Atira housing appoints Catherine Roome interim CEO

Atira Women’s Resource Society has announced Catherine Roome will be its new interim CEO.

This comes after the B.C. government released the results of a forensic audit into BC Housing, which uncovered financial mismanagement within the organization.

Shortly after the audit, former CEO Janice Abbott resigned.

Roome is the founder of Vancouver’s Pulse Technologies and is set to take over on July 1.

Roome says she believes this reset will bring back certainty and continuity within the organization.

“I don’t have social services expertise. My expertise is in finance and in public safety, particularly with respect to the strength of infrastructure and technical safety. So I believe firmly and in support of the board that these are the things that are needed right now,” she said.

She says she will work to regain trust and that work has already begun.

“Atira has established a board task force to oversee the hiring of a third party to do a comprehensive and independent review of its policies and practices, including how it makes decisions on real estate matters and deals with conflicts of interest,” she said.

She adds that she has two main goals: “get the financial house in order and improve operational excellence with respect to safety.”

“This organization is committed to rebuilding trust and to open, transparent, and proactive communication with the government of B.C. and BC Housing, as well as our tenants, the staff, media, and the public,” she said.  

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• BC Housing audit finds ‘mismanagement’ between CEO and Atira housing

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She is slated to be in the position until a permanent CEO is recruited.

“My job is to assist this organization on a path to a new phase of governance and operational best practices,” she said.

Roome was appointed by Atira’s board of directors, and as for the board itself, she says she’s unaware if any changes have been made.