From the RDA Pilbara Chair - May 2025

On behalf of the RDA Pilbara Committee, I’m delighted to confirm the appointment of Daiva Gillam as our new CEO.

Daiva has lived in the Pilbara for 20 years, including stints in both Port Hedland and Karratha, and her passion for leading positive change will be a natural fit for RDA Pilbara.

Daiva joins RDA Pilbara from an operations manager role in the mining industry and has previously held leadership roles in government and Aboriginal relations. She has a proven ability to build enduring stakeholder relationships and navigate complex environments with cultural sensitivity and integrity, while maintaining a focus on operations management, process improvement and governance.

On top of her wide range of career experience, Daiva’s role as Deputy Mayor of the City of Karratha reflects her commitment to representing community interests and delivering a strategic vision shaped by local voices.

In short, Daiva is ideally placed to build on the great foundation Tony Simpson has established over the past five years.

The Committee is extremely appreciative of all that Tony has done for RDA Pilbara and our region in his time as CEO. He has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of RDA Pilbara’s work and advocate with a wide range of stakeholders for better outcomes for the communities we represent.

Tony’s leadership, energy and commitment have been crucial to the growth of RDA Pilbara’s team and its capacity to shape important development work in our region. I’m personally very grateful for the support he has given me as RDA Pilbara Chair.

Fortunately, Tony will not be lost to the Pilbara. He's staying here and I know he’ll continue to be a champion for our communities.

Tony has also agreed to support Daiva in a transitional capacity, when she officially starts on June 2.

If you already know Daiva – and I imagine many of our stakeholders will - please feel free to reach out and congratulate her on the appointment.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to meet Daiva yet, I’m sure she will look forward to engaging with you once she takes up the role (and perhaps even before then!).

This is a new era for RDA Pilbara, and we are excited to have Daiva leading our organisation into the next phase of its journey.