Our Board
Our Board
The Rainbow Hub SA Board is responsible for governance and guided by our RHSA Strategic Plan 2025-27.
Our Vision is: Older LGBTI+ people are living their best lives as active, valued and engaged members of the community.
Desmond Ford, Chair
Desmond Ford has a long history of working in social services for both NGOs and Government, in a range of senior management positions, and has significant experience in project management.
For two years, up until July 2019, he was the Head, Programs & Business Development at COTA SA, with responsibility for managing a range of programs supporting older people across the state Including the LGBTIQ People Ageing Well Project.
Desmond has an ongoing interest in promoting the rights of the LGBTI+ community and has delivered training to many aged care providers and other social services across South Australia. He is a Director on the Board of Aged Rights Advocacy Service (ARAS) and has served terms on a range of Boards including as Chair of Festival Fleurieu and Vice-Chair of LGBTIQ+ Health Australia.
Neil Whittenbury, Public Officer
Neil Whittenbury has extensive experience across business management, administration, community leadership, and health and aged care governance, developed over more than four decades.
Alongside his professional career, Neil has been deeply involved in community governance and health care advocacy. He served on a School Council from 1987 to 1993, chairing the council for the final three years, with responsibilities including policy setting, planning, limited budgeting, stakeholder liaison, and conflict resolution. He was also a member of the Apex Club (1986–1990), participating in community programs supporting elderly residents to remain safely in their homes.
From around 2010, Neil was the chairperson of Streaky Bay Senior Citizens Retirement Units, a community-owned and independently governed facility. Board responsibilities included budgeting, maintenance oversight, resident selection, advocacy with local authorities and ensuring a safe, supportive environment for residents.
Neil brings a lifetime of experience as a gay man who has lived and worked in rural and sometimes hostile environments. This has given him a strong understanding of the challenges faced by LGBTI+ individuals in employment and community settings and he has sought to positively influence attitudes through respectful engagement and visibility.
Pat Pearson, Treasurer
Pat Pearson is an out and proud lesbian woman and holds a wealth of experience gained from her career as a senior public sector manager, statewide project leader, private consultant and humanitarian advocate.
Prior to moving into public sector management, she was a nurse and midwife educator in the UK, Zambia and Australia, and has extensive experience of working in partnership with Aboriginal communities including the APY Lands and Alice Springs where she co-designed infant welfare programs with Woman Elders. Pat has also worked in aged care, child protection, developed public policy and implemented service design and evaluation methodology.
Pat is an experienced Board Member having held the roles of Chair, Deputy Chair, and board member on various Victorian and South Australian boards, including Divisions of General Practice, and is currently the Chair of the South Australian Red Cross Council.
A passionate advocate for the LGBTI+ community, as well as being an LGBTI+ educator, Pat was a founding member of both Rainbow Hub SA and the 2025 launched Pride of the Hills Network. She was the principal project worker and author of RHSA’s 2025 Rainbow Dog Project report which explored the relationship between ill health and mental health of LGBTI+ people over 50, the findings of which are now integrated into RHSA’s Strategic Plan.
In her spare time Pat is an avid gardener and active member of the over 50’s Acting Out Troupe based in the Adelaide Hills which has fun bringing theatre to retirement villages and the general public.
Jess Evans
Jess Evans has worked in sales for last 35 years and has significant experience in both project management and sales. She has a keen interest in hiking, travel and a good TV crime show.
Since joining Rainbow Hub SA, she has been a strong advocate for the Transgender community and is abreast of local, national and international developments for Transgender people. As a member of the RHSA communications team, she is a regular writer of blogs and supports the RHSA Facebook account. Jess is also a member of the Carousel Club of South Australia.
Peter Jones
With a decades-long background in education, including development and delivery of training modules, and social justice advocacy, Peter K. Jones has presented and delivered Rainbow Hub’s Training modules to support and assist the understanding of those working with the older LGBTI+ community.
He has a passion for creating safe spaces for the vulnerable and disempowered. Besides his work with Rainbow Hub SA, Peter is a member of Eldercare’s LGBTI+ Advisory Committee and the Family Consultative Committee of Orana Inc, an organisation dedicated to the care and support of people living with a disability.
Robyn Lierton
Robyn Lierton has been an activist for the LGBTI+ community for over 20 years, in both the private and public sectors, primarily in aged care settings. She is an experienced trainer, community engagement leader and policy developer, successfully leading organisations to Rainbow Tick accreditation.
Robyn has a passion for working with older same sex attracted and gender diverse older people to design programs that make later life safe, happy and connected.
Pam Price
Pam Price’s career (both in paid and unpaid capacities) has been in the areas of women’s health, sexual health, lesbian health and LGBTI+ advocacy, gender-based violence and gender equity.
She has worked across many diverse roles including manager and team manager, project coordinator, trainer, community capacity building, arts project coordination, group facilitation and individual counselling.
Her understanding of the complex issues faced by the LGBTI+ community as we age is informed by lived experience and personal connections with members of the LGBTI+ community as well as volunteer and paid work experience. In 2017 – 2019 Pam was an active member of the advisory committee of the COTA SA LGBTI Ageing Well project and then a founding member of the COTA SA’s Rainbow Hub. Pam is currently also a team member of the LGBTI connect project at ECH, a key aged care provider in SA.
Jackie Wurm
Jackie Wurm is a skilled project and partnership manager with extensive experience across the cultural, education and government sectors in Adelaide, Darwin and Sydney. From 2020 to June 2024, she led COTA SA’s Rainbow Hub, delivering programs, advocacy and community engagement initiatives that strengthened support for LGBTI+ people across South Australia.
A lifelong activist, Jackie is dedicated to creating inclusive, connected and compassionate communities. She is inspired by the LGBTI+ community’s vibrant culture of creativity, celebration and resilience, and champions projects that amplify diverse voices and lived experiences. Jackie is particularly passionate about social change through the arts, intergenerational community-building, and collaborative work with First Nations people. Her leadership style is grounded in respect, relationship-building and a belief in the transformative power of shared stories.
Jackie has served on multiple boards and committees and currently contributes her expertise to the Queer Archives Collective SA and the Friends of Unley Museum Committee as well as Rainbow Hub SA.