Michael Piu
Chief operations officer
St Patrick's Community Support Centre
MICHAEL Piu has always aimed to make a practical, positive difference to his community.
He’s found he can make that difference in his current role as chief operations officer at Fremantle’s St Patrick’s Community Support Centre, which looks out for the seriously disadvantaged, including the homeless and those at risk of homelessness.
Mr Piu’s transition to a non-profit organisation followed years in the corporate arena as a lawyer, where he worked for a high-profile firm and then started his own successful practice, CLP Lawyers, after moving to Perth from Melbourne.
However, with the aim of making a difference, he moved to an acting executive officer role at a brain injury organisation before joining St Patrick’s.
There, he has developed systems and procedures to ensure financial sustainability, which has helped to double the organisation’s budget and increase existing capacity to assist the disadvantaged.