Maria Palumbo
Chief Executive Officer
Junction Australia
Motivated by driving positive impact through authentic leadership and influence, Maria has more than 25 years' experience across the private, Government and community sector.
In Executive roles for the then Department for Families and Communities she delivered strategy, funding and regulation of community and affordable housing, as well as service reforms in homelessness and domestic violence over a period of unprecedented investment and growth.
As CEO of Common Ground Adelaide, Maria drove and oversaw the development of accommodation and support services for hundreds of South Australians. This included a $15.5 million apartment building in the city focusing on single parents with children, and a $10 million unit development in Port Augusta for highlight vulnerable Aboriginal people sleeping rough – both the first of this type in SA .
She was seconded as Director of Housing Strategy at Renewal SA to spearhead the largest transfer of housing in SA to community housing providers that changed the sectors capacity as growth developers before being appointed CEO of Junction in 2017. Since then, she has led a significant period of expansion and impact for the organisation underpinned by a turnover of $51m in 22/23 – up 45% ($35m) from 2017/18. She also established Junction’s $500m multi award-winning affordable housing pipeline delivering hundreds of much needed homes for South Australians.
Maria was a SA Telstra Business Woman of the Year finalist in 2019 and won UDIA SA's Women in Leadership Award in 2021.
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