Who's who in the office?
The staff of Equestrian NSW - l to r - Susie Burns, Sue Birch, Wendy Cohen, Andrea Webb, Elysha Sargent and Nichole Knox Photograph:SWD Images |
Wendy Cohen - Chief Executive Officer
Wendy has been the CEO of Equestrian NSW since October 2002 and in that time has steered the organisation to some notable successes including the development of the interschools movement in NSW and through some difficult challenges such as managing the impact on the sport of the equine influenza outbreak. Prior to this she worked in the film industry for almost fifteen years in both Australia and the UK as a producer, script developer and theatrical agent. She worked with companies such as RGM, Harry M Miller Management, Paramount Pictures, Waterview Productions, Little Bird Films UK and MTV - Europe. She also has extensive experience in public relations, corporate communication and marketing. Wendy has a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) from Charles Sturt University.
Wendy lives in Epping with partner Luke and son Gus and has a semi-retired warmblood, Calvin, who used to do dressage and a bit of jumping. He now just eats grass all day and does the odd dressage lesson.
Elysha Sargent - Member Services Manager/Interschool Co-ordinator (on maternity leave)
Elysha joined the staff of the ENSW as a casual for the busy renewal period in 2007 and has never left! After growing up competing in eventing, showjumping and Pony Club she spent 10 years in the racing industry working for some of Australia's best trainers and travelling with horses but felt the need to return home to some "normal horses".
Home is at Wilberforce on 'the funny farm' with husband Woody, a racehorse trainer, and lots of racehorses (not enough paying ones), 2 beautiful Irish Sport Horses who will one day make it out competing and a very loyal and spoilt jack russell, Maggie
Sue Birch - NCAS Co-ordinator/ Dressage Consultant (work days Monday, Tuesday and Friday each week)
Sue is the one of the long standing team members at Equestrian NSW, first joining us in August 2002. Coming from a finance background, she worked with NAB for 16 years in a range of finance and marketing managerial roles servicing metropolitan and rural NSW and QLD. Sue achieved a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) degree from the UNSW and a Diploma in Direct Marketing.
Sue is an NCAS Level 1 non-jumping coach and our resident dressage guru. Being a D level dressage judge, Sue can be found most weekends judging at events around Sydney with her partner and penciller extraordinaire, Tony. Home is in the Hawkesbury with Tony, a collection of horses, and an assortment of rescue jack russells.
Susie Burns - Sports Project Officer
Joined the Equestrian NSW in March 2008. She is a qualified Equine Myofunctional Therapist, EA Showhorse Official and runs a horse physio business from home with her husband, Ian.
Susie enjoys competing in dressage and shows her andalusians, Pegasus and Banderas, and has most recently commenced endurance riding with Ian on her purebred arabian Champagne n' Ice.
Susie has 2 teenage children, Emily and Timothy, 5 dogs including 2 spoilt jack russells Lucy and Lizzy, 2 cats and 7 horses (and has a unique ability of acquiring more). Home is in Bringelly. She loves to read and watch movies in her spare time of which she has very little.
Nichole Knox - Finance Manager
Nichole Knox is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Business and a Graduate diploma in Taxation Law. She comes with 27 years’ experience in the accounting profession. Nichole has worked for both large and small accounting practices, mainly dealing with the accounting and taxation functions of small to medium sized businesses. She has also over the years performed bookkeeping functions for a variety of small businesses, including a community based preschool, an aged care consultancy business and a resource recovery centre.
Nichole lives on an acreage in the Camden area with her husband Gary and 3 children. She also shares her home with Mack the kelpie, 2 cats and 4 chickens. Nichole enjoys skiing with her family every winter but also likes to curl up with a good book.
Andrea Webb - Project Manager
Andrea has recently joined us as a project manager, working closely with Wendy Cohen on a variety of initiatives for the next two months after which she will be covering the role of Elysha Sargent, our Member Services Manager, as Elysha goes off on maternity leave. Andrea comes to us with a wealth of administration and marketing experience and skill and extensive knowledge of equestrian sport from her many years as a volunteer and official.
She is an FEI and EA official and is often seen at competitions in NSW most weekends and will be familiar to you all. Andrea also received NSW Volunteer of the Year award in 2011. She lives in Bargo with her 2 dogs, a 12 year old Labrador, Sheba and a mini Schnauzer, Chloe. Her daughter Courtney now lives overseas. Although not a rider herself Andrea part owns a young warmblood mare with Christan Trainor who will hopefully start competing in 2013 and leases her daughter’s horse to a young rider.
