.

She is responsible for relationship management, project process improvements and adding value for users of the service, which includes both people with disability and property investors.

Joanne joined the Summer Foundation in 2018 and brings a broad skill set that has been honed in both the not-for-profit and commercial sectors, and most recently in the real estate sector. Joanne is passionate about using her commercial and financial acumen to help people with disability find suitable housing in the community.