Organisations | Catholic Connect   5 March 2026

Catholic Connect

5 March 2026

Mission in Operations: Aligning Organisational Practices with Mission

Register now

Panel presenters

Dr John Ballard

Board Director Mercy Education,
Leadership and Governance Consultant 

Dr John Ballard is an experienced executive, board chair and strategic advisor with deep expertise across Catholic education, healthcare and mission-driven organisations. He currently serves as Board Chair of the CDF Community Fund, where he provides leadership on aligning financial stewardship with Catholic mission, ethical investment principles and long-term social impact. 


John brings extensive executive experience from senior leadership roles in higher education and healthcare. As Associate Vice-Chancellor at Australian Catholic University, he contributed to the university’s strategic growth, community engagement and public standing as a leading Catholic institution. Previously, as CEO of Mercy Health, John led significant organisational growth across aged care, hospital and community services. Today, John works as a consultant and advisor to organisations across the healthcare, education and not-for-profit sectors, supporting boards and executive teams to take a more intentional, mission-led approach to governance, investment and resource allocation. He is also a non-executive director of Mercy Education and Chair of Texila College Australia, a private tertiary educator.



John holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, Masters and bachelor qualifications and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). He is widely respected for his ethical leadership and his conviction that financial assets are not neutral, but powerful tools that can either undermine or advance an organisation’s mission.

Anna Brazier

Climate Justice Coordinator,
Jesuit Social Services 

Anna is the Climate Justice Coordinator at Jesuit Social Services’ Centre for Just Places where she is leading a range of work focusing on strengthening the resilience of local community service organisations and communities to plan, adapt and respond to climate change impacts. During her time at Jesuit Social Services Anna has been a key member of the team supporting the organisations ongoing commitment to ecological justice.

 

Anna is a recognised leader and motivator with a background in community strengthening and primary prevention work in the health and wellbeing sectors. Passionate about working with communities to develop and drive better long-term outcomes, she brings expertise in building trusted stakeholder relationship and empowering local community voices.


Anna has experience in both strategic policy development and program design with government, and on the ground implementation with local community organisations. Working with Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal Community Controlled organisations throughout her career has shaped her commitment to community control and bringing strong stakeholder voices to her work.

 

Tarang Jain

Modern Slavery Liason Officer / Group Procurement Lead ESG, St Vincent’s Health Australia 

Tarang Jain is the Modern Slavery Liaison Officer and Group Procurement Specialist – Environment, Social and Governance at St Vincent's Health Australia. He is an experienced procurement professional having worked across several large organisations, including UnitingCare NSW.ACT, Woolworths, and Optus. He is a Working Group Lead and Committee Member for the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s project, It's Healthy to Fight Modern Slavery!, tasked with equipping the health system to better address modern slavery. Tarang's work embodies his passion for anti-slavery efforts, for which he received a commendation from the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner in 2025. He is also a researcher in the areas of public health and modern slavery.


Passionate about ending modern slavery at the intersection of public health and supply chains. Tarang works at the frontline of research, healthcare, and procurement to strengthen survivor identification, improve health system responses, and embed compassionate due diligence across global supply chains.


Tarang is a recipient of Commonwealth Grant for prototyping screening processes for identifying survivors of modern slavery that present to Australian public hospitals. This includes developing multi-stakeholder collaboration across the anti-slavery sector to upskill frontline clinicians in identifying modern slavery survivors and make fit-for-purpose referrals to specialist anti-slavery support services.


Workshop overview

Mission in Operations: Aligning Organisational Practices with Mission

How do our everyday business decisions reflect who we are as Catholic organisations? In a complex and pluralist environment, mission is not expressed only through programs or pastoral work, but through the policies, processes and decisions that shape how organisations operate each day.


As Catholic organisations, our identity calls us not only to act with integrity, but to listen, discern and decide together; a defining characteristic of a synodal Church.


This workshop, produced in partnership with Catholic Social Services Victoria, explores how Catholic Social Teaching can be intentionally embedded across core operations – from procurement and investment to hiring, governance and supply-chain decision-making – areas that often reflect the unjust barriers we work to dismantle. The session will offer practical insights into aligning business practices with the Church’s call to human dignity, justice and care for our common home.

Through real-world examples and guided discussion, participants will be encouraged to move beyond aspiration toward consistent, values-led practice, ensuring mission is lived with integrity, accountability and purpose across the whole organisation.


Participants will hear from the panel and then choose one of four separate workshops, further exploring how organisations can implement ecological justice, procurement, investment or inclusion frameworks for business practices.


Who Should Attend: 


This workshop is designed for professionals and leaders across the Catholic and not-for-profit sectors who are passionate about the intersection of operations and mission.

 

This is a complimentary event. Please register to help us with planning and catering arrangements.

Agenda:

  • Light networking lunch
  • Welcome 
  • Panel Discussion
  • Workshops
  • Summary & close

Want to join the conversation?


Date: Thursday 5 March 2026

Time: 12.30 pm to 3.30 pm

Venue: Australian Catholic University (22-24 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 3065)

Host: Catholic Development Fund (CDF) and Catholic Social Services Victoria (CSSV)


Register now

CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has indemnified the Catholic Development Fund ABN 15 274 943 760 (the Fund) against any liability arising out of a claim by investors in the Fund. In practice, this means your investment is backed by the assets of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Fund is required by law to make the following disclosure. Investment in the Fund is only intended to attract investors whose primary purpose for making their investment is to support the charitable purposes of the Fund. Investors’ funds will be used to generate a return to the Fund that will be applied to further the charitable works of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Dioceses of Sale, Bunbury and Ballarat. The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by ASIC. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and investments in the Fund are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed at here or by contacting the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.