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Director Spotlight – Natalie Ryan
Deputy Chair | Health Voyage Board
Director | Beyond Now Solutions • Coffs Harbour, NSW
When people ask why I joined the Health Voyage Board, my honest answer is: I didn’t know much about them.
That might seem like an odd reason. I receive a number of Board invitations, and I’m intentional about where I put my time. But something about this organisation made me want to lean in and understand it – because the more I looked, the more I realised it was hiding in plain sight.
Health Voyage – and its Women’s Health Centre – has been quietly doing extraordinary work in our community for 40 years. Two generations of impact. And yet many people in Coffs Harbour don’t know it exists.
That paradox is part of what drew me in. And it’s part of what keeps me at the table.
What I found when I looked closer
What struck me immediately was the breadth. The pelvic pain clinic. headspace. A genuinely integrated model of care that doesn’t just treat people but connects the dots across their health journey. And beyond the programs, what I found was a team of real people — passionate, committed staff who show up every day not just because they love their work, but because they can see the change they’re making.
That’s rare. And it’s what makes Health Voyage, and the Women’s Health Centre, function at the level it does.
What good governance actually looks like
As Deputy Chair, my role is to help guide strategy – not to run the organisation. The distinction matters enormously. Health Voyage is fortunate to have a strong Chair in Glen James, a highly capable management team, and a Board that brings genuine specialist expertise to the table. My job, alongside Glen and the other Directors, is to create the conditions for good decisions: clear information, the right expertise in the room, and a culture of trust between the Board and management.
I’ve served on a number of Boards over the years. This has been one of the most rewarding yet.
The issue underneath the issue
Here’s something I think about a lot: health and wellbeing are the foundation of everything else. When a community member isn’t well — physically or mentally — they can’t contribute, connect, or thrive the way they may want to. And since COVID, we’ve seen a generation of young people enter adulthood carrying the weight of those disrupted years.
Supporting women at every life stage doesn’t just help one person. It ripples out. To their families, their children, their workplaces, their communities.
That’s the work that the Women’s Health Centre and headspace do. And as we reach this 40-year milestone in 2026, I’m proud to be one of the people building the shoulders that the next generation will stand on.
“Supporting one woman creates a ripple that reaches her family, her children, her whole community. That’s the work Health Voyage does.”
Natalie Ryan is Deputy Chair of Health Voyage and Director of Beyond Now Solutions, an independent accounting and business advisory firm based in Coffs Harbour.
#HealthVoyage #WomensHealth #YouthMentalHealth #CoffsHarbour #ClarenceValley #NotForProfit #BoardLeadership #CommunityHealth
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