After 8 years on the CBAA board, Natalie Pozdeev stepped aside from her role this year and looked back on how Community radio has changed in the past decade and on the bigger role women are now taking in the sector.
 
Natalie began her roles on the board as the Women’s Representative in 2007, before returning in 2012 as an elected director and among other roles, has been Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, served on the committee for constitutional review in consultation with the membership, partook in rebranding within the CBAA, as well as having roles in the organisation of the annual conference.
 
Natalie began her radio career in 2001 at 2MCE, Bathurst, before going on to manage 2RRR. She has been Head of Radio at AFTRS as well as Head Teacher of Media at TAFE, and currently serves as the Chair at 2RRR.
 
radioinfo spoke to Natalie after the recent CBAA Conference on the Gold Coast.
 
radioinfo: You’ve had a lot of roles within the CBAA and more recently as the chair of the Audit and Risk Committee
 
Natalie: You take on those roles because your skills and time availabilities and insights are the most appropriate or the best at time. For example on the Audit and Risk Committee, in a lot of ways not being an accountant or being from an accounting background can be an advantage because you’re asking the questions the other directors should be asking and in a bit more depth.
 
radioinfo: What about the changing landscape of community radio, especially in the last decade
 
Natalie: It’s been an absolute evolution, and, in each iteration, you stand on the shoulders of the people before you. The organisation has evolved in that way over time and is getting a lot more proactive with meeting challenges.
 
We have gotten to a point where we can look more strategically at how the landscape is changing and position it so it works better for our members and allows us to be far more responsive and far more proactive.
 
Stations have to be so much more professional in their outlook. They have to work in a more of a business-like way, and the landscape is far more complex than it was 20 years ago.
 
For example, if you look at some of the fundraising strategies of some stations, they have become quite sophisticated. You can also find technological advances across the sector that are quite innovative and a bit ingenious.
 
It’s exciting and challenging time, and it means that the quality of people putting up their hands for leadership roles is excellent.
 
radioinfo: You were a big part in championing gender balance on the CBAA Board. How successful has this been?
 
Natalie: It’s something that I’m particularly proud of, and that is looked to as best practice by other organisations. And it’s been very effective, we’ve had a gender balanced board ever since.
 
Implementing strategies and having a path to the board for women means that our decision making is much stronger because you have a broader diversity of opinions, viewpoints and background which has improved the organisation as a whole.
 
The quality of women putting up their hands for elections says a lot about the strength and leadership in the sector and broadcasting landscape more broadly.
 
radioinfo: What of the future for community radio, especially in regional areas?
 
Natalie: Localism isn’t going away any time soon, and it is something the community radio stations are uniquely positioned to reflect and communicate. It’s the hyper local “for us and by us” content making that is critical.